On Tuesday, 23 July, a group of 49 celebrities signed an open letter to the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi raising the concerns about a number of tragic events that have been happening in recent times.
Celebs like Mani Ratnam, Adoor Gopalakrishnan, Anurag Kashyap, Shyam Benegal, Shubha Mudgal, Konkona Sensharma are among the 49 prominent members who wrote the letter.
From the lynching of Dalits and minorities, the increasing cases of hate crimes in the country, to the acts of violence in the name of religion - the open letter questions the Prime Minister of what action has been taken against the perpetrators.
The letter ends stating, “Criticising the ruling party does not imply criticising the nation. No ruling party is synonymous with the country where it is in power. It is only one of the political parties of that country. Hence anti-government stands cannot be equated with anti-national sentiments."