Connoisseurs of humour know that all genuine humour is underlaid with wisdom, which provides the actual punch. And so it was that, when I read the recent open letter issued by 124 retired civil servants defending Gyanesh Kumar and his nefarious doings, I was reminded of the sage words of Maurice Switzer: "It is better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt." I was not surprised by this epistle, however, for my Whatsapp groups have a dense population of such bureaucrats, closet members of Mr. Modi's tribe. What did surprise me, however, is that for once they chose to speak out (on the wrong side of history, yes, but they did come out of their burrows), because such people are more comfortable in the security of the woodwork and like to hedge their bets. They do not rock boats, they never take a stand, they always worship the rising sun, and they know which side of their bread is buttered. I suspect they were persuaded to say "Aye" by Mr. Modi's gentle persuaders- a few crumbs, loaves and charge-sheets might have been traded- to sign on the dotted lines (not difficult, for it is something they have done for most of their careers).
A word about the signatories to the letter would not be out of place. Most of them are faceless wonders, which is as it should be since their faces have egg, if not worse, all over them by now. A couple have been accused of embezzlement and corruption; one displayed his bigotry and misogyny brazenly at an event in a ladies' college some time back; yet another, now a Chancellor of ,a central University, has been an acolyte of the BJP for a long time; some are working with right-wing organisations like the Vivekanand Foundation and ORG, one is on record stating that he has issued orders under political pressure! Not exactly the kind of "concerned" citizens who can be trusted to objectively comment on the doings of this regime and its puppets like the Election Commission. In short, their credentials are highly suspect.
The letter itself is a manifesto of the ignorant and a charter of obsequiousness. It praises the Election Commission of India for its "historical" achievements (which, needless to say, belong to the past and not the present dispensation), supports SIR as a much-needed exercise, condemns those who are asking for Gyanesh Kumar's resignation, and backs Modi's regime to the hilt. (It has to be the hilt, because they have impaled themselves upon this sacerdotal sword in true hara-kiri style.) The windmill this G24 is tilting at is clearly the letters issued earlier by another group of civil servants, the CCG (Constitutional Conduct Group) which has, over the last ten years, established a sterling reputation for taking a principled stand on many issues where it felt the government had violated constitutional values, rights and provisions. Maybe the heat was getting to someone in the kitchen?
I shall not try to counter and expose the fallacies, downright untruths, lack of logic and distortion of facts in the G124 letter: that has already been done very ably and comprehensively by MG Devasahayam, a senior retired IAS officer, with facts and figures in an article in The Wire (Ex-civil servants defending SIR are wrong) on 16th October 2026.
Nothing, however, proves how wrong these letter writers are than the conduct of the Election Commission itself over the last few days since the second round of protests in Delhi. It has practically admitted its guilt and culpability in the SIR fiasco. By gradually (and quietly) rolling back and reversing some of the draconian and illegal provisons of this exercise of exclusion it has validated the charges against it. Just to recapitulate, in the last couple of weeks it has taken the following decisions:
* The mischievous declaration attached to Form 6 has been removed.
* Access to ECINET has been restored for the EROs (but not yet, strangely, for the Tribunal judges in Bengal!)
* A technical Committee has been set up to audit the suspect ECINET software.
* It has admitted that the two Election Commissioners had indeed written to the Cabinet Secretary about the irregularities in the body.
*A cap has now been imposed on the number of infamous Forms 7 which can be submitted by one person.
*A special drive has been started to include the left out/deleted voters in the states where SIR has concluded.
* In the 17 such states an SSR (Special Summary Revision) has been initiated, to enroll voters who have turned 18 and had been left out of the SIR.
*Machine readable voter rolls in pdf format shall now be provided to all candidates.
*List of deletions/additions shall be provided to all political parties.
* The ECI has implicitly admitted that it does not have any list or details of Amit Shah's "ghuspaitiyas" or termites (the oft stated reason for SIR given by Gyanesh Kumar) among the 130 million deleted voters.
This is as comprehensive a guilty plea as any ever submitted by any accused to any court. For these actions/ information was precisely what the the entire Opposition and civil society activists had been demanding for months but the imperious Gyanesh Kumar had been refusing to provide, instead ordering the LOP to furnish an affidavit first! His admission now strengthens the belief that all this was done (for the BJP) to win the elections in Bengal and Bihar. Wait for that admission too, as the noose around the ECI tightens.
