Celebrities react on FIR lodged for writing an open letter on mob lynching

Recently, an FIR was lodged against 49 Bollywood celebrities including Anurag Kashyap, Aparna Sen, Shyam Benegal, Mani Ratnam and many others, who wrote an open letter to Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi. They had raised concern over growing incidents of mob lynching in India.According to reports, the case was lodged after an order was passed by Chief Judicial Magistrate Surya Kant Tiwari two months ago on a petition filed by local advocate Sudhir Kumar Ojha.Moreover, the police stated that the FIR was lodged under sections of the Indian Penal Code, including those relating to sedition, public nuisance, hurting religious feelings and insulting with intent to provoke breach of peace.The open letter stated that the lynching of Muslims, Dalits and other minorities must be stopped immediately, while stressing there was “no democracy without dissent”. It also noted that the ‘Jai Shri Ram’ slogan was reduced to a “provocative war cry”.In response, veteran filmmaker Shyam Benegal, who is one of the 49 celebrities against whom an FIR has been lodged for alleged sedition, said the case makes “no sense”.Benegal asserted that their letter addressed to Modi in July was just an appeal and not a threat that will disturb peace. “The letter was just an appeal. Whatever the motive of the people, who are accepting the FIR and charging us with all kinds of things, it makes no sense to me. It was a letter appealing to the Prime Minister. It is not a threat or anything that will cause disturbance of peace or enmity between community,” the director told the Press Trust of India (PTI). He further questioned, “What is the meaning of it? Is it a threat to the PM or to the government or anyone? There is nothing. It is just an appeal. So why an FIR?” 

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