IIt’s a strange thing, but last month, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi was telling us how terrible the Emergency was with restrictions on freedom of speech, his own policemen and political class allies were trying to revive its spirit.
Many terrible things happened during Indira Gandhi’s Emergency (June 1975 to March 1977) – the regime shut down the opposition, abused the Constitution, sterilized youths and killed people – but it was because of her free speech. There was a cut in authority that affected the general. citizens the most.
We all know about press censorship, but what young people don’t remember well (or don’t know at all) is the climate of fear that has engulfed citizens. It reached a point where common people were afraid to say anything criticizing the regime. People had something bad to say about Sanjay Gandhi, the dreaded clown of the Emergency, so they first looked around to see if anyone else was listening. To joke about the regime in a public place where you could be heard was to risk harassment.
that time is upon us again
It is not my case that the emergency is back. But it is hard to deny that we now live in a society where freedom of expression is under attack and politicians will abuse the law to punish anyone who dares to say anything against them.
The special thing is that only the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government at the Center is not suppressing the right to freedom of expression. Almost every party in every state is doing this by using the law and the police to suppress dissent or criticism. Worse yet, no one is doing anything significant to oppose it: not the media, and certainly not the judiciary.
Some countries – such as the US – guarantee the right to free speech. Others, including many European countries, establish the principle of free speech, but exclude hate speech, racism and the like. In India, we have inherited a colonial system of law, where freedom of expression was not valued. The early leaders of independent India were hurt by Partition, worried about possible separatist movements and unsure that India would stay together. Therefore, he kept several repressive laws on the books. The Emergency was also completely legal – the Constitution had provisions for curtailment of fundamental rights.
The founders of India believed that the politicians after them would be honest people who would not misuse these laws. they were wrong. The Emergency proved this. And today’s politicians prove it time and again every day.
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what’s happening on the ground
Let’s forget for a moment the big case of the day: Twitter is fighting the government in the Karnataka High Court over what it says is an attempt to curtail free expression on the platform. I have little respect for the role Twitter itself has played in playing the government (though not as brash as the role of Facebook and WhatsApp) over the years. So let’s not go into it.
Let us also forget the global criticism of India’s lack of freedom of expression as these are our internal affairs and we should not be too worried about what foreigners say.
But let’s look at very real examples at the ground level.
What about the harassment of Mohammad Zubair, the co-founder of fact-checking site Alt News? The case against him is a joke. It is based on an old tweet in which he had referred to a decade-old Hrishikesh Mukherjee film. Because the authorities know that, eventually, the case will collapse on its own, they have added new, unrelated charges and involved the Uttar Pradesh Police. When this case fails, the other will take over. Enforcement Directorate will be involved in this. And so on.
Also consider the recent arrest attempt by the Chhattisgarh Police. Zee News Anchor Rohit Ranjan for circulating a distorted video of Rahul Gandhi. It is not anybody’s position that the video should have been aired. but Zee News Have apologized, and there are certain sections of civil law that can be used against Ranjan. So why should a police team travel from Congress-ruled Chhattisgarh to Uttar Pradesh to arrest the anchor? Worse yet, Ranjan only escaped arrest from Chhattisgarh officials as the UP police came to his aid and took him away, accusing him of a petty crime, which allowed him to be released the next day.
What kind of society do we live in when journalists face arrest for their reporting and where they have to depend on friendly state governments and their police forces for their security?
Or consider the case of Marathi actress Ketki Chitale. she was Arrested For a Facebook post by the Maharashtra Police, the state government said it was critical of Sharad Pawar, the godfather of the previous Maharashtra government. There is no actual case against Chitale, but he spent more than a month in jail after 22 FIRs were registered against him. It took him so long to get bail.
I could go on. There are many such examples. It is not just the pressure on the media, which is generally content to follow the line of government as in 1975 and 1976. The dangerous and worrying part of this attack on freedom of expression is the modern day equivalent of the Emergency era. Chat in public places – Post to Facebook or Twitter.
Judiciary too?
I can’t think of any other country that regards itself as a liberal democracy and says it respects free speech, but where the rights of individuals are crushed with such reckless abandon. .
Most of the mainstream media is afraid to strongly oppose it. But what about the judiciary?
Indian judges have shown that they can act with speed and decisiveness in certain cases: Arnab Goswami and Tajinder Bagga come to mind. But, for the most part, they are content to let the process become a punishment. The trial court will always listen to the police and refuse bail, no matter how ridiculous the allegation. Even if the police say they do not need further custody, judges will send those who have no real case against them to judicial custody for several days.
Still, the higher judiciary does nothing. We have been begging the Supreme Court to ensure that judges follow the old adage that bail is the rule and jail is the exception.
Could it be that the judges are not ready to make waves? that they are intimidated by the organized attacks by the two judges recently encountered On his remarks in Nupur Sharma case?
I don’t know But the truth is that when the police get furious at the behest of politicians, you are moving towards the police state. It is the duty of the judiciary to stop this slide.
As long as one does not stand up for the right to freedom of expression, we can even prepare to say goodbye to it.
The author is a print and television journalist and talk show host. He tweeted on @virsanghvi. Thoughts are personal.
(Edited by Our Like)