New Delhi: A group of 44 professionals associated with Harvard University—including academics, scientists and lawyers—has expressed concern over what it called coordinated attacks on India’s constitutional institutions.
Their remarks come amid ongoing protests by the “Karappan” party and the Congress-led INDIA alliance. The demonstrations oppose the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and demand the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
In an open letter, the signatories said India, as the world’s largest democracy, must protect public trust in institutions such as the Election Commission, the Supreme Court and the Enforcement Directorate. While the right to protest is fundamental, they argued that levelling allegations without evidence and running negative campaigns against constitutional bodies is unacceptable.
The letter also cautioned that portraying the country as being “under siege” and branding senior office-holders with derogatory labels could erode confidence in democratic systems. It urged that actions by law-enforcement agencies to maintain public order be assessed fairly, and called for respect and dignity for public offices.
Among those named as signatories are Rajat Sethi, A.K. Raghavan, Abigyan Satyam, Abhishek M, Aditya Srinivasan, Aditya Kulshreshtha, Akash Sabarwal, Uday Birje Raghunath, Priyambada Misra, Sujeet Kumar, Richa Arya and Rashmini Koparkar.
