By Matters India Reporter
Mumbai, June 4, 2026: A joint statement signed by more than 140 activists, academics, former ministers, artists and scientists has warned of “all out fratricide” in India following violent attacks on opposition leaders in West Bengal.
The statement, titled “Is India on the Verge of a Fratricide and will Silence be our only answer?”, condemns the “utter and complete breakdown of any semblance of the Rule of Law” after assaults on Members of Parliament Abhishek Banerjee and Kalyan Banerjee.
“These violent attacks — while Central forces are still deployed in the state — not only signify the utter and complete breakdown of any semblance of the Rule of Law in West Bengal,” the signatories declared. “They send out grim warning signals to the rest of the country.”
The document also criticized the conduct of the Central Election Commission, noting that “91 lakh previous voters [were] divested of their voting rights.” The statement linked the violence to what it described as unchecked repression following the May 2026 assembly election results.
Signatories include former union minister Yashwant Sinha, rights activist Teesta Setalvad, Gandhian Tushar Gandhi, Jesuit leaders Father Frazer Mascarenhas and Cedric Prakash, filmmaker Avinash Das, and photographer Ram Rahman.
The statement recalled the 2001 assassination of MP Phoolan Devi, when Parliament “took note” of the attack. In contrast, the signatories said today’s institutions have responded with “institutional freeze and silence.”
“We remain mute spectators only to our own peril,” the statement warned, urging citizens to organize and speak out against violence and repression.
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