Editorial: Lahore court shows the way
Pakistan court striking down colonial-era sedition law must inspire the ‘advocates’ of free speech in India
Hyderabad: Amidst all round gloom, marked by economic crisis, political instability and a spurt in terrorist attacks, a court in Pakistan has provided a glimmer of hope for the besieged nation when it struck down a colonial-era sedition law, a move that must inspire the advocates of free speech in India. The ghost of the colonial past still haunts the subcontinent with the sedition provisions serving as a grim reminder of the oppression. Both countries have inherited the 153-year-old draconian law that has no place in a modern democracy. The Lahore high court has revoked the law, calling it inconsistent with the constitution. This is a landmark development for a country that has witnessed successive governments using the sedition law as a tool to curb the right to free speech and expression. The situation is no different in India. The NDA government’s approach towards sedition law has been tentative and ambiguous and fails to inspire any confidence. Its submission before the Supreme Court that ‘some changes’ were being contemplated in the colonial-era law doesn’t meet public expectations. There have been several instances of arbitrary and unjustified use of draconian provisions on ordinary citizens. Originally, the section was inserted in 1870, nearly 10 years after the Indian Penal Code was introduced and it was intended to stifle the voices of those opposed to British rule. Several pre-independence cases involving Section 124A of the IPC were used against celebrated freedom fighters, including Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Annie Besant, Maulana Azad and Mahatma Gandhi.
The sedition law, worded identically in India and Pakistan, pertains to the crimes of inciting “disaffection” against the government “by words, either spoken or written, or by signs, or by visible representation” or a word that “brings or attempts to bring into hatred or contempt, or excites or attempts to excite disaffection” towards the Federal or Provincial Government established by law. As far back as 1962, the Supreme Court had ruled that sedition charges could not be invoked against a citizen for criticism of government actions as it would be in conformity with the freedom of speech and expression. But, successive administrations conveniently ignored these riders and started wielding the provision as a speech-muzzling tool. It is incongruous for a liberal and free democratic country to have a sedition law that fights its own citizens. In fact, criticism of the government of the day is an essence of democracy and should not be viewed as an anti-national activity. It is time a national consensus was built in favour of scrapping the sedition law. The National Crime Records Bureau data shows that between 2016 and 2019, there has been a 160% increase in the filing of sedition charges with a conviction rate of just 3.3% while only two persons could be convicted out of 93 people charged in 2019.
