Hate Speech: 93 Former Civil Servants Write To Election Commission

In addition to over thousands of citizens’ letters to the Election Commission, demanding action against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, ninety-three former civil servants have endorsed a letter urging the Election Commission to take necessary action.

The letter was written by former IIM-Ahmedabad professor Jagdeep Chhokar seeking action against Modi for violating the Model of Conduct (MCC). 

Modi on Sunday in his speech said that if Congress comes into power, they could redistribute the nation’s wealth among the “infiltrators” and “those who have more children”, misquoting a statement said by former prime minister Manmohan Singh regarding the minority community’s access to the country’s resources. 

Chhokar’s letter specified ways in which the speech violated the Model Code of Conduct, the Representation of People Act, and the Indian Penal Code. 

The letter began by stating that they are “a group of former civil servants who have served the Central and State governments in various capacities.” They also added that they have no “affiliation with any political parties” and “are strongly committed to the ideals enshrined in the Constitution of India”.

“As members of the Constitutional Conduct Group (CCG), we write to endorse the letter (copied below) written by Prof Jagdeep S. Chhokar on April 22, 2024, regarding the outrageously communal speech given by the Prime Minister on April 21, 2024. We hope the Election Commission of India will at least now take suitable action as suggested in the letter under reference,” the letter read. 

In the letter, by sharing the video link of the alleged hate speech given by Modi during the Rajasthan election campaign rally, wrote, “Anyone watching the entire video will, in my opinion, will not be left in any doubt whatsoever that it is an election campaign video. Shri Modi is a star campaigner for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and actually names candidates contesting on behalf of the BJP”.

By listing out the excerpts from Modi’s speech, he stated that they are in violation of Section 123(3), 123(3A), and Section 125 of the Representation of the People Act (RPA), 195. 

“I urge the Commission to take appropriate action on the violations as described above with information to the undersigned. Given the election is already underway, it is absolutely necessary that the action be taken without any loss of time,” the letter read.