BENGALURU: The Right to Freedom and Expression does not seem to be a fundamental right and Indians should not fool themselves by thinking we have these rights. The fact is that mobs in our country and government have the right to curtail our freedom, said Aakar Patel, chair of the Board of Amnesty International on Friday. He added that one of the issues in India is that “pushback” has weakened, while in other democracies in the world, the judiciary, opposition, and civil society it is strong, he said.
He was speaking at a seminar conducted by Bengaluru City University on ‘Freedom of Speech and Expression in Contemporary India’, and explained that India’s government is no different from what the British left behind. “Each right comes with footnotes that allow the government to restrict citizens from fully exercising them. No government in India, be it BJP or Congress, likes citizens taking to the street, the reason being that when a large number of people gather on the street, big change happens. Be it repealing of farm laws or the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) Bill,” Patel said.
The former journalist delved into the bias in law that exists for NGOs and private companies. “There is no restriction on where a private company invests money sourced from other countries. For NGOs, the government insists that they spend their money in a particular way. NGOs can operate funds from only one bank in Delhi, they cannot spend more than 20% as administration expenses and one NGO cannot make transfers to other NGOs.”
Patel briefly explained, “The laws that restrict your right to freedom and speech are so many that they don’t belong in our democracy.” He added that the sedition law, formed by the United Kingdom, had been repealed by that country, but it is still followed here. Contempt of court and defamation also don’t exist in some democracies.”
He added that issues such as more Indians becoming dependent on MNREGAs, youths not finding appropriate opportunities and poverty are not part of the popular political discourse. On PM Narendra Modi not addressing press conferences, Patel said, “When you think you’re the king, he (PM Modi) doesn’t think he is accountable. Somebody who has direct contact with the population with his Twitter, Mann Ki Baat, why should he need an intermediary? This can set a bad precedent.”