Prabhakar Sinha
Following the rebellion of 1857 against the rule of the British East India Company, the governance of India was taken over by the British government . India became part of the British Empire .The British government was alarmed by the widespread hostility against the British just as it was surprised by the rebellion of their Indian soldiers .The new rulers were haunted by the frightening experience of the rebellion ,which revealed the hatred that the Indians harboured against the traders turned their rulers by hook or by crook. They wanted to nip in the bud any attempt to spread the slightest feeling of dissatisfaction against their government in the future .It was in this context and with this intent that the law on sedition ( currently Section 124A of the I.P.C ) was enacted in 1870 and was widely used ( but was probably not misused against all and sundry on the drop of a hat or used with the ruthlessness in evidence today ) to suppress spreading of dissatisfaction by punishing anyone for even whispering it .
The law provides that if anyone brings or tries to bring by using 'words spoken or written , or signs or visible representation or OTHERWISE' the government into hatred or contempt or excites or attempts to excite disaffection towards the government , he shall be punished with imprisonment for life with or without fine or imprisonment for three years with or without fine . A sop has been offered by providing that disapprobation of the government or attempt to change the government by lawful means without exciting hatred or contempt or creating disaffection is not sedition.
The sedition law has no place in a democracy.
Under democratic system , the parties out of power or the people dissatisfied with the government have to create disloyalty to the existing government with their speeches, pamphlets , pictures, cartoons or any other means. They may also have to excite hatred against a tyrannical government .Did not the Sikhs of Delhi or elsewhere naturally feel hatred for the Congress Party for their massacre in Delhi? Did not the Muslims of Gujarat or elsewhere naturally feel hatred for the BJP government for the massacre of Muslims in the Gujarat riots of 2002? Did not the political parties and people feel hatred for the Indira .Congress for imposing the emergency and committing atrocities against them? How can they ask the people to vote the government out of power without creating disaffection against it? How can disaffection against the government be created without exciting hatred or contempt for its misdeeds? And how can these are created without speaking, writing, resorting to painting pictures, publishing cartoons, using the electronic media or some other means?
In effect, the law on sedition is the graveyard of democracy.
It is claimed that the apex court has held that if violence is not resorted to the law on sedition is not attracted .The law as it exists is unconstitutional .The purpose of the law is to clearly state what is illegal and what punishment would follow if it is violated .One learns the content of a law from its letter of the law and not the judgments of courts .One wonders if the constitutionality of the law (S 124A) was challenged or not ,and if not why .
The governments of the Republic of India have been indiscriminately misusing this law to suppress dissent? They have also been ruthless in pressing the court for the maximum punishment .Mahatma Gandhi and Tilak were prosecuted under it and were awarded only six years of imprisonment, but Dr Binayak .Sen and .Seema Azad of PUCL, a human rights organisation committed to the use of only peaceful means and the rule of law have been awarded a sentence for life .There are numerous others suffering a similar fate.
The modes operas of the government has been to detain a person under this law without the least basis to ensure his detention for a long time and making the grant of bail difficult .A look at the case of Kanhaiya Kumar exposes the sinister design of the government .He was not even alleged to have said anything to create disaffection or excite hatred or contempt against any government and yet was charged with violation of s124A .The strategy was to ruin his career by detaining him for long like Dr Binayak Sen , Seema Azad and numerous unknown persons .But for the national concern, he would have been languishing in some jail .
The issue is not Dr Sen, Seema Azad, Kanhaiya Kumar but the existence of such anti-democratic laws in our country, which prides itself on guaranteeing the fundamental right of life and personal liberty to the people .It has been possible because of an anti-democratic political class and indifferent intelligentsia, which is not bothered because it feels that it won’t fall a prey to such laws .And the attack on the life and liberty of others does not disturb its smug conscience.
Prabhakar Sinha
