104 former IAS officers write to Yogi Adityanath; says UP has become epicenter of politics of hate
Asks Yogi Adityanath, other politicians to “re-educate about Constitution they have sworn to uphold
New Delhi: 104 former IAS officers have written a letter to Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath adding that his state has become “the epicenter of politics of hate, division, and bigotry. The list of officers includes former National Security Adviser Shivshankar Menon, former Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao, and former Adviser to the Prime Minister TKA Nair.
In the letter, the former officers have demanded the immediate withdrawal of the “illegal ordinance” on anti-conversion. The signatories also said all politicians including the Chief Minister, need to “re-educate yourselves about the Constitution which you have sworn to uphold”
“UP, once known as the cradle of the Ganga-Jamuna civilization, has become the epicenter of the politics of hate, division, and bigotry, and institutions of governance are now steeped in communal poison," the letter said.
"... A series of heinous atrocities committed by your administration against young Indians across Uttar Pradesh... Indians who are simply seeking to live their lives as free citizens of a free country."
The letter also brought to the notice, several instances of minorities in the state being targeted. It also included the horrific case of Moradabad in the state wherein earlier this month, two men were allegedly accosted by Bajrang Dal, dragged to the police station and arrested on allegations that one of them had forced a Hindu girl to marry him.
The letter further condemned the behavior of the police during the incident and called in in-excusable.
"What is inexcusable is the police remained mute as vigilantes harassed and interrogated the innocent couple. (The woman) suffered a miscarriage, possibly as a result of harassment," the letter said, quoting an Indian Express report that said the husband told the attackers his wife was pregnant.
"These atrocities regardless of indignation of Indians devoted to rule of law, continue unabated. The anti-conversion ordinance... is being used as a stick to victimize especially those Indian men who are Muslim and women who dare to exercise their freedom of choice," they added.
"...various High Courts, including the Allahabad High Court, have ruled unequivocally that choosing one's life partner is a fundamental right guaranteed under the Constitution, the state of UP is blithely undermining that very Constitution," the signatories said.
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Two injuries, one DNF, a DQ as India end messy World Relays campaign
Gaborone (Botswana) (PTI): Amoj Jacob and Ragul Kumar got injured during the men's 4x400m and 4x100 races respectively as India ended their World Athletics Relays campaign in disappointment on the second day of competitions here on Sunday.
The Indian camp had high hopes of making the 2027 World Championships in the men's 4x400m relay but the team did not finish (DNF) the race as Jacob suffered cramps and pulled out of the race after taking the baton from the first leg runner Dharamveer Choudhary. Rajesh Ramesh and Vishal TK were to run in the third and fourth legs.
Those teams which could not qualify for the 2027 Beijing World Championships by reaching the final round of each of the six relay events on Saturday were given another chance in the second qualification round on Sunday.
The top two teams in each of the two heats (in all six relay events) booked the Beijing ticket on Sunday.
India will now have to try and qualify for the World Championships through the Top Lists of the World Athletics, which is a long and tedious process.
In the men's 4x100m race, third leg runner Ragul Kumar fell down the track after failing to hand over the baton inside the exchange zone to fourth leg runner Gurindervir Singh, which clearly showed the lack of coordination among the runners.
Harsh Santosh Raut and Animesh Kujur ran the first two legs.
The Indian quartet was disqualified and Kumar was seen being taken away from the Field of Play with the help of the volunteers.
It was a comedy of errors in the case of the women's 4x100m race, which saw the baton being dropped during an exchange between first leg runner Tamanna and second runner Nithya Gandhe, though the Indians finished the race in 53.09 seconds.
Gandhe started running quite a distance, but after realising that the baton was not in her hand, she turned and ran back to pick it up.
The only silver-lining for the Indian contingent was the national record time in the mixed 4x100m relay race, though the quartet of Ragul Kumar, Nithya Gandhe, Animesh Kujur and Sneha SS finished sixth in heat number two with a time of 41.35 seconds, bettering the previous national mark of 42.30 seconds set in March in Chandigarh.
The mixed 4x400m relay quartet of Theerthesh P Shetty, Kumari Saloni, Nihal William and Rashdeep Kaur ended at fifth in heat number one with a time of 3 minutes and 19.40 seconds.
On Saturday, all the five Indian relay teams had failed to make it to the respective final rounds and thus missed out on the 2027 World Championships berths.
