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The guaranteed fundamental rights to freedom of speech and the right to dissent are shrinking further every day and it is becoming difficult to negotiate one’s rights with State surveillance. With constitutional rights routinely violated by the government and the State machinery, anything said against the presiding government is deemed ‘anti-national’ and an act of ‘sedition’. In the name of national interest, the authorities have increasingly been found trying to silence any sort of protest or demonstration, leading to numerous instances of human rights and social justice violations in the country.
On November 26, 2007, the GA declared that February 20 will be celebrated annually as the World Day of Social Justice. The purpose of this day is to recognise in letter and spirit that even though the world is moving ahead through cooperation and innovation, social inequality still persists. Father of the Indian Constitution, Dr BR Ambedkar believed that without ensuring social justice, a society cannot ensure political justice. As we look back at recent years, we find that there has been a persistent erosion of social justice in the country.
Here are five instances out of the many others that signify the slow but steady withdrawal of the promise of social justice enshrined upon the citizens by the Constitution of India in the last few years. The list is in no way exhaustive and chiefly mentions the incidents that mainstream media covered in the last couple of years.
I. Public Lynchings
With the incumbent government coming to power in 2014, there has been a steady rise in lynchings on Muslims, Dalits and other minorities across the country. The reasons for these incidents range from either allegations of beef consumption or transportation, practice of witchcraft and childlifting. According to The Wire, multiple cases of mob lynchings have been registered in Bihar, U.P., Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh as well as in several states in the south. IndiaSpend’s content analysis of the English media that Muslims had been the target of 51% of violence centred on the bovine over nearly eight years (2010 to 2017), out of which 97% of the attacks were reported under the present government.
II. Arrests Of Journalists
A routine feature of the present government has been the frequent arrests and incrimination of any journalist or anyone who spoke against the government. As per a report prepared by the Rights and Risks Analysis Group (RRAG), at least 55 journalists faced arrest, registration of FIRs, showcause notices, physical assaults, alleged destruction of properties and threats for reportage on COVID-19 or exercising freedom of speech and expression during the national lockdown. In a latest report titled Behind Bars: Arrests and Detentions of Journalists in India 2010-2020 (published by Free Speech Collective), there has been a sharp rise in criminal cases lodged against journalists in India for their work. Journalists arrested on charges of sedition during the Modi rule include Siddique Kappan, Prashant Kanojia, Rahul Kulkarni, Dhaval Patel and many others.
III. Use Of The UAPA
The UAPA (Unlawful Activities Prevention Act) has been invoked against activists arrested in the Elgar Parishad-Bhima Koregaon case, against journalists in Kashmir as well as many activists in the Delhi riots cases. According to The New Indian Express, Uttar Pradesh saw a steep rise in UAPA cases in 2017, the year when the Yogi Adityanath government came to power. In 2016, the state registered 10 UAPA cases. In the following year, 109 cases were filed under the UAPA. The Act is being misused to confine political prisoners endlessly, thereby curbing dissent and freedom of speech. 83-year-old Stan Swamy, one of the accused in the Bhima Koregaon case and a patient of Parkinson’s disease was allegedly ill-treated in jail, where he was not offered even a sipper and straw for drinking water. His bail pleas were also rejected on grounds of a medical emergency.
IV. Missing Freedom For Creative Expression
Creatives are having a very hard time in Modi’s India. Recently Mira Nair’s film, A Suitable Boy came under attack by Hindu nationalists in India for having shown a kissing scene between a Muslim boy and a Hindu girl in the backdrop of a temple. Tandav, a web show starring Saif Ali Khan in the lead has also come under heavy scrutiny for showing actor, Mohd Zeeshan Ayyub playing the role of (a modern day) Lord Shiva in a college play. Earlier Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s film, Padmaavat had come under the scanner for having shown 14th century Muslim emperor Alauddin Khilji’s fascination with the Hindu queen, Padmavati. Recently, Muslim stand-up comedian, Munawar Faruqui was arrested by Gujarat police for allegedly hurting religious sentiments by making indecent remarks against Hindu deities at his comic show in Indore, Madhya Pradesh. A Tanishq advertisement showing Hindu-Muslim camaraderie was called out for promoting ‘love jihad’. Besides these, there have been numerous instances of stifling creative expression in present-day India.
