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IN WHAT DISCOURSE CAN WE CONVERSE WITH THE HEARTLESS: AN OPEN LETTER TO THE
CHIEF JUSTICE OF INDIA

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IN WHAT DISCOURSE CAN WE CONVERSE WITH THE HEARTLESS: AN OPEN LETTER TO THE
CHIEF JUSTICE OF INDIA

by Sarita Pandey
June 27, 2022
 * Yesterday, on June 26, I got a chance to meet with N.V. Ramana, Chief Justice
   of the Supreme Court of India, at an informal gathering of Indians in
   Washington, D.C. There I presented him with an open letter. He accepted it
   graciously and promised to read it.



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INDIAN AMERICAN JOURNALIST MEGHA RAJAGOPALAN JOINS INTERNATIONAL INVESTIGATIONS
TEAM OF THE NEW YORK TIMES

Dear Justice N.V. Ramana,

A very warm welcome to you to the United States of America, the land of the
free. 

As we gather here to hear you speak, women, femmes and their allies are
protesting outside the White House, the Supreme Court of the United States, and
various public spaces across America. They are protesting the Supreme Court’s
decision to overthrow Roe Vs Wade. 

There is also a protest going on right now by our own Indian people in Seattle.
Last week, there were Indian American protests in Houston, Dallas, San Francisco
and many other places. They have taken to the streets because they are
disheartened by the rising islamophobia in their home country, India. 

But you are no stranger to protests. You and I come from a country where
protesting, sit-ins, and fasts-unto-death are almost a way of life. We owe the
very independence of our beloved India to peaceful protests, a path shown to us
by Mahatma Gandhi.

However, there is a stark difference between the protests in the U.S. and India
and the price that the protestors in both countries might have to pay for
speaking out about what they believe in. The protesters outside the White
House/Supreme Court right now do not have to worry that their houses will be
demolished, nor do they fear that they will be jailed or, worse, killed by a
state-supported mob.

So, today, as you and I both stand outside India, and you are not sitting in
your judge’s seat, protecting the rights of 1.38 billion people on the planet, I
take the liberty to speak to you freely and ask you a few questions. I am
encouraged by what you said in Philadelphia: “It is necessary for us all, the
citizens of the world, to work tirelessly to sustain and further the liberty,
freedom & democracy our forefathers have fought for.”

Fresh in my mind is the horror of watching videos of Teesta Setalvad being
arrested, allegedly without a warrant, and not allowed to speak to her lawyer.
Teesta has spent her entire youth, her entire life fighting for justice for
those who were charred physically, socially, and emotionally in 2002. She could
have given up anytime, she could have looked the other way like so many; she
could have been intimidated by repeated harassment and threats to her, but she
never stopped because she is a woman of integrity and conviction. 

Civil rights activist and journalist Teesta Setalvad. Top photo, Sarita Pandey
presenting an Open Letter to the Chief Justice of India N.V. Ramana at a
reception in Herndon, VA.PIN IT

Teesta’s arrest was followed by the arrest of police officer R.B. Sreekumar, who
has been vocal against Prime Minister Modi since long before he was so powerful.
Ex-IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt is already serving a life sentence for killing a man
he never met, convicted at a trial where he wasn’t allowed to cross-examine
public witnesses or call his own, or even make concluding remarks. It sure would
be convenient for those accused of complicity in the 2002 Gujarat carnage that
all three of them stay behind bars since most other witnesses have died,
disappeared, or have been silenced. Why is the justice system of India so keen
to keep the high and mighty holding important offices in good humor?

You must know about Zakia Jafri, who has been fighting for justice for the
killing of her husband and dozens of others in their house in 2002. Her plea was
dismissed just a couple of days ago. In a double whammy, it was your Supreme
Court’s ruling on Zakia Jafri’s plea that led to Teesta’s arbitrary arrest, as
the highest court ordered an investigation into those who supported Zakia.
Dismayed, Zakia’s son responded that they believe in God, Allah, who will make
sure that justice will prevail. They have already waited for 20 years. You said
in April this year that in the age of instant noodles, people expect instant
justice. It isn’t “instant noodles” they were hoping for; it has been a long,
tortuous, humiliating, dangerous 20 years for this unfortunate family.
Personally, I am not much of a believer, I don’t expect any Gods from the high
heavens to dispense justice. Do you think justice has been served to Zakia
Jafri?

