New Delhi- In a deeply moving tribute on Father's Day, the children of former Gujarat IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt have expressed their profound love, pride, and resilience amid years of family separation. Aakashi Bhatt and Shantanu Bhatt shared an open letter addressed to their father, marking the eighth consecutive Father's Day they have spent without him due to his prolonged incarceration.

"This is the 8th Father’s Day we are spending torn apart from one another. When people hear the word father, they often think of a provider, a protector, a parent. But to us, you have been infinitely more than that. You have been our friend, guide, mentor, our biggest inspiration, fiercest supporter, our moral compass, our strength … our very soul! Everything we are today, every value we hold, every conviction we carry, every ounce of courage we possess, begins with you!" the siblings shared in a post on x through their father's handle.

They highlighted the values he instilled, noting, "If we wanted to know what courage looked like, we only had to look at you … If we wanted to know what integrity looked like, we only had to look at you." The letter contrasts their father's principles with those they perceive in others in power: "We have watched lesser men, drunk on power make decisions that have profoundly and painfully altered the course of countless lives."

Aakashi and Shantanu emphasized the pride they draw from his unyielding character: "They will never know the immeasurable privilege of being the children of a man whose character cannot be compromised, whose conscience cannot be intimidated, and whose spirit cannot be broken!" They praised him as a living hero who chose "principle over comfort" and "truth over safety."

The letter reflects on lessons learned from their father: "You taught us that courage is not a dramatic act performed in a single moment of heroism, rather it is a habit … a way of moving through the world, a quiet refusal to compromise one's principles, even when compromise would make life easier. It is the willingness to stand alone when standing with the crowd would be safer. It is the ability to look adversity directly in the eye and refuse to surrender your humanity to it. From you, we learned to never remain silent in the face of injustice, to fight for what is right, no matter the consequences, to face adversity with our heads held high, to walk into storms rather than run from them and to never allow the fire in our hearts and the courage in our souls to be extinguished. You taught us that hope is not naïveté, rather it is defiance. It is the refusal to allow injustice the final word … it is the belief that truth survives even when buried, that justice survives even when delayed, and that goodness survives even when punished."

It concludes with hope and defiance: "Here's to the day our family is whole again .... To many more years of laughter, love, arguments about books, terrible jokes, shared meals, listening to music and, as you would say, continuing to 'build character.' Happy Father's Day, Dad! We love you to infinity and beyond and we are immensely proud to be your children!!"

Who is Sanjiv Bhatt and why has he been jailed?

Sanjiv Bhatt is a former Indian Police Service (IPS) officer of the Gujarat cadre who gained prominence as a whistleblower. He filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court regarding the 2002 Gujarat riots, alleging that then-Chief Minister Narendra Modi had instructed officials to allow Hindus to vent their anger against Muslims during the violence. He was removed from service in 2015 on grounds of unauthorised absence.

Bhatt has faced multiple legal cases. He has been serving a life imprisonment sentence since June 2019, awarded by a Jamnagar court in connection with a 1990 custodial death case involving the alleged torture of a person named Prabhudas Vaishnani during riots-related arrests.

He has also been convicted in a separate 1996 drug-planting case (sentenced to 20 years in 2024), where he was accused of falsely implicating a lawyer. Appeals and bail pleas have been rejected by higher courts, including the Supreme Court as recently as 2025. Supporters often view his convictions as politically motivated retaliation for his stance on the 2002 riots, while authorities maintain they are based on evidence from independent cases. He remains incarcerated, with his family continuing to advocate for his release.

The emotional letter has resonated widely on social media, sparking discussions on justice, courage, and the personal cost of standing by one's principles.