Advertising on channels which spread divisiveness is bad not only on moral grounds but bad for business as well.

02 Nov 2020

We are a group of former officers of the All India and Central Services who have worked with the Central and State Governments in different capacities. We have come together as a group known as the Constitutional Conduct Group (CCG). This group does not support any political party but believes in impartiality, neutrality and commitment to the Constitution of India.

In the normal course, when we observe a flagrant violation of the principles embodied in the Constitution, we write letters or make open statements pointing this out to the concerned governments and to constitutional/statutory bodies. However, upholding the principles of the Constitution is not a function of governments alone. All of us, as individual citizens as well as members of various organisations in the country – social, political, professional or business – have a duty to uphold the values enshrined in the Constitution and to follow these principles both in our work as well as in our personal lives. Unfortunately, in recent times, we see growing discord and distrust among the people of the country and a steady erosion of democratic values with long term consequences for everyone.

Today, we are addressing this open letter not to the government but to an equally important segment of society, viz. the various companies, business houses and corporates in the country. These entities, responsible for wealth creation in the country, have not, we believe, been doing their bit in upholding the rights and freedoms spelt out in the Constitution. Sadly, an impression has gained ground that these bodies have preferred to look the other way even as a rising tide of hatred and divisiveness threatens the very foundations of our society.

Many well-established corporates have shown no hesitation in advertising their products on media channels which have made it a practice to ramp up their viewership by spewing hatred, creating divisions on the basis of religion and caste, manufacturing false narratives and making criminals out of law-abiding people. It is possible that these corporates have not given sufficient thought to how their acts have unwittingly strengthened the forces which divide the nation through deliberate false propaganda.

Our Constitution, as we know, guarantees fundamental rights to each and every one of its citizens. Article 15 of the Constitution prohibits discrimination on the grounds of religion, race, caste, sex and place of birth. It is a matter of concern for all of us that several media channels have gone against this fundamental right on a regular basis and yet receive advertisements from many companies. Channels which communalise the spread of COVID-19, allege that the UPSC has allowed Muslims to ‘infiltrate’ the higher civil services and dub sensitive advertisements about communal harmony as “Love Jihad” are unfortunately patronised by many corporates. Corporates often go by apparently doubtful TRP numbers to decide their policy for advertisements. It is certainly time to look beyond such technical considerations.

Advertising on channels which spread divisiveness is bad not only on moral grounds but bad for business as well. As several economists and social scientists have pointed out, investments tend to wither when there is unrest. And that is, unquestionably, what has been happening in India. India’s investment as a percentage of the nominal GDP has declined from 41.2% in Sept 2011 to 21.4% in June 2020. Many other growth parameters have been on a downward spiral too. Distrust, fear and uncertainty hurt not just the fabric of society but business as well.

In the midst of this gloom, a few corporates stand out like shining beacons: they have taken a stand against advertising on media channels which foment hatred and disharmony. We commend them for their initiative and courage. We also fervently hope that other corporates will follow their example. To all companies, business houses and corporate bodies we would like to say: let not any of your actions, even inadvertently, help forces that create discord and ill-will amongst our people. This country and its people deserve better. It is time to show, through both substantive and symbolic acts, that we uphold the principles of our Constitution and are committed to the peace and prosperity of all our citizens.