Every week in India is a fresh theater of state-sponsored violence. Two weeks
ago, the world witnessed young activist Afreen Fatima’s mother’s house being
demolished in broad daylight, with a fake backdated order in her father’s name.
Dozens of Muslim houses and businesses have been bulldozed in India’s largest
state, Uttar Pradesh. Several Muslim protesters were shot dead by the police,
some of them twice or thrice, straight on their heads. Families have been
destroyed, babies and children who haven’t even begun to speak yet have been
pushed into a life of abject poverty that they will never escape. Some people
protested on Twitter, and some stories were published in international media,
but the Supreme Court has watched it all in silence. Is your silence a nod to
the powers to carry on? Isn’t silence complicity? 

> It couldn’t have escaped your notice that the so-called mainstream media of
> our home country holds their own trial in their primetime slots, pronouncing
> judgments with staggering conviction, long before the cases reach your courts.

It couldn’t have escaped your notice that the so-called mainstream media of our
home country holds their own trial in their primetime slots, pronouncing
judgments with staggering conviction, long before the cases reach your courts.
The government’s lapdog newscasters decide who gets to speak, how, and how much.
Most of what is spoken on their platforms are the literal definition of hate
speech. One of your esteemed colleagues in the Delhi High Court said, “If you’re
saying something with a smile then there is no criminality, if you’re saying
something offensively then (there is) criminality.” Do you agree with him? While
houses of hapless Muslims were being razed to the ground, even as the police
chased them away from trying to gather some valuables, one senior journalist
jokingly asked British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Twitter if he was
considering setting up a new JCB plant, given the increased demand of
bulldozers. Earlier this year, Genocide Watch issued a genocide alert for Indian
Muslims. This globally recognized genocide prevention organization is led by Dr.
Gregory Stanton who predicted the Rwandan genocide; he has raised alarm for
India at least twice before. Is it okay to call for and enable genocide, if done
with a smile?

Nargis Saifi is a mother of three young children, the wife of Khalid Saifi who’s
an activist and your everyday Muslim businessman incarcerated on bogus charges
that haven’t even been examined yet. She says her daughter asks why can’t she
meet her father, and why does the police drag him when she sees her. Khalid has
been in jail for over two years. His daughter, Maryam, was six when he was
arrested. Nargis has always been a housewife; her husband’s small business is
now shut. They struggle for basic needs. Khalid is tortured in jail. What do you
think Nargis should tell Maryam? Did you get a chance to read his case, just out
of curiosity? Can you assure little Maryam that her father will get justice? 

Have you heard of Umar Khalid — the bright young activist, always with a smile
on his face and books in his hands? He has been in jail for almost two years
based on a doctored video. The video was falsified by a media giant. If you
watched that video, you’d be proud of him, for he was lauding the document he
considers sacred, the Constitution of India, the same document you and your
colleagues refer to while discharging your duty. But Umar is in jail, smiling,
reading, waiting for justice. You have been a student activist yourself in your
time, probably you can relate to his motivations, his energy, and his ability to
stay positive. Do you think he stands a chance? Will it be equivalent to
demanding instant noodles if I were to beseech you to grant him bail, at least?

You may not be aware, since you are on a summer break and traveling for leisure
– as is your right – that even as we gather here to talk about democracy and
justice, Gautam Navlakha, Rona Wilson, Varavara Rao, Anand Teltumbde, G.N.
Saibaba, Sudhir Dhave, Shoma Sen, Hany Babu, and so many names that will fill
several pages, are still in jail? The world calls them “prisoners of
conscience.” They have been in jail based on evidence proven to be planted on
their computers through sophisticated spyware. Father Stan Swamy, a Jesuit
priest, denied a straw so he could sip some nourishment into his
Parkinson’s-ravaged body, died in jail last July. The world hung its head in
shame for failing to secure the dignity of justice for him.

Growing up, I thought only autocratic regimes like China, Russia, etc., held
prisoners of conscience and felt grateful to be born in India. For what can
freedom mean without the freedom to dissent, the freedom to point fingers at
powerful people and institutions? Currently, the United States Commission on
International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) recognizes 44 Indians as prisoners of
conscience. Do you think others should be prepared to meet the same fate as
Father Stan? Would the Supreme Court right these wrongs?

