New Delhi, July 29: Days after 49 artists wrote an open letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on rising incidents of mob lynchings and intolerance and 62 intellectuals opposed it, 14 noted personalities on Monday condemned the 49 artistes stating that such statements cause an adverse effect on the harmonious atmosphere of the country. Even 112 veterans of the defence forces condemn the letter by 49 artists.

Issuing a counter-statement, these 14 renowned personalities expressed their disagreement with the open letter addressed to PM Modi. Among the 14 signatories, seven are from Gujarat itself and include Padma Shri historian Vishnu Pandya, former Vice Chancellors of Saurashtra University Kamlesh Joshipura & Kalpak Trivedi, Padma Shri cancer surgeon Devendra Patel, senior journalist Tarun Dattani, media academician Shirish Kashikar and noted danseuse Smita Shastri. Mob Lynching in India: Anurag Kashyap, Konkona Sen Sharma, Mani Ratnam and 46 Others Write Open Letter to PM Narendra Modi

Other seven eminent personalities include noted Gastroenterologist Dr Chandrashekhar from Chennai, former Vice-Chancellor of Himachal Pradesh University ADN Bajpai, Vice-Chancellor of Chennai-based Vinayak Mission University V R Rajendran, noted gynaecologist from Varanasi Shipra Dhar, noted gastroenterologist from Varanasi Hemant Gupta, leading lawyer from Allahabad High Court Rajendra Pande and senior lawyer at Delhi High court R P Luthra.

In the statement, the eminent personalities said, as Indian Express quotes, "The Prime Minister has repeatedly expressed concern to ensure that the incidents of mob lynchings do not occur. The Central Government has also specially asked state governments to make sure that such incidents do not happen. In such a situation, we clearly believe that it is necessary that intellectuals and artistes come out of negative mentality."

Calling the statement made by the intellectuals on mob lynchings and intolerance as 'biased, intentionally lacking in facts and delivered only to appease a particular section of the society' the group opined, "We express our complete disagreement with such a statement."

According to the counter-statement, issued by the 14 personalities, it says that the open letter to PM Modi  is an attempt to vitiate the atmosphere of peace and harmony in the country. Along with this, the statement also says that they (14 artists) may do some meeting of like-minded people on the issue in future.

Earlier last week, 49 eminent personalities from various fields have written an open letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, stressing their concern on rising incidents of mob lynchings and intolerance in the country, while 62 signatories condemned the open letter.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 29, 2019 05:33 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).