Leaders of corporate India have been urged to ‘de-fund’ the dissemination of false information and hate speech on news outlets and social media, according to a group of present and former faculty members at the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (IIMB). Eleven current and six retired IIMB faculty members have signed an open letter in their individual capacities to corporate India leaders highlighting the ‘fragile state of internal security with an increasing risk of violent conflicts in the country.’
The signatories noted that over the past few years, open and public displays of hatred towards minorities in public discourse have become widespread in India, in political discourse, television news, as well as on social media. They also noted that the use of othering, dehumanising, and demonic language when referring to minorities has reached alarming levels, and violent hate crimes, frequently committed by organised and radicalised groups, have increased.
‘The inaction of police and security forces during recent communal riots, as well as the acquittal or pardoning of culprits involved in rape and mass murder during previous instances of riots, coupled with the silence of authorities, has signalled a glaring level of complacency in place of urgency by the government,’ they said.
They added that these trends worry corporate India because they point to a rise in the likelihood of violent conflicts in the nation and warned that, in the worst-case scenario, such acts of violence could lead to genocide, which would destroy the nation’s social fabric and economy and cast a long, dark shadow over India’s future.
They continued: ‘Corporate India cannot afford to live with even a remote possibility of such a scenario in the 21st century as it seeks to expand to new frontiers of global growth and innovation.’
The signatories to the letter are: Anubha Dhasmana, Arpita Chatterjee, B K Chandrashekar, Deepak Malghan, Hema Swaminathan, Krishna T Kumar, Malay Bhattacharyya, Mira Bakhru, P D Jose, Prateek Raj, Raghavan Srinivasan, Rajluxmi V Murthy, Ritwik Banerjee, Shalique M S, Soham Sahoo, Srinivasan Murali, and Vinod Vyasulu.
The signatories noted that India has a long history of tolerance and the peaceful coexistence of other faiths, adding, ‘we would like to believe that the risk of large-scale violent conflicts or genocide in India is still small. However, this risk is no longer close to zero, as the rapidly increasing levels of radicalisation of citizens are fermenting an atmosphere conducive to large-scale violence being triggered due to unexpected disturbances.’
‘Even if India does evade such a risk, it is certain that the deteriorating social fabric in the country, due to increasing hate and dehumanising speech and radicalisation, shall inevitably lead to escalating violence and socioeconomic uncertainty, permanently paralysing the future of the country,’ they added.
The letter states that the leaders of corporate India have a significant and important role to play in preventing the spread of hate and misinformation, emphasising that maintaining peace, stability, and cohesion in the nation is of the utmost importance to corporate India and that without them India cannot become an economic powerhouse.
The former and current IIMB faculty make the following requests to business India: stop sponsoring hatred, promote accountable stakeholders, foster a friendly workplace environment, and speak out for fraternity.
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