New Delhi: In solidarity with the retired civil servants who wrote a
letter last week to Prime Minister Narendra Modi holding him responsible
for the  “terrible state of affairs” in Kathua and Unnao, over 600
academics from India and abroad,  including Noam Chomsky and Lila
Abu-Lughod have also written an open letter to the prime minister
expressing their “deep anger and anguish” over these “monstrous crimes”
and the effort by the state governments concerned to protect the alleged
perpetrators.

“There is little evidence, in government action, of an appreciation
of the importance of providing assistance to vulnerable sections of the
society – whether through promotional measures aimed at enabling tribals
and nomads to have access to forest and common property rights, or
through preventive measures aimed at discouraging blatant breaches of
the rule of law,” says the letter.

Seeing ‘Pattern’ of Inaction, Over 600 Scholars Write to PM on Kathua, Unnao Rapes – The Wire