A Muslim’s house in Jahangirpuri area of Delhi demolished by the government.
(Photo, Twitter/Zubair Memon)PIN IT

You started your career as a journalist. Does it bother you that in the 2022
World Freedom Index, Reporters Without Border (RSF) recently has downgraded
India to the 150th position among 170 countries? Or that, since 2014, 22
journalists have been jailed, seven of them in 2021 alone? Shockingly, or
perhaps not, 22 journalists have been killed since 2014 in India. These are not
famous people from big corporate media houses. These are (or were, because one
too many were killed) reporters and stringers, barely able to make enough to
survive while practicing their trade. Asif Sultan, Gulfisha Fatima, Fahad Shah,
Siddique Kappan, Sajad Gul, Sharjil Imam, yet another string of names, just
names, only making headlines for being jailed, for making “anti-India” stories. 

When you were a journalist, weren’t you, too, trained to follow the time-honored
purpose of journalism: comfort the afflicted, afflict the comfortable? Would you
advise a journalist, should she get an opportunity to interview the Prime
Minister of the largest democracy in the world, to ask him about their favorite
fruit or energy drink, or would you encourage her to ask the big man what
exactly happened in Gujarat from Feb to March 2002? 

Last week, the Karnataka High Court, in a shocking judgment, virtually nullified
the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act,
ruling that any casteist abuse must happen in a public space to be considered a
crime under the law. Given the strong grip of caste discrimination among
privileged Hindus, when Dalits are killed for riding a horse or drinking water
from wells designated for ‘upper-caste’ people, or worse, falling in love with
an ‘upper-caste’ person, do you think we are ready to do away with SC-ST Act? Do
you think Dalit lives matter?

Do the lives of Indian minorities matter? As you answer this, I urge you to
think of young Junaid killed on a train, baby Asifa raped and killed in a
temple, Akhlaq stabbed to death on the false allegation of cow slaughter, Pehlu
Khan killed in front of his son, Tabrez forced to chant Jai Shri Ram by a
cheering mob as they beat him to death, Mohammad Saleem (55), Mohammad Khaleel,
Alam (35), Sameer Shahpur (19), Musharraf (35), Babbu (30), Mehtab (22), Zakir
Saifi (28), Aqib (19), all killed by Hindu terrorists with no consequences. 

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Indian Christians have been mocked as rice bag converts for a long time. But now
with anti-conversion law in place, their persecution has been legalized. On
Christmas day six months ago, as Christians in India dressed in all their finery
went to the church, they were attacked by Hindu terrorists at several places in
India. I am sure you saw the haunting image of the broken statue of Jesus Christ
outside a church in Gurgaon and were repulsed by videos of effigies of Santa
Claus being burnt. Pastors in India can be attacked anywhere, anytime with
complete impunity. Do you believe in religious freedom for Christians, or do you
believe in ‘ghar-vapasi’?

Is India a Hindu Rashtra already? Encouraged by the judgment on Babri Masjid
demolition, defacing and destroying mosques/dargahs/shrines to place Hindu idols
has become commonplace. Gyanvapi Mosque, built 350 years ago by Mughal emperor
Aurangzeb, is now partially sealed as directed by the Supreme Court. Qutub
Minar, Taj Mahal, fascinating architectural marvels might now be dug up or
converted into temples. Do you see and condone this genocide?

Your Supreme Court refused to hear against Karnataka High Court’s verdict that
prevents hijab-wearing girls from attending school. As Chief Justice of India,
what is your message to these hijabi students? 

I earnestly ask you, should I believe in the judiciary of India?

Finally, do you also wonder, like Najeeb’s mother does, where Najeeb is? Or, who
killed Judge Loya? Or, are these inconsequential questions? 

Didn’t Varavara Rao, too, ask a trivial question: 

In what discourse
Can we converse
With the heartless?

Sincerely,
Sarita Pande
A Concerned NRI

Jun 26, 2022
Washington, D.C.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sarita Pandey is an artist, a digital media professional, and volunteers for
human rights advocacy groups. She lives in the DMV area. She posts her art
on instagram.com/saritatheobscure and tweets about issues she cares about
at twitter.com/saritapandey.

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