Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Photo: pmindia.gov.in

New Delhi: A group of 102 former civil servants on November 28 wrote an open letter to Indian citizens, criticising the recent statements made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other high-ranking officials about the country’s civil society.

“Civil society is viewed through an adversarial prism today. Any entity, which dares to highlight deviations from the norms of Constitutional conduct, or question the arbitrary exercise of executive authority, runs the risk of being projected as a foreign agent and enemy of the people. At a systemic level, the financial viability of civil society organisations is being progressively undermined by tweaking the legal framework governing foreign contributions, deployment of corporate social responsibility funds and income tax exemptions,” the statement said.

The signatories, under the Constitutional Conduct Group, include former civil servants Anita Agnihotri, Gurjit Singh Cheema, A.S. Dulat, K.P. Fabian, Wajahat Habibullah, Harsh Mander, F.T.R. Colaso and Mira Pande.

The former civil servants noted the statements made by Justice (retd.) Arun Mishra, chair of National Human Rights Commission, who asserted that “India’s creditable record on human rights was being tarnished at the behest of international forces”.

“The Prime Minister, on his part, discerned a political agenda in what he felt was selective perception of human rights violation in certain incidents, while overlooking certain others. And quite shockingly, General Bipin Rawat, Chief of Defence Staff, gave a fillip to the growing menace of vigilantism by endorsing the killing of persons believed to be terrorists by lynch mobs in Kashmir,” the statement said.

The signatories took on National Security Adviser Ajit Doval, who said “the new frontiers of war is the civil society, which can be manipulated to hurt a nation’s interests”. He was addressing the passing out parade of IPS probationers at the National Police Academy in Hyderabad.

“Earlier, the term “Urban Naxal” was being used to denigrate individual human rights activists. Clearly, under the New Doval Doctrine, people like Father Stan Swamy would become the arch enemy of the Indian state and the prime concern and target of its security forces,” the statement said.

The full statement and list of signatories have been republished below.

Dear fellow citizens,

We are a group of former civil servants of the All India and Central Services who have worked with the Central and State Governments in the course of our careers. As a group, we have no affiliation with any political party but believe in impartiality, neutrality and commitment to the Constitution of India.

A disturbing trend in the direction of the country’s governance has become discernible over the past few years. The foundational values of our republic and the cherished norms of governance, which we had taken as immutable, have been under the relentless assault of an arrogant, majoritarian state. The sacrosanct principles of secularism and human rights have come to acquire a pejorative sense. Civil society activists striving to defend these principles are subjected to arrest and indefinite detention under draconian laws that blot our statute book. The establishment does its best to discredit them as anti-national and foreign agents.

Civil society, a diverse mass of formal and informal groups pursuing their own interests, occupies the vast democratic space outside of government and business. As the locus of critique, contestation and negotiation, it is an important stakeholder in governance, as well as a force multiplier and partner in the project of meeting popular aspirations. But civil society is viewed through an adversarial prism today. Any entity, which dares to highlight deviations from the norms of Constitutional conduct, or question the arbitrary exercise of executive authority, runs the risk of being projected as a foreign agent and enemy of the people. At a systemic level, the financial viability of civil society organisations is being progressively undermined by tweaking the legal framework governing foreign contributions, deployment of corporate social responsibility funds and income tax exemptions.

Our anxiety with regard to the articulation of the state-civil society interface has been heightened in recent weeks by statements emanating from high dignitaries of the state. On the occasion of the Foundation Day of the National Human Rights Commission, its Chair, Justice (retd.) Arun Mishra, asserted that India’s creditable record on human rights was being tarnished at the behest of international forces. The Prime Minister, on his part, discerned a political agenda in what he felt was selective perception of human rights violation in certain incidents, while overlooking certain others. And quite shockingly, General Bipin Rawat, Chief of Defence Staff, gave a fillip to the growing menace of vigilantism by endorsing the killing of persons believed to be terrorists by lynch mobs in Kashmir.

Taken together, these portents indicate a deliberate strategy to deny civil society the space and wherewithal for its operation. The contours of this strategy have now been revealed in the New Doval Doctrine propounded by the National Security Adviser (NSA).