SATYAMEVA JAYATE

1	Anita Agnihotri	IAS (Retd.)	Former Secretary, Department of Social Justice Empowerment, GoI
2	Salahuddin Ahmad	IAS (Retd.)	Former Chief Secretary, Govt. of Rajasthan
3	Shafi Alam	IPS (Retd.)	Former Director General, National Crime Records Bureau, GoI
4	K. Saleem Ali	IPS (Retd.)	Former Special Director, CBI, GoI
5	S.P. Ambrose	IAS (Retd.)	Former Additional Secretary, Ministry of Shipping & Transport, GoI
6	G. Balachandhran	IAS (Retd.)	Former Additional Chief Secretary, Govt. of West Bengal
7	Vappala Balachandran	IPS (Retd.)	Former Special Secretary, Cabinet Secretariat, GoI
8	Gopalan Balagopal	IAS (Retd.)	Former Special Secretary, Govt. of West Bengal
9	Chandrashekhar Balakrishnan	IAS (Retd.)	Former Secretary, Coal, GoI
10	T.K. Banerji	IAS (Retd.)	Former Member, Union Public Service Commission
11	Sharad Behar	IAS (Retd.)	Former Chief Secretary, Govt. of Madhya Pradesh
12	Aurobindo Behera	IAS (Retd.)	Former Member, Board of Revenue, Govt. of Odisha
13	Madhu Bhaduri	IFS (Retd.)	Former Ambassador to Portugal
14	Pradip Bhattacharya	IAS (Retd.)	Former Additional Chief Secretary, Development & Planning and Administrative Training Institute, Govt. of West Bengal
15	Ravi Budhiraja	IAS (Retd.)	Former Chairman, Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust, GoI
16	Sundar Burra	IAS (Retd.)	Former Secretary, Govt. of Maharashtra
17	R. Chandramohan	IAS (Retd.)	Former Principal Secretary, Transport and Urban Development, Govt. of NCT of Delhi
18	Rachel Chatterjee	IAS (Retd.)	Former Special Chief Secretary, Agriculture, Govt. of Andhra Pradesh
19	Anna Dani	IAS (Retd.)	Former Additional Chief Secretary, Govt. of Maharashtra
20	Vibha Puri Das	IAS (Retd.)	Former Secretary, Ministry of Tribal Affairs, GoI
21	P.R. Dasgupta	IAS (Retd.)	Former Chairman, Food Corporation of India, GoI
22	Nareshwar Dayal	IFS (Retd.)	Former Secretary, Ministry of External Affairs and former High Commissioner to the United Kingdom
23	Pradeep K. Deb	IAS (Retd.)	Former Secretary, Deptt. Of Sports, GoI
24	Nitin Desai	IES (Retd.)	Former Secretary and Chief Economic Adviser, Ministry of Finance, GoI
25	Keshav Desiraju	IAS (Retd.)	Former Health Secretary, GoI
26	M.G. Devasahayam	IAS (Retd.)	Former Secretary, Govt. of Haryana
27	Sushil Dubey	IFS (Retd.)	Former Ambassador to Sweden
28	K.P. Fabian	IFS (Retd.)	Former Ambassador to Italy
29	Arif Ghauri	IRS (Retd.)	Former Governance Adviser, DFID, Govt. of the United Kingdom (on deputation)
30	Gourisankar Ghosh	IAS (Retd.)	Former Mission Director, National Drinking Water Mission, GoI
31	Suresh K. Goel	IFS (Retd.)	Former Director General, Indian Council of Cultural Relations, GoI
32	S.K. Guha	IAS (Retd.)	Former Joint Secretary, Department of Women & Child Development, GoI
33	H.S. Gujral	IFoS (Retd.)	Former Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, Govt. of Punjab
34	Meena Gupta	IAS (Retd.)	Former Secretary, Ministry of Environment & Forests, GoI
35	Ravi Vira Gupta	IAS (Retd.)	Former Deputy Governor, Reserve Bank of India
36	Wajahat Habibullah	IAS (Retd.)	Former Secretary, GoI and Chief Information Commissioner
37	Sajjad Hassan	IAS (Retd.)	Former Commissioner (Planning), Govt. of Manipur
38	Siraj Hussain	IAS (Retd.)	Former Secretary, Department of Agriculture, GoI
39	Kamal Jaswal	IAS (Retd.)	Former Secretary, Department of Information Technology, GoI
40	Najeeb Jung	IAS (Retd.)	Former Lieutenant Governor, Delhi
41	Rahul Khullar	IAS (Retd.)	Former Chairman, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India
42	Ajai Kumar	IFoS(Retd.)	Former Director, Ministry of Agriculture, GoI
43	Brijesh Kumar	IAS (Retd.)	Former Secretary, Department of Information Technology, GoI
44	P.K. Lahiri	IAS (Retd.)	Former ED, Asian Development Bank & Former Revenue Secretary, GoI
45	Aloke B. Lal	IPS (Retd.)	Former Director General (Prosecution), Govt. of Uttarakhand
46	Subodh Lal	IPoS (Resigned)	Former Deputy Director General, Ministry of Communications, GoI
