In
the wake of the First War of Independence of 1857 in India, the British
colonial rulers with the intention of forcefully suppressing and stifling any
voice or act of the people of India opposing the British colonial rule or
policies of its administration and forcefully suppress the democratic
aspirations of people of India had introduced the Indian Penal Code (IPC) on 6th
October 1860. They defined that “whether 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 are seditious committing the crime
of sedition”.
With
this clause of sedition (124A) of Indian Penal Code, the British Colonial
rulers have incarcerated many an Indian patriots that expressed their
discontent, disaffection against the colonial British government and its
administration. Even comments of disapprobation of the measures taken by the
British colonial government and their administration were considered to be
sedition and the concerned patriots were severely punished.
The
legal heirs of these British colonial rulers, the rulers of the ‘independent’
India on the transfer of power in 1947 has inherited this legacy of I.P.C.
along with the colonial institutions of administration and governance to rule
the people of ‘independent’ India. Our rulers have not only inherited the laws
of British colonial rulers but also the class nature of British colonial rulers
as the sole principle of rule, to rule the ‘independent’ India. The Indian
Penal Code inherited by the Indian rulers of independent India came handy to
them, to implement and rule the country with ant people policies of
exploitation and ruthless suppression.
It
is being propagated for all these 73 years that India being an independent
country and being the largest democratic country in the world, has a scared
constitution which granted freedom of speech and expression as a fundamental
right in its preamble as well with Article No 19 and thus freedom of speech and
expression is enshrined as the fundamental right.
But
the past 73 years the experience of the people of India proves them that the
freedoms such as freedom of expression and speech enshrined remained as an
empty promise and a mirage.
After
73 years of maturity in the adoption and implementation of anti-people policies
of exploitation and suppression, our rulers belonging to whatever shade of
ruling class politics are becoming more and more intolerant, enveloped with
heedlessness against public opinion that expressed even an iota of opposition
to the views and actions of the rulers, that too represent from their own
class.
For
our rulers the section 124A (sedition) of IPC has become handy as the
Vajrayudha to suppress whatever discontent, disapprobation protest or satirical
opposition expressed to their administration and its measures.
Recently
this sword of Damocles called colonial justice is used on a cartoonist Aseem
Trivedi, a follower of Anna Hazare and Kejrival of India Against Corruption
(IAC) who has been actively supporting the IAC agitation through his cartoons.
The
same draconian sword of colonial justice is used against the anti-nuclear activists
of Kudankulam in Tamilnadu.
Aseem
Trivedi is charged with sedition for having produced a cartoon of a new symbol
of the Saranaath coloumn of Ashoka, relevant to these days of corrupted rulers.
The
Kudankulam agitators were charged for opposing the installation of the perilous
nuclear reactor sans any security to the people from atomic and nuclear
accidents.
In
fact in none of these incidents, the victims involved have never expressed
their intention either directly or indirectly, to overthrow this ‘lawful’
government either through forceful means or otherwise.
They
had merely expressed their opposition to the ever increasing corruption of our
rulers in power and their fear and opposition against the menace of nuclear
reactor accident lacking any security to the lives and the livelihood of people
and are demanding not to operate the Kudankulam nuclear reactor.
In
both these incidents the democratic aspirations of the people are expressed
without any malice against the ‘lawfully’ established governments.
But
our rulers have grown to such a degree of intolerance to suppress any dissent
of opposition to the anti-people measures of policies implemented by them.
Though
at the periphery this act of suppression appears to be the excessive reaction
of the concerned police officials, it is no secret that such an act was done at
the behest of the powers that are at the helm.
Such
an intolerance of our rulers has not only manifested in Maharashtra and Tamil
Nadu where different ruling class parties are in power. Even in West Bengal
ruled by TMC. A professor of Jadhavpur University Ambikesh Mahapatra was
charged and incarcerated under sections of 500 (defamation), and 509 (insulting
the modesty of women) and 114 (presence of abettor during the crime) for having
posted a cartoon in his website- a caricature of Mamata Banerjee. She claimed
that the cartoon was meant to ‘vanish’ her.
In
the recent past Dr.Vinayaksen, a rights activist, Arundhati Roy and others were
also implicated in the charge of ‘sedition’. A dalit activist and editor of
Vidyarthi magazine into charge of sedition on Jan 4th 2011.
Thus
it has become a practice for the rulers to falsely implicate the people, who
genuinely and sincerely express their democratic aspirations and protest to realise
them in a democratic way.
On the
other hand our rulers never dare to lift even a finger against ruling class
leaders like Bal Thakrey, Raj Thakrey, Uddav Thakrey of Shiv Sena and MNS who
incessantly incite and excite hatred against people of other states that live
in Mumbai or against RSS and its outfits which arrogated themselves as cultural
police of India, resorting to violence on common people,. Even the Modi’s
government and Modi that had excited hatred against Muslims and incited a
massacre of Muslims do not appear to be seditious to our rulers since they too
are the birds of the same flock.
Such
has been the state of affairs in the ‘democratic’ India where expression of
dissent is considered as sedition by our rulers. So our present day rulers are
relying on the section 124A of IPC to safeguard their state, governed on the
very principles of exploitation and suppression once which was used against
Balgangadhar Tilak, Aurobindo Ghosh, Anne Besant, Saratchandra etc. by the
British colonial rulers.
In 1951
Jawaharlal Nehru, the Prime Minister of India had grandly announced the “Now as
far as I am concerned that particular section (124A) is highly objectionable
and obnoxious and it should have no place …. in any body of laws that we might
pass. The sooner we get rid of it the better.”
But not
surprisingly this highly objectionable and obnoxious sections of law has not
been got ridden in the time of his rule nor in the time of the rule of his
daughter or in the time of the rule of his grandson not at the present time of
the rule of his grandson’s spouse. It still remains in the statute book
hypocrisy and the class character of our rulers who even in a dream never wish
to do away this draconian law and who at the heart of hearts intend to use it
against human rights activists, journalists, intellectuals, leaders of anti
ruling class politics and common protesters against the anti people policies.
Our rulers
though ratified the international covenant on civil rights and political rights
in 1979 itself; they draconian law, which again expresses their real class
character.
Such
a common law of offence was abolished in USA by Thomas Jefferson in 1802 itself
after he came to power. Even the British rulers who made this law of sedition
in 1860 have abolished this common law of sedition in 1977. In 2007 New Zealand
repealed such a law of sedition.
But the
rulers of the world’s largest democracy are clinging to this draconian law to
safeguard their seats of power blatantly opposing the very definition of
democratic rights.
Due to
public outcry and outrage against Trivedi’s arrest under section 124A the Mumbai police directed by the rulers have
graciously condescended to drop the sedition charges against him by filing an
affidavit at Mumbai high court.
Failing
to establish the offences of Professor Ambikesh Mahapatra the West Bengal
police have dropped the charges of defamation, insult of the modestly of a
woman and presence of the abettor during the crime, but charged him only under
66A (B) Information Technology Act ie delivery of insulting electronic message.
But the
sedition charges against the leaders of Kudankulam anti-nuclear agitation are
not yet dropped, since the protest agitation is continuing actively to the
dislike of the rulers, who betrayed the people of Kudankulam.
Thus
the myth of ‘freedoms’ granted by our constitutions and the myth of the ‘democracy’
in our country in once again exposed making the anti-people class nature of our
system more conspicuous.