Finally, the G124 letter is not a legitimate expression of differing views or free speech, as its apologists may claim. It is an expression of support and encouragement for authoritarianism, intolerance, electoral cleansing, denial of fundamental rights and exclusion, and no civilised nation can countenance this kind of rhetoric. It is dangerous for democracy and the rule of law. It has tarnished the reputation of the civil services. For, at the end of the day, any one who supports wrong doing is just as guilty of it as the prime mover himself. In the words of Nelson Mandela, in an appeal to his people issued from a prison cell:
"Will you come along with us, or are you going to cooperate with the government in its efforts to suppress the claims and aspirations of your own people? "
The people of India deserve an answer from this rump of civil servants.
Till the Supreme Court does not do his/her duty to the protect the Constitution of India nothing will happen. In my opinion these are just superficial steps taken by EC with consultation with the Supreme Court Let us wait for the final order in this case which is pending before SC.My hunch tells me that would be a mild order.
ReplyDeleteIt never ceases to amaze (and yes) depress me too, when educated folk cannot/refuse to see the truth and instead keep their heads burrowed in the dung.
ReplyDeleteI had always assumed that those who get selected to the Civil Services are individuals who have been through the educational grind. Appears that was a wrong yardstick because the lot who have signed on the letter have proved that they are no better than the village idiot. A rather unfair comparison because even that worthy has the sense to see the lies.
This nation SHALL overcome!
This is the first time I have ever commented on a blog post, but your analysis compelled me to break my silence. You have hit the nail squarely on the head.
ReplyDeleteYour words resonate deeply with my own journey—a 76-year carefree romp that began in 1953 at the YOL Camp, took me through the Shimla Sabzi Mandi in 1958, and eventually led me to training organic farmers at Bird Peck Organics in Kasauli starting in 1996. When this very same political outfit hounded me for a whole decade, one of your Himachal cadre contemporaries happened to be my immediate boss. Sadly, I learned firsthand that not every Himachali’s heart beats for a fellow Himachali in distress. It made me wish, profoundly, that someone with your spine had been my senior during those years.
As someone who has already published a dog companion book featuring a foreword by Dr. Vandana Shiva, I rarely find commentaries that articulate the core ethos and letdowns of the civil services with such precision.
Thank you for writing what many know to be true but seldom have the bravery to publish. I will be following your work closely.
A fine, comprehensive analysis. I hope bureaucracts who do not associate themselves with "G124" will now come out to condemn the most dastardly letter.
ReplyDeleteLooks like all is lost. A pliant judiciary, a silenced press, and a spineless bureaucracy have given the fascists the power and the authority that they should never have had. Resistance, be it the protests lead Nera Bora and Abhijeet Dipke will be smothered because people are so hopelessly indoctrinated to believe that Modi and Hindutva alone are their saviors.
ReplyDeleteThe Constitutional Conduct Group, by Mr. Shukla’s own description, “has established a sterling reputation of taking a principled stand on issues where it felt the government had violated constitutional values.”.
ReplyDeleteWhy then has it remained unresponsive as a collective to the open letter of 10th October 2026 written by the G124 to the citizens of India? It was one solitary member, M. G. Devasahayam, who challenged the G124 with a public rebuttal in his individual capacity, through his penetrative analysis in The Wire on 16th October 2026. Had this come as an expression under the aegis of the CCG, it would have directly challenged the G124 word for word on the same platform. That did not happen.
It did write on the 7th October 2026, an open letter to the currently employed fellow brothers and sisters of the Civil Services on the need to stand upright despite pressures from the high and mighty. If such avuncular guidance and benign roadmapping is what it rises to as a body, leaving the heavier task to one fearless member who has excelled similarly in the past, then the CCG risks sounding like the voice that speaks from caution, reluctant to meet peer-challenge head-on. Invectives on personal blog sites, likewise, do not travel far. While the G124 could well write in the defence of the EC, CEC and the ruling regime, it was understandably a far more courageous ask for the CCG to refute them, for in doing so it was taking on the government directly. By choosing silence, has it lost the right to place a brotherly hand on the shoulders of its juniors in service and guide them through hell and high water, one muses?
Corrigendum:
ReplyDeleteIt is observed that Mr. Shukla released this very content as an article in the National Herald, an hour after blogging it here on the 25th October. That necessitates mentioning that the CCG has not merely one fearless member in its midst, but two with valour to challenge the ruling dispensation with the power of their pen. More vim and vigour to you Sir, though the a broader reply from the CCG to your peers coalescing as 124 Gs would have brought synergy to your and MGD's efforts.