CHENNAI: Scientists and academics have joined the chorus of protest against what they say is the systematic spread of intolerance and communal hatred in the country. They have expressed their concern in a petition addressed to the President, which they plan to post to his office in a day or two.
About 135 scientists from leading academic and research institutions across the country and abroad have signed the petition, which expresses their unease over recent instances of intolerance, "deliberate polarisation and fanning of communal hatred resulting in the death of innocent people".
The petition was generated through a web-based campaign. It says the scientists "strongly condemn" the atrocities and "join the protest of litterateurs in awakening people and the central and state governments to the dangers of not acting".
They have urged the President to take "serious note" of the developments and initiate suitable action. The letter says peace and harmony are being "threatened by a rash of sectarian and bigoted acts that have recently escalated". Comparing a highly polarised society to "a nuclear bomb close to criticality", the letter says the situation can "explode any time and drive the nation to utter chaos".
The scientists have appealed to the government to take the strictest action against those who are killing "innocent people for eating beef, sensible people for being against superstition, RTI activists or whistle-blowers and many more innocent people with human values". Describing these acts as "anti-human", the letter says the people who even suggest such actions should be given punishment "beyond that reserved for anti-national activity".
The signatories include former director of Inter-University Center for Astronomy and Astrophysics (Pune) Naresh Dadhich; former director of Harish-Chandra Research Institute (Allahabad) H S Mani, and Tabish Qureshi of Jamia Millia Islamia (New Delhi); and scientists and academics from JNU, Institute of Physics (Bhubaneswar), IITs and other leading institutions.