47	B.B. Mahajan	IAS (Retd.)	Former Secretary, Deptt. of Food, GoI
48	Harsh Mander	IAS (Retd.)	Govt. of Madhya Pradesh
49	Aditi Mehta	IAS (Retd.)	Former Additional Chief Secretary, Govt. of Rajasthan
50	Sonalini Mirchandani	IFS (Resigned)	GoI
51	Noor Mohammad	IAS (Retd.)	Former Secretary, National Disaster Management Authority, Govt. of India
52	Avinash Mohananey	IPS (Retd.)	Former Director General of Police, Govt. of Sikkim
53	Deb Mukharji	IFS (Retd.)	Former High Commissioner to Bangladesh and former Ambassador to Nepal
54	Shiv Shankar Mukherjee	IFS (Retd.)	Former High Commissioner to the United Kingdom
55	Pranab S. Mukhopadhyay	IAS (Retd.)	Former Director, Institute of Port Management, GoI
56	Nagalsamy	IA&AS (Retd.)	Former Principal Accountant General, Tamil Nadu & Kerala
57	Sobha Nambisan	IAS (Retd.)	Former Principal Secretary (Planning), Govt. of Karnataka
58	P.G.J. Nampoothiri	IPS (Retd.)	Former Director General of Police, Govt. of Gujarat
59	P. Joy Oommen	IAS (Retd.)	Former Chief Secretary, Govt. of Chhattisgarh
60	S.K. Pachauri	IAS (Retd.)	Former Director General, National Productivity Council, GoI
61	Amitabha Pande	IAS (Retd.)	Former Secretary, Inter-State Council, GoI
62	Mira Pande	IAS (Retd.)	Former State Election Commissioner, West Bengal
63	Alok Perti	IAS (Retd.)	Former Secretary, Ministry of Coal, GoI
64	R. Poornalingam	IAS (Retd.)	Former Secretary, Ministry of Textiles, GoI
65	V.P. Raja	IAS (Retd.)	Former Chairman, Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission
66	K. Sujatha Rao	IAS (Retd.)	Former Health Secretary, GoI
67	M.Y. Rao	IAS (Retd.)
68	Satwant Reddy	IAS (Retd.)	Former Secretary, Chemicals and Petrochemicals, GoI
69	Vijaya Latha Reddy	IFS (Retd.)	Former Deputy National Security Adviser, GoI
70	Julio Ribeiro	IPS (Retd.)	Former Adviser to Governor of Punjab & former Ambassador to Romania
71	Aruna Roy	IAS (Resigned)
72	A.K. Samanta	IPS (Retd.)	Former Director General of Police (Intelligence), Govt. of West Bengal
73	Deepak Sanan	IAS (Retd.)	Former Principal Adviser (AR) to Chief Minister, Govt. of Himachal Pradesh
74	G. Sankaran	IC&CES (Retd.)	Former President, Customs, Excise and Gold (Control) Appellate Tribunal
75	N.C. Saxena	IAS (Retd.)	Former Secretary, Planning Commission, GoI
76	A. Selvaraj	IRS (Retd.)	Former Chief Commissioner, Income Tax, Chennai, GoI
77	Ardhendu Sen	IAS (Retd.)	Former Chief Secretary, Govt. of West Bengal
78	Abhijit Sengupta	IAS (Retd.)	Former Secretary, Ministry of Culture, GoI
79	Aftab Seth	IFS (Retd.)	Former Ambassador to Japan
80	Ashok Kumar Sharma	IFoS (Retd.)	Former MD, State Forest Development Corporation, Govt. of Gujarat
81	Ashok Kumar Sharma	IFS (Retd.)	Former Ambassador to Finland and Estonia
82	Navrekha Sharma	IFS (Retd.)	Former Ambassador to Indonesia
83	Raju Sharma	IAS (Retd.)	Former Member, Board of Revenue, Govt. of Uttar Pradesh
84	Tirlochan Singh	IAS (Retd.)	Former Secretary, National Commission for Minorities, GoI
85	Narendra Sisodia	IAS (Retd.)	Former Secretary, Ministry of Finance, GoI
86	A.K. Srivastava	IAS (Retd.)	Former Administrative Member, Madhya Pradesh Administrative Tribunal
87	Sanjivi Sundar	IAS (Retd.)	Former Secretary, Ministry of Surface Transport, GoI
88	Parveen Talha	IRS (Retd.)	Former Member, Union Public Service Commission
89	Thanksy Thekkekera	IAS (Retd.)	Former Additional Chief Secretary, Minorities Development, Govt. of Maharashtra
90	P.S.S. Thomas	IAS (Retd.)	Former Secretary General, National Human Rights Commission
91	Geetha Thoopal	IRAS (Retd.)	Former General Manager, Metro Railway, Kolkata
92	Hindal Tyabji	IAS (Retd.)	Former Chief Secretary rank, Govt. of Jammu & Kashmir
93	Jawed Usmani	IAS (Retd.)	Former Chief Information Commissioner, Uttar Pradesh
94	Ashok Vajpeyi	IAS (Retd.)	Former Chairman, Lalit Kala Akademi
95	Ramani Venkatesan	IAS (Retd.)	Former Director General, YASHADA, Govt. of Maharashtra