Sedition and politics (Criminalising contrarian opinions)

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 Sedition and politics (Criminalising contrarian opinions)

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• Heavy response to campus sloganeering : Three yrs after the so-called event, 10 JNU students are charged with "sedition". That is a heavy-handed response.
• Why so long? The charge-sheet came just prior to the general elections, and casts a shadow of doubt.
• Of the two options : The State could have simply dismissed this radical student politics, rather than use a colonial-era law that is not even needed in today's India!  (Law Commission report 2018)
• Did they disrupt public order or incite violence? There is no convincing proof for that! Even if the slogans are found to be true (if!), there is no case for sedition!   CONCEPT
• Doubtful intentions : Kanhaiya Kumar was beaten up in 2016 while being produced in Court, which is a gross failure of the Police. Assailants weren't booked. And the Police is again overlooking the Supreme Court verdict on sedition - that to invoke Section 124A of I.P.C., there must be a call for violence, etc. That's absent here.
• Rulers hate politicised campuses : Radical political ideas on campuses are disliked by governments. But that is no logic to bring sedition cases!
• Branding as "anti-national" : Since 2016, a whole campaign to brand individuals as "anti-national" has been launched, with devastating consequences for some. There is an element of political interest involved in each sedition case filed.
• Do not criminalise contrarian views : If we do that, we end up killing all vibrance in political discourse. The Trial Court must carefully examine the case in light of SC's restricted interpretation only.
• Summary: By bringing sedition cases against ten individuals (students), the government (police) are going against the Supreme Court's restricted and strict interpretation of the Sedition Law.

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