It is just not dissent
- In Current Affairs
- 09:49 PM, Feb 17, 2016
On February 12th the Chancellor of JNU (Jawaharlal Nehru University) issued an appeal asking people to go beyond the solitary incident and return to the campus to normal state of affairs. To quote the Chancellor, “All sections of the JNU community including representatives of the students, teachers and karmacharis have assured that they will uphold the values and ethos of this University. It is an appeal to all sections to go beyond this incident and return the campus to normalcy.” He also accepted it to be a work of fringe elements, who mis-used the freedom, and assured that the University would take steps to protect the environment of free and vibrant discussions at the campus As this has become a full blown political crisis now, protests have intensified and a high level internal enquiry has been constituted to investigate the incident, it is prudent to understand the situation and take few steps backward before passionately commenting on it.
What happened?
On February 9, a ‘cultural’ evening was organized by a student body to ‘commemorate’ Afzal Guru. According to the Oxford dictionary, definition of culture is:” Relating to the ideas, customs, and social behaviour of a society or a group”. Afzal Guru was convicted under rarest of rare category by the Supreme Court of India, clemency petition was rejected and he was hanged on 9th February 2013. The manner of execution might be debated, not following due procedures to execute can be questioned, however after the verdict, his role in December 2001 terrorist attack on the Indian Parliament was confirmed to be of the rarest of the rare category.
Why is it not just dissent?
Having an alternate viewpoint on capital punishment is a different and a valid debate. However, to ‘commemorate’ a convict who has committed a terrorist act is not just dissent. Further to raise slogans such as “We will free Kashmir from India” to be particular, is a separatist viewpoint. By definition separatism is against the idea of unity, and existence of state as defined by Constitution. Constitution allows for liberty under Article 19, but not absolute liberty. Absolute liberty is a utopian dream. Constitution does not allow for separatism in the name of absolute freedom. Dissent is a differing viewpoint, whereas sedition is a conduct of speech to incite people against the authority of the State. Please note it is the State not the government. Codification of sedition law in 124-A of the Indian Penal Code should definitely be debated, its application should be more objective, its continuance and discontinuance can have differing viewpoints. These are topics for a different debate, with final authority vested in the Parliament (if the law has to be repealed) or the Supreme Court (if it is applied unconstitutionally). Nevertheless till the law is in statute, the police authority has to follow the rule of law. Rule of law is a pillar of a democratic society.
Real Issue
By mixing issue of freedom of expression with the raising of anti – India sloganeering, we are missing the basic point –“Separatism has nothing to do with any party line, it is anti-State”. State is not to be confused with the government, which is a temporary entity. Many intellectuals have been waxing eloquent that ‘it is not a crime to be anti –national’. Let’s examine this statement. When the Constitution defines India as “Union of States”, and the founding fathers have referred to the culture of “unity in diversity “, it implicitly accounts for different sub-nationalities. But above all, it is the Indian nationality that binds us. Ways to express that nationality might differ; however there should be no second thoughts that ‘Indian nationality’ is what unites, and at the same time keeps other sub-nationalities secured.
We can question police action, we can question statements made by certain officials, we could denounce labelling the esteemed university as the birthplace of anti-national activities, but we all should speak in one voice on one issue –‘Raising anti-Indian State slogans by a section of students is unwarranted; it is against the Indian State’. Unfortunately political passions, generalizations have led to spread of events in a dangerous direction. Let us all step back and think.
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