Civil Liberties in Peril

The conviction of civil rights activist Dr. Binayak Sen on charges of sedition has once again brought the issue of protection of civil rights to the fore. Conviction of such icons of democracy

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August 17, 2022

The conviction of civil rights activist Dr. Binayak Sen on charges of sedition has once again brought the issue of protection of civil rights to the fore. Conviction of such icons of democracy; harassing, torturing and even donning RTI activists to death; and refusing to accept the brief of victims of conspiracy on religious grounds in fact go a long way to negate the idea of India.

It is more than six decades since we attained freedom from the fetters of British slavery. We do celebrate, and will continue to do so every next year, the Independence Day and the Republic Day with utmost zeal and enthusiasm. But we more often than not feel compelled to think whether we really enjoy the spirit of freedom our forefathers and freedom fighters envisioned. This idea of India finds graphic expression in Rabindranath Tagore’s poem, “Where the mind is without fear”.

Yes, we envisioned India to be a land where ‘the mind is without fear’. What we see in almost every quarter of the country that our minds are full of fear. Minorities in particular live in fear to be sidelined, persecuted, harassed and even denied of their various fundamental, Constitutionally guaranteed rights. Those who are fortunate enough to fall outside the pale of minority also live in fear if they dared to speak the truth, to extend support to the victims of conspiracy, and worst to oppose the wrong policies of the government. When democracy is a government of and for the people, why a citizen is convicted for speaking the truth and opposing the government’s wrong policies? The government should engage such persons to know their real intent, to ascertain where the fault lies, and to set it right.

As for living with ‘the head held high’, this also continues to remain a dream yet to be translated into reality. Legal luminaries have expressed their voice against the conviction of Dr. Sen. Terming the conviction as ‘ridiculous’ and ‘unacceptable’, former Chief Justice of High Court of Delhi Justice Rajindar Sachar said, “There can’t be a greater nonsensical judgement than this. I am ashamed belonging to the judiciary that such a ridiculous judgement was delivered.” When the people belonging to our judicial system have the sad time to feel ashamed at the things going on, where is the question of the common man walking with ‘the head held high’?

Justice Sachar is very much right in asserting that ‘civil liberties are in grave danger and we need to initiate action now’ to protect them. “Today it is Sen. It could be anybody else tomorrow. Whoever speaks against government would be framed into some charges and put in jail,” Sachar added. So it is high time peace- and justice-loving people came forward to save the country from further degeneration and protect human and civil rights from being violated.