Voicing concern over incidents of intolerance, including the killing of Kannada thinker M M Kalburgi, a group of scientists has petitioned President Pranab Mukherjee, urging him to initiate “suitable actions”.
Holding that a highly polarised community is like a nuclear bomb close to criticality, they also appealed to the Centre and state governments to act against “anti-human, anti-civilisational act.”
“We, the scientists, are concerned about the recent developments with reference to intolerance, polarisation and spread of communal hatred resulting in the death of innocent people, rationalists,” they said.
The petition, signed by scientists and academicians including Naresh Dadich, former Director of Pune-based The Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA) and G Rajasekaran of The Institute of Mathematical Sciences (IMSc) besides some from Jawaharlal Nehru University and Harish-Chandra Research Institute, Allahabad, lauded the President advising people to show respect for all thoughts.
“We urge you to take serious note of these developments and initiate suitable actions,” it said.
In a separate petition to the Centre, state governments and people at large, they appealed to “stop the spread of communal hatred and polarisation in society,” pointing out that India had been a plural country where communities allowed space for each other.
