Being a democracy, the Indian constitution provides every citizen the freedom of speech under Article 19. It means you can reasonably criticise the government, MPs, MLAs and any authority. You can raise your voice for your demands and the welfare of people. One can post anything freely on Facebook, Twitter etc. The existence of many NGOs, the occurrence of multiple protests against the government testifies this. In fact, I am writing this article freely on a public platform only because of this freedom.
Such freedom is rare in some other countries where the government can even kill you legally, in case of any opposition. India has many laws to promote such freedom, like the Right to Information (RTI) Act. But, this freedom is being snatched from citizens gradually, and very arbitrarily. Let’s analyse some facts and events in detail.
In 2016, some JNU students were arrested under charges of ‘sedition’, for protesting in the campus and allegedly sloganeering against Indian unity. They were even termed ‘anti-national’. It was claimed that such protests would disturb law and order on campus. But, there is still no proof of this accusation, and it also did not cause any sedition. The protest of students against certain university policies was wrongly showcased as sedition, and the laws were misused to curtail freedom of speech. This was enough to intimidate the youth.
Similarly, the recent arrest of some social activists for supporting Naxalism, without any substantial proof is a concern. Even the Supreme Court has condemned this action.
The RTI Act enables citizens to acquire any public information from any government department, through a formal online request. This was a landmark step to promote transparency, in any country. Many activists and NGOs used this access to reveal the rampant corruption in governance. However, this act lacked proper implementation, due to the delay in reply from officers, false and incomplete information, and lack of staff.
But instead of improving this, the government is mulling to amend the RTI Act, to get control of the salary and appointments of information commissioners who implemented this law. It will enable the government to mould commissioners’ decisions on RTI requests, and control any dissent against it. Further, the govt even did not put the bill for public debate which is itself against RTI’s transparency motive.
Similarly, the Whistleblower Protection Act, allows anyone to reveal ongoing corruption, to a competent authority for legal action, with complete anonymity and protection under the law. The government is proposing to amend this law by preventing any secret official information to be revealed by any citizen. In case, one reveals such information, it would be termed as a threat to India’s integrity, which obviously will only make activists reluctant to use this law.
The country is witnessing Hindutva nationalism, where anyone raising voice against exploitation of minorities is doomed to be suppressed. The recent incident with a celebrity like Naseeruddin Shah is a glaring example of that. If any artist expresses dissent against the government, he/she is bound to face the repercussions.
Interruption of Amol Palekar’s speech at the National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA) too, is a recent example of that. Many books and movies have been banned for similar reasons, which is a gross violation of freedom of artistic expression.
It is the responsibility of the government to ensure law and order, maintain the integrity of India, and take reasonable action, instead of misusing the law to curb reasonable speech. On the contrary, the radical and arbitrary steps taken are only further spreading hatred and violence in the country. Many laws like Section 124 of IPC exist even today, which were used by the British to curb freedom of our nationalists. Democracy is being endangered by suppressing people’s voice. There is a need to be aware of such violations and use our freedom of speech actively, without any fear, and strengthen India’s democratic credentials.