Unfettered freedom of speech and expression under Article 19 (1) (a) of the Constitution is the single most important and cherished human right but of late we have seen students, comedians, journalists and the common man being arrested, indicted and incarcerated under the extant sedition laws for criticizing the government. On the other hand no such provisions have been invoked against the (ir)religious leaders at Haridwar exhorting the faithful to exterminate the Muslims in some sort of ethnic cleansing to facilitate the establishment of Ram Rajya. The deafening silence of the sarkar establishes it's complicity and endorsement of such malevolent aims. These colonial era laws were enacted to suppress the freedom movement and used by the British to rein in Gandhi, Gokhale, Nehru and others. Criminalising everything which is not to the government's liking and punishing the purported perpetrators sans any accountability on part of the former is the sole aim of these laws. The Supreme Court has also questioned the ruling dispensation about the retention of such statute provisions which throttle the democratic process. A concerted effort by civil society and all right thinking individuals is required to make the sarkar see the light.
