When the Law of Sedition was drafted by Thomas Macaulay in 1833 it was intended to suppress dissent among Indians and to ensure that Indians as subjects of the British Crown did not show disloyalty towards the Empress of India who ruled from London. The law was used to book many Indian freedom fighters and to suppress the flame of nationalism in the hearts of Indians during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It is ironic that the Law of Sedition and other laws like the Contempt of Court and the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) used in 1958 to suppress the Naga rebellion. Today the same Law is being misused to curtail any form of criticism of the government, and to suppress the voices of our own people. Some days ago, a noted intellectual of Assam Dr Hiren Gohain and other fellow activists who spoke against the Citizenship Amendment Bill, 2019 were booked for sedition and questioned by the Police. Two students of Jawaharlal University – Kanhaiya Kumar and Umar Khalid were also booked for sedition. What they spoke within the campus was misconstrued to be anti-national.
The Indian Constitution that was crafted with great attention to details by Indian political stalwarts like Babasaheb Ambedkar had given citizens enough rights to air their views under Article 19 (1) (a) which guarantees freedom of speech and expression. While there are reasonable restrictions of this right in that it cannot be used to defame anyone without any grounds, there is that essence of freedom that is guaranteed that criticism of the government is the only way to keep it on the straight and narrow. Now that the Opposition in many legislatures don’t do their duty of putting checks and balances on the government, it is left to the media to point out the acts of omission and commission of governments in the states and at the centre. Civil society is the fulcrum of democracy. To curb the voice of civil society by using draconian acts and laws is akin to turning India into a dictatorship. While the unity and integrity of the country cannot be put to the test by words and actions that border on sedition that should be clearly distinguished by an honest critique of government policies. The Citizenship Amendment Bill has been widely criticised in the entire North Eastern region but perhaps more vociferously in Assam because there are solid grounds for doing so. Governments in a democracy engage with citizens. They don’t gag them.