Reviewing the passing out parade of IPS probationers at the National Police Academy in Hyderabad, Shri Ajit Doval proclaimed:

The new frontiers of war, what you call the fourth- generation warfare, is the civil society. Wars have ceased to become an effective instrument for achieving political or military objectives. They are too expensive and unaffordable and, at the same time, there is uncertainty about their outcome. But it is the civil society that can be subverted, that can be suborned, that can be divided, that can be manipulated to hurt the interests of a nation. You are there to see that they stand fully protected.”

Instead of exhorting the IPS probationers to abide by the values enshrined in the Constitution to which they had sworn allegiance, the NSA stressed the primacy of the representatives of the people, and the laws framed by them.

It would be pertinent to recall here that the term “fourth-generation warfare” is normally employed in relation to a conflict where the state is fighting non-state actors, such as terror groups and insurgents. Civil society now finds itself placed in this company. Earlier, the term “Urban Naxal” was being used to denigrate individual human rights activists. Clearly, under the New Doval Doctrine, people like Father Stan Swamy would become the arch enemy of the Indian state and the prime concern and target of its security forces.

The NSA’s clarion call for an onslaught on a demonised civil society is of a piece with the narrative of hate targeting defenders of Constitutional values and human rights that is regularly purveyed by the high and mighty in the establishment.

The defining traits of the current dispensation are hubris and an utter disregard of democratic norms. These were manifest in the steamrolling of a discriminatory Citizenship (Amendment) Act through Parliament, its linkage with the National Register of Citizens, and the ruthless suppression of the spontaneous protests that erupted in various parts of the country.

The same traits were in evidence in the enactment of a set of three farm laws without public debate, stakeholder consultations or endorsement by alliance partners, and the high-handed treatment accorded to the agitated farmers encamped at the gates of Delhi. Their heroic resistance over fourteen months elicited the choicest of epithets from the establishment. Dubbed variously as “Andolanjeevis” (professional agitators), “Left-wing extremists” and “Khalistanis”, they were accused of working at the behest of “Foreign Destructive Ideology”, in a bizarre word-play with the acronym FDI referring to Foreign Direct Investment. Electoral compulsions might have led the Prime Minister to announce the decision to repeal the hated laws, but the damage done to the nation’s polity and social fabric will be hard to repair.

Let us hope that the government will realize the pitfalls of demonising dissent and trying to suppress civil resistance by brute force. It is also hoped that the alumni of the National Police Academy, or indeed our security forces in general, will not be swayed by the NSA’s rhetoric and remember that their primary duty is to uphold Constitutional values, which override the will of the political executive. Even the laws framed by the legislatures have to be tested on the touchstone of constitutionality and accepted by the people. If this fundamental principle is not accepted, we may turn to the well-known satirical poem “The Solution”, written in a different context by the famous German playwright Bertolt Brecht, which concludes with the following words:

Would it not in that case be simpler
for the government
To dissolve the people
And elect another?

SATYAMEVA JAYATE

(102 signatories, at pages 4-8 below)