To know more about it, read this.
V. Police Atrocities
Students of Jamia Millia Islamia were attacked and continuously hounded by the Delhi Police during their protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), a Draconian law brought about by the Indian government in 2019. The police entered the Jamia campus, beat them up and damaged university property. They also stormed the gates of JNU, where they cordoned off the campus, where masked goons wreaked havoc inside. Delhi Police broke into a hostel reserved for women students, inflicted head injuries on the president of JNU’s student union, and attacked faculty members who tried to protect them.
Amnesty International’s report on Delhi Police’s role in the Delhi riots found that the Police acted alongside Hindus and exerted excessive force on the protesters. Recently, climate activist Disha Ravi was arrested on charges of sedition and criminal conspiracy for her alleged connection with the ‘toolkit’ or a Google open source document on the farmers’ protest, which Greta Thunberg had tweeted about. The UP Police did not take any action against the accused in the Hathras gang rape case and burnt the victim’s corpse without informing her parents or community leaders, in order to wipe off all evidence of the rape and murder and protect the upper caste men who did it.
As Ambedkar said, it is difficult to execute political justice without the guarantee of social justice. Here are 5 instances of erosion of political justice in India that you might remember.
I. Farm Bills Passed Amidst Protest
Amidst huge uproar and protest by the opposition in the Parliament, Rajya Sabha passed three controversial Farm Bills. These laws which aim to strengthen corporate hold over the Indian agriculture sector have been criticised by the Opposition and termed as ‘anti farmer’. The laws are also facing protests by farmers’ groups in Haryana, U.P. and other parts of the country. Protesting farmers faced many brutalities at the hands of the police. From being attacked with tear gas and water cannons in the freezing nights of North India to being lobbed with water cannons and tear gas shells, the farmers continue to bear the brunt of their protests.
II. Kashmir Article 370 Read Down
The Government of India revoked Article 370 of the Constitution of India on August 6, 2019, and bifurcated the existing state of Jammu & Kashmir into two Union Territories. Before making the announcement, the government detained several political leaders, imposed broad restrictions on freedom of movement, and banned public meetings. It also shut down the internet, phone services, and educational institutions in August 2019. The Internet was resumed in Kashmir on 4 February 2021, 18 months after it was shut.
III. Twitter Accounts Suspended
On February 1, 2021, around 250 Twitter accounts were suspended by the Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology under Section 69A[3] of the IT Act. The only common thread on all those accounts was the fact that all of them had been posting updates and opinions on the farmers’ protests regularly. Even though within a few hours Twitter unblocked those accounts, it remains one of the worst instances of fundamental rights violations in India. The accounts that had been “withheld” by Twitter included those of Kisan Ekta Morcha activist Hansraj Meena, former Lok Sabha MP and CPI(M) leader Mohammed Salim, media outlet Caravan India, and actor Sushant Singh. The account of Prasar Bharati CEO Shashi Shekhar, who had nudged Twitter to act against people using the hashtag, was also restricted.
IV. Controversial Land Law in Kashmir
The government of India issued a notification saying that any Indian citizen can now buy land, except agricultural, in municipal areas of Jammu and Kashmir without being a domicile. Political parties in J&K have called the notification “unacceptable”, and said it will hit the small land-owning farmers in the union territory. Before the repeal of Article 370 and Article 35-A in August last year, non-residents could not buy any immovable property in Jammu and Kashmir. Now, there is fear that with the watering down of the erstwhile protectionist laws, big corporates would come and grab land in the region indiscriminately.
V. State Of The Indian Media
The incumbent government capitalized on the exponential rise of social media in India in the last few years to mobilise public opinion to the best of their advantage. A frequent slur used by the present regime to handcuff anyone speaking against the State is ‘anti-national’, thereby labelling free speech and freedom of expression to be something unwanted. The media is being consistently used as a means of disseminating false news in the country, inevitably leading to a dramatic fall in journalistic standards. Media houses that did not subscribe to the regime’s fascist protocols were routinely shut down or made to soften their stances in certain matters.
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