As politics feasts on reasonable restrictions, picking the best to suit its taste, the dinner table of democracy shakes in silence
Romita Handa
One may moanfully be reminded of India while reading the ‘Introduction to The Open Veins of Latin America’ where Eduardo Galeano talks about the world’s (most) powerful country, “I imagined America was a woman and she was telling in my ear her secrets, the acts of love and violations that had created her”. Fascinating as it may sound, it is bizarre that one even attempts to draw a parallel between ‘World’s Largest Democracy’ and the USA.. While the attempt may be futile, it is interesting how India took down notes on economy, nuclear power, hegemony and power relations like an obedient student without realizing that the first textbook it ought to read should have been ‘Understanding the Basics of Democracy’.
Romesh Thapar vs State of Madras- A judgment worth remembering:
Romesh Thapar, the editor of ‘Cross Roads’ banked on the freedom granted by the Constitution challenging the decision of the government to ban his journal in the state of Madras. As the court upheld in its judgment, “There can be no doubt that freedom of speech and expression includes freedom of propagation of ideas, and that freedom is ensured by the freedom of circulation” leading to a victory of democratic ideas.
However, as the judgment came out, so did the fears of the government. Post 1951, ‘absolute’ became a dream as the government struggled with riots, protests, refugee crisis, post-partition conflicts, and migrations leading them to rely on these insecurities while concealing their natural anxiety. Should we continue to rely on these insecurities? In 2022, this question still remains unanswered.
India begs at the Footsteps of Democracy to welcome it
‘Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav’ has brought along with it a history where reasonable restrictions were used by those painting the country with the colors they liked. The list of cases may pierce through one, a realization that “Freedom of Expression is Dead in India” as claimed by The Wire.
Credits: The Wire
Credits:The News Minute
Credits: The Wire
Credits: Hindustan Times
Credits: The Wire
Credits: The Print
Is the Future bright?
The blurring of lines between state and government and the use of reasonable restrictions in the interest of the government instead of the state has posed a serious threat to the existing democracy. While some may argue for the complete scrapping of the reasonable restrictions and encourage India to follow the US model, there is still a long wait. This dream may turn into a reality only if some government miraculously believes in the rationality of the citizens, believing them to indulge in dissent, exchange of ideas, opposing views and constructive criticism. However, as the obsession with temple building and spreading of one particular ideology and organizations to silence the mass increases, one cannot expect this miracle to happen anytime soon.
It is thus futile to have a debate whether India should do away with reasonable restrictions or not. One may accept it and just understand ways to navigate through it. Attempting to understand the fundamentals of the laws implemented in the interest of the ‘state’ or amendments to draconian laws which the British left us with, and as Adv. Mihira Sood suggests, intervention of the Supreme Court in law-making may save this slipping democracy from our hands.
As the first amendment of India was made, the then Communist Party remarked, “Yeh Azadi Jhoothi hai” (This freedom is a lie). Much has not changed as Idi Amin Dada remarks, “There is freedom of speech, but we cannot guarantee freedom after speech.”
REFERENCES
https://lexforti.com/legal-news/reasonable-restrictions-article-19/
https://scroll.in/article/700020/why-nehru-and-sardar-patel-curbed-freedom-of-expression-in-india
https://thewire.in/rights/the-evidence-is-in-freedom-of-expression-is-dead-in-india
https://thewire.in/law/jnu-sedition-case-umar-khalid-kanhaiya-kumar-delhi-court
https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/freedom-most-reasonable/
https://thewire.in/media/in-yogis-up-48-journalists-assaulted-66-booked-12-killed-report
https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2135681
http://www.patnalawcollege.ac.in/notice/88274-e_content-_art_19.pdf
The Opinion Journal 