Lucknow: A group of former bureaucrats of Uttar Pradesh has written an open letter alleging a 'complete breakdown of governance' and blatant violation of law in the state. 

In the four-page letter, the officials alleged arbitrary detentions and torture of peaceful protesters. They further demanded an end to extrajudicial killings and targeting of Muslim men.

The letter has been signed by over 200 eminent citizens. The former bureaucrats alleged that extrajudicial killings, targeting of Muslim men with the law against "love jihad", alleged misuse of the National Security Act in the name of cow slaughter and against dissenters.

The letter also mentioned that the Covid crisis in the state was poorly managed, pointing to the uncounted deaths, flown of dead bodies in river Ganga and complete breakdown of the healthcare system in the state. 

"We note with mounting alarm that the present ruling dispensation in UP has ushered in a model of governance which swerves further and further away from the values of the Constitution and the rule of law with each passing day," former bureaucrats stated in the letter. 

"It seems clear that all branches of the administration, including the executive magistrates and the police, have collapsed. We fear that, unless checked now, the damage to the polity and institutions in the state will result in the decay and destruction of democracy itself," bureaucrats warned. 

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The letter pointed out on alleged assault on peaceful protesters, and it also mentioned the arrest of Kerala based journalist Siddique Kappan, who was served judicial custody for his way to Hathras to report on the brutal gang-rape of a Dalit woman and the "complicity of the administration in the hurried overnight cremation of her body that had caused national outrage".

  "Kappan has so far spent more than 200 days in prison. More recently, these repressive measures have taken the form of punitive actions against those highlighting lethal shortcomings in UP's healthcare system," mentioned in the letter. 

"Since coming to power, the bias of the present government of UP against Muslims has been open and uninhibited… Further, keeping in mind the forthcoming elections, we apprehend that such actions by the UP government, if not controlled, may cause communal polarisation and disturbances.", pointed out in the letter.