Anita Agnihotri IAS (Retd.) Former Secretary, Department of Social Justice Empowerment, GoI
Salahuddin Ahmad IAS (Retd.) Former Chief Secretary, Govt. of Rajasthan
S.P. Ambrose IAS (Retd.) Former Additional Secretary, Ministry of Shipping & Transport, GoI
Anand Arni RAS (Retd.) Former Special Secretary, Cabinet Secretariat, GoI
Vappala Balachandran IPS (Retd.) Former Special Secretary, Cabinet Secretariat, GoI
Gopalan Balagopal IAS (Retd.) Former Special Secretary, Govt. of West Bengal
Chandrashekhar Balakrishnan IAS (Retd.) Former Secretary, Coal, GoI
T.K. Banerji IAS (Retd.) Former Member, Union Public Service Commission
Sharad Behar IAS (Retd.) Former Chief Secretary, Govt. of Madhya Pradesh
Aurobindo Behera IAS (Retd.) Former Member, Board of Revenue, Govt. of Odisha
Madhu Bhaduri IFS (Retd.) Former Ambassador to Portugal
Meeran C Borwankar IPS (Retd.) Former DGP, Bureau of Police Research and Development, GoI
Ravi Budhiraja IAS (Retd.) Former Chairman, Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust, GoI
Sundar Burra IAS (Retd.) Former Secretary, Govt. of Maharashtra
R. Chandramohan IAS (Retd.) Former Principal Secretary, Transport and Urban Development, Govt. of NCT of Delhi
Rachel Chatterjee IAS (Retd.) Former Special Chief Secretary, Agriculture, Govt. of Andhra Pradesh
Kalyani Chaudhuri IAS (Retd.) Former Additional Chief Secretary, Govt. of West Bengal
Gurjit Singh Cheema IAS (Retd.) Former Financial Commissioner (Revenue), Govt. of Punjab
F.T.R. Colaso IPS (Retd.) Former Director General of Police, Govt. of Karnataka & former Director General of Police, Govt. of Jammu & Kashmir
Anna Dani IAS (Retd.) Former Additional Chief Secretary, Govt. of Maharashtra
Surjit K. Das IAS (Retd.) Former Chief Secretary, Govt. of Uttarakhand
Vibha Puri Das IAS (Retd.) Former Secretary, Ministry of Tribal Affairs, GoI
P.R. Dasgupta IAS (Retd.) Former Chairman, Food Corporation of India, GoI
Pradeep K. Deb IAS (Retd.) Former Secretary, Deptt. Of Sports, GoI
Nitin Desai Former Chief Economic Adviser, Ministry of Finance, GoI
M.G. Devasahayam IAS (Retd.) Former Secretary, Govt. of Haryana
Sushil Dubey IFS (Retd.) Former Ambassador to Sweden
A.S. Dulat IPS (Retd.) Former OSD on Kashmir, Prime Minister’s Office, GoI
K.P. Fabian IFS (Retd.) Former Ambassador to Italy
Prabhu Ghate IAS (Retd.) Former Addl. Director General, Department of Tourism, GoI
Gourisankar Ghosh IAS (Retd.) Former Mission Director, National Drinking Water Mission, GoI
Suresh K. Goel IFS (Retd.) Former Director General, Indian Council of Cultural Relations, GoI
S. Gopal IPS (Retd.) Former Special Secretary, GoI
S.K. Guha IAS (Retd.) Former Joint Secretary, Department of Women & Child Development, GoI
H.S. Gujral IFoS (Retd.) Former Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, Govt. of Punjab
Meena Gupta IAS (Retd.) Former Secretary, Ministry of Environment & Forests, GoI
Ravi Vira Gupta IAS (Retd.) Former Deputy Governor, Reserve Bank of India
Wajahat Habibullah IAS (Retd.) Former Secretary, GoI and former Chief Information Commissioner
Deepa Hari IRS (Resigned)
Sajjad Hassan IAS (Retd.) Former Commissioner (Planning), Govt. of Manipur
Kamal Jaswal IAS (Retd.) Former Secretary, Department of Information Technology, GoI
Brijesh Kumar IAS (Retd.) Former Secretary, Department of Information Technology, GoI
Ish Kumar IPS (Retd.) Former DGP (Vigilance & Enforcement), Govt. of Telangana and former Special Rapporteur, National Human Rights Commission
Sudhir Kumar IAS (Retd.) Former Member, Central Administrative Tribunal
Subodh Lal IPoS (Resigned) Former Deputy Director General, Ministry of Communications, GoI
Harsh Mander IAS (Retd.) Govt. of Madhya Pradesh
Amitabh Mathur IPS (Retd.) Former Special Secretary, Cabinet Secretariat, GoI
L.L. Mehrotra IFS (Retd.) Former Special Envoy to the Prime Minister and former Secretary, Ministry of External Affairs, GoI
Aditi Mehta IAS (Retd.) Former Additional Chief Secretary, Govt. of Rajasthan
