Agencies
New Delhi, Apr 15: As thousands of people hit the streets across the country to express outrage over the rapes in Kathua and Unnao, a group of 50 retired civil servants wrote an open letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, holding him responsible for what they called a "terrifying state of affairs".
The letter criticized in strongest terms what they dubbed the government's failure "in performing the most basic of the responsibilities given to it by the people".
Expressing concern over the "decline in the secular, democratic, and liberal values enshrined in our constitution", the scathing letter said: "The bestiality and the barbarity involved in the rape and murder of an eight year-old child shows the depths of depravity that we have sunk into.
In post-Independence India, this is our darkest hour and we find the response of our Government, the leaders of our political parties inadequate and feeble".
The letter did not spare the serving bureaucrats either, saying they "seem to have failed in their duty".
The rape and murder of the 8-year-old in Jammu and Kashmir's Kathua shocked the country after a police chargesheet exposed the horrifying details of the case. Armed with candles, placards and enormous outrage, thousands of people came out on the streets this evening. Marches and sit in protests were held across metros and small towns -- Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Goa, Thiruvananthapuram, Ajmer, Bhopal and Chandigarh. |
