India: Concerned Citizens Statement on the Tragic Circumstances of Khurshid Anwar’s Suicide

Statement on the Tragic Circumstances of Khurshid Anwar’s Suicide

We the undersigned are shocked at the manner in which a section of the electronic media and the social media vilified Khurshid Anwar, social activist and writer with regard to an allegation of rape against him, causing him to commit suicide today morning , the 18th of December, 2013. The allegation was never investigated by either the police, (there was no FIR) or any statutory body resulting in him being completely denied the opportunity of being heard or the allegation fairly investigated.

Without the due process of law the electronic and social media declare a person guilty even before trial. Due and fair process of law is necessary not only for the aggrieved but also for the accused.

We would like to also state categorically that this attitude of the media not only harms the cause of justice but also subjects people to unnecessary harassment.

Apoorvanand,

Kavita Srivastava

Mahtab Alam

Dipa Sinha

Sachin Jain

Aditya Srivastava

Dr. Binayak Sen

Biraj Patnaik

Dheeraj

Swati Narayan

Madhuri Krishnamurty

Purwa Bhardwaj

Kumar Sundaram

Manisha Sethi

Tanweer Fazal

Anusha Rizvi

Mahmood Farooqui

Poonam Girdhani

Fouzia Dastango

[The above statement has been endorsed by a large number of people. The full list with other names will be added here is the coming days ]