Freedom Of Speech...The Indian Way

I am writing this blog but at the same time i am horrified if I am also put under the act of SEDITION for supporting Assem. This is the new way of living in India these days. You cannot speak in the public, you cannot express your views on the social media and you also cannot keep yourself in contact with your loved ones on phone. This is Freedom of Speech in my country these days where you have the freedom but not to talk. 

After all the raucousness on Social sites, protests and mobile phones now this is a new way you can't make cartoons also. You make a cartoon of a politician, Mamta sends you to Jail, bans your book and that is perfectly fine. You make a cartoon and you are behind the bars with the charge of sedition ( Deshdroh) on you.

Yes, i am talking about the Assem Trivedi who has been sent to judicial custody under the act of sedition. Let’s first see what the act of sedition actually means.

Sedition Sec 124 A Whoever, by words, either spoken or written, or by signs, or by visible representation, or otherwise, brings or attempts to bring into hatred or contempt, or excites or attempts to excite disaffection towards the Government established by law in India.

I do not know much about law but I, at least, know that when you are talking about law it is all about INTENTION and motive.  A person is called a criminal if he has done that crime with a strong intention of doing that with open mind.

Now let’s see the case of Assem. He made a cartoon in December 2011 which was an insult to the Indian constitution, as reportedly said. Ok even if I am agree on this fact than the question raises that does this act puts him in the same league of AZMAL KASAB or AFZAL GURU two people who are being prosecuted under the law of Sedition.

·         Did his intention was to overthrow the state or Indian government by his cartoons as the      other two did?

·         Did he want to incite people to become aggressive and start disrupting the Indian   democracy?

·         Did he want to kill people or harm the public by his cartoons?

·         Did his cartoons make any loss to the country, harm a single citizen of this nation, and shed a single drop of blood on roads?

Answere to all the question is NO. and when his intentions were not wrong and when his cartoons did not harm anyone then on what grounds he was charged with Sedition.

Yes, there are different views and opinions and we can have a debate on this in the country. He could have asked to explain his views, He could have asked to take his cartoons back, he could have even asked to apologize but charging a young man with the act of DESH DROH is a big time harsh decision for him. He is not a KASAB or AFZAL.  

I strongly condemn this act of Police to arrest him with the charge of Sedition and putting him behind the bars. This act of Sedition is patently misused here. This will ignite a new debate in the country and the consequences would be much more than what we could see now.