104 ex-bureaucrats Vs 250 Retired officers over ‘love jihad’ law in UP, latter back Yogi govt

New Delhi: The ‘love jihad’ law, recently legislated by Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh has triggered a ‘letter war’ between ex-bureaucrats and retired officers including bureaucrats, Army officers, Judiciary and others.

A Forum of Concerned Citizens, comprising of over 250 Retired officers has written a letter to Chief Minister endorsing the ‘Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Ordinance 2020’ and the motive behind it.

In the letter, the group of Army and former bureaucrats said that the legislation rightly provides that the marriages done for sole purpose of unlawful conversion can be declared by Family courts.

Terming the letter by 104 ex-bureaucrats, a ‘politically motivated pressure-group’, they said that they don’t represent thousands of civil servants who believe in New India emerging as the greatest democracies of the world.

Taking strong objection to Ganga-Jamni reference by 104 former bureaucrats, they said a highly distorted reference was given to wrongly criticise UP law on unlawful conversions.

The concerned citizens said ‘we totally reject and dissociate from mis-conceived view of some of our fellow retired civil servants.’

What 104 ex-bureaucrats wrote in letter to CM Yogi

A group of 104 retired bureaucrats wrote to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, expressing “deep disapproval” and concern at use of “love jihad” law.

Demanding withdrawal of the illegal ordinance, the letter said, “It has become painfully evident that, in recent years, UP, once known as the cradle of the Ganga-Jamuna civilisation, has become the epicentre of the politics of hate, division and bigotry and that the institutions of governance are now steeped in communal poison…”

Noted signatories included retired bureaucrats like Shiv Shankar Menon, Wajahat Habibullah, T K A Nair, K Sujatha Rao, and A S Dulat.