Raise your voice even if you get anti-national tag: Retired SC Judge Jasti Chelameswar

While speaking up may give one the label of ‘anti-national’, he said, not voicing an opinion out of fear and apprehension would be against the spirit of democracy.

Retired Supreme Court Judge Justice Jasti Chalameswar inaugurating a website after releasing book titled ‘Nelavidichi Sagucheyadam Taguna’ written by former minister Vadde Sobhanadreeswara Rao in Vijayawada on Sunday (Photo | EPS)

VIJAYAWADA: Retired Supreme Court Judge Jasti Chelameswar, who had led an ‘unprecedented rebellion’ against Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra, has said that one should be unapologetic about

While speaking up may give one the label of ‘anti-national’, he said, not voicing an opinion out of fear and apprehension would be against the spirit of democracy.

Chelameswar, who released a book written by former minister Vadde Sobhanadreeswara Rao here on Sunday, said, “In the 1960s and 1970s, people who were critical of the government were called CIA agents. After globalisation in the 1990s, they stopped calling the critics of the policies or the government CIA agents. These days, we get to hear anti-national being used against those who are critical of the government.”

However, he added that the practice was not just confined to the country, but was prevalent across the globe. “All political parties, here or globally, are alike in this aspect. They unilaterally think that they are right. If there is a view which contradicts their opinion, people are labelled and attacked,” he said.

Drawing an analogy between a steam bath and not speaking up when required, Chelameswar observed, “If we stay in a steam bath for too long, we would not know when our skin would peel off due to the heat. Not voicing our views is also the same. The person who would not speak up when something goes wrong would be the first person to be affected by it when it recurs. So, an opinion on public issues has to be expressed without any fear even if it is against the popular opinion,” he concluded.

Later, Chelameswar also inaugurated the website which contains the works of Sobhanadreeswara Rao. On the occasion, Sobhanadreeswara Rao conferred ‘Rythu Mitra’ title on film actor R Narayana Murthy and Y Venkateswara Rao, who practice natural farming.