Shivshankar Menon IFS (Retd.) Former Foreign Secretary and Former National Security Adviser
Sonalini Mirchandani IFS (Resigned) GoI
Malay Mishra IFS (Retd.) Former Ambassador to Hungary
Sunil Mitra IAS (Retd.) Former Secretary, Ministry of Finance, GoI
Noor Mohammad IAS (Retd.) Former Secretary, National Disaster Management Authority, GoI
Avinash Mohananey IPS (Retd.) Former Director General of Police, Govt. of Sikkim
Satya Narayan Mohanty IAS (Retd.) Former Secretary General, National Human Rights Commission
Deb Mukharji IFS (Retd.) Former High Commissioner to Bangladesh and former Ambassador to Nepal
Shiv Shankar Mukherjee IFS (Retd.) Former High Commissioner to the United Kingdom
Gautam Mukhopadhaya IFS (Retd.) Former Ambassador to Myanmar
Pranab S. Mukhopadhyay IAS (Retd.) Former Director, Institute of Port Management, GoI
Nagalsamy IA&AS (Retd.) Former Principal Accountant General, Tamil Nadu & Kerala
Sobha Nambisan IAS (Retd.) Former Principal Secretary (Planning), Govt. of Karnataka
P.A. Nazareth IFS (Retd.) Former Ambassador to Egypt and Mexico
P. Joy Oommen IAS (Retd.) Former Chief Secretary, Govt. of Chhattisgarh
Amitabha Pande IAS (Retd.) Former Secretary, Inter-State Council, GoI
Mira Pande IAS (Retd.) Former State Election Commissioner, West Bengal
Maxwell Pereira IPS (Retd.) Former Joint Commissioner of Police, Delhi
Alok Perti IAS (Retd.) Former Secretary, Ministry of Coal, GoI
R. Poornalingam IAS (Retd.) Former Secretary, Ministry of Textiles, GoI
Rajesh Prasad IFS (Retd.) Former Ambassador to the Netherlands
R.M. Premkumar IAS (Retd.) Former Chief Secretary, Govt. of Maharashtra
N.K. Raghupathy IAS (Retd.) Former Chairman, Staff Selection Commission, GoI
V.P. Raja IAS (Retd.) Former Chairman, Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission
K. Sujatha Rao IAS (Retd.) Former Health Secretary, GoI
M.Y. Rao IAS (Retd.)
Prasadranjan Ray IAS (Retd.) Former Chairperson, West Bengal Electricity Regulatory Commission
Satwant Reddy IAS (Retd.) Former Secretary, Chemicals and Petrochemicals, GoI
Vijaya Latha Reddy IFS (Retd.) Former Deputy National Security Adviser, GoI
Julio Ribeiro IPS (Retd.) Former Adviser to Governor of Punjab & former Ambassador to Romania
Aruna Roy IAS (Resigned)
Manabendra N. Roy IAS (Retd.) Former Additional Chief Secretary, Govt. of West Bengal
A.K. Samanta IPS (Retd.) Former Director General of Police (Intelligence), Govt. of West Bengal
Deepak Sanan IAS (Retd.) Former Principal Adviser (AR) to Chief Minister, Govt. of Himachal Pradesh
G. Sankaran IC&CES (Retd.) Former President, Customs, Excise and Gold (Control) Appellate Tribunal
S. Satyabhama IAS (Retd.) Former Chairperson, National Seeds Corporation, GoI
N.C. Saxena IAS (Retd.) Former Secretary, Planning Commission, GoI
A. Selvaraj IRS (Retd.) Former Chief Commissioner, Income Tax, Chennai, GoI
Ardhendu Sen IAS (Retd.) Former Chief Secretary, Govt. of West Bengal
Abhijit Sengupta IAS (Retd.) Former Secretary, Ministry of Culture, GoI
Aftab Seth IFS (Retd.) Former Ambassador to Japan
Ashok Kumar Sharma IFoS (Retd.) Former MD, State Forest Development Corporation, Govt. of Gujarat
Ashok Kumar Sharma IFS (Retd.) Former Ambassador to Finland and Estonia
Navrekha Sharma IFS (Retd.) Former Ambassador to Indonesia
Raju Sharma IAS (Retd.) Former Member, Board of Revenue, Govt. of Uttar Pradesh
Tara Ajai Singh IAS (Retd.) Former Additional Chief Secretary, Govt. of Karnataka
Tirlochan Singh IAS (Retd.) Former Secretary, National Commission for Minorities, GoI
Parveen Talha IRS (Retd.) Former Member, Union Public Service Commission
P.S.S. Thomas IAS (Retd.) Former Secretary General, National Human Rights Commission
Hindal Tyabji IAS (Retd.) Former Chief Secretary rank, Govt. of Jammu & Kashmir
Ashok Vajpeyi IAS (Retd.) Former Chairman, Lalit Kala Akademi
Ramani Venkatesan IAS (Retd.) Former Director General, YASHADA, Govt. of Maharashtra
Rudi Warjri IFS (Retd.) Former Ambassador to Colombia, Ecuador and Costa Rica

This story first appeared on thewire.in