'Silence not an option any more': faculty, students of IIMs to PM on hate speeches

A group of students and faculty members from the Indian Institutes of Management in Bengaluru and Ahmedabad flagged hate speech and attacks on minorities in a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday.

The letter, mailed to the Prime Minister’s Office, stated that PM's silence 'emboldens' voices of hate and urged him to steer the country away from forces that seek to divide the nation.

The letter has 183 signatories, including 13 faculty members of IIM Bangalore and three of IIM Ahmedabad.

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Prateek Raj, one of the five faculties of IIM Bangalore who drafted the letter, said that they took the initiative after realising that silence was not an option any more.

If voices of hate are loud, voices of reason should be louder, he added.

The letter comes in the wake of recent remarks about Muslims and Christians by BJP MP Tejasvi Surya and the dharma sansads or religious parliaments in Haridwar and Raipur where inflammatory and derogatory remarks were made by Hindu religious leaders.