Limits to the Freedom of Speech

Limits to the Freedom of Speech

(The article is dedicated to American media publicizing JNU antinationalists)

Just curious… if a group of students had chanted “we’ll fight on till America is destroyed”, “we’ll dismember America” or “long live Osama Bin Laden” in Princeton, Yale or Harvard, how do you think the American government or people have dealt with it? This was exactly the slogans what the students in Jawaharlal Nehru University, India were chanting on February 9, 2016. On this day, some students from the Jawaharlal Nehru University organised an event in the campus protesting against the hanging of 2001 Indian Parliament attack accused, Afzal Guru. Mohammad Afzal Guru was hanged on February 3, in 2013, on charges of 'voluntarily harbouring and concealing the deceased terrorists'. Another terrorist, Maqbool Bhat was co-founder of the militant group Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front. He was hanged on February 11, 1984 in Tihar Jail in New Delhi for killng innocent civilians in Kashmir). The posters showing “Afzal Guru and Maqbool Bhatt punishment as 'Judicial Killing'” were pasted across the campus inviting students to join the program. Both Afzal guru and Maqbool Bhatt were muslims, the religion of majority in the state of Kashmir, but in India Muslims constitute about 15% of the total population, 85% are the Hindus. Muslims nowhere, in the world like to coexist with any other religion and also, a Muslim majority country can never be a constitutionally secular state. During the last two decades, they made Hindus in the state of Kashmir, which were abot 25% of the total population of the state of Kashmir, to flee. Those Hindus who resisted were murdered and raped. The program at JNU was named 'A country without a post office - against the judicial killing of Afzal Guru and Maqbool Bhatt'. A protest march against 'judicial killing of Afzal Guru and Maqbool Bhat and a debate was also supposed to be held at the Sabarmati dhaba in the campus. As per reports, the alleged peaceful protest was supposed to be held through poetry, art and music and a part of the cultural evening was to be organised to question the so called 'Judicial Killings'. According to an eyewitness, some 20 minutes before the meeting was going to start, ABVP, which is the student wing of ruling BJP, reached out to the administration of JNU  and asked it to withdraw the permission of the meeting as it was antinational and also 'harmful for the campus atmosphere'. The administration of JNU withdrew the permission. But organizers of the event still carried the as per schedule program. Following the so called peaceful cultural event, they started raising antinational slogans like “We shall fight till India is destroyed” , “How many you will kill, each home will produce AFJAL”, “Pakistan Jindabad (Long Live Pakistan)”, “We want azad (free) Kashmir” , “India will be torn into pieces, where will you like to live” etc. The videos of the program were soon viral on national channels. A case of sedition against several unknown students was lodged at the Vasant Kunj (North) police station. The complaint was registered under Indian Penal Code Sections 124-A (sedition), 120-B (criminal conspiracy) and 34 (acts done by several persons with a common intention). JNU Students Union president Kanhaiya Kumar (a hindu by religion) was arrested on February 13 on sedition charges and was ordered by the court to three days of police custody on allegations of 'anti-national' sloganeering. On February 14, the Patiala House courts witnessed violence as a lawyer's mob, slapped and kicked supporters of Kanhaiya Kumar calling them antinational and traitors. According to one of the lawyer “we all condemn beating Kanhaiya Kumar and his supporters, but we shall again do it if we find those traitors again and we shall again condemn our acts.” This tells us the level of their anger and disrespect for these people. Soon the main opposition party Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi, saw politics in it, and reached the university campus, to show support with the agitating students. Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi criticised the BJP government, accused it of “bullying” the prestigious institution and suppressing “the freedom of speech”. Soon after visiting the JNU campus Mr. Gandhi called an emergency meeting at his residence where he discussed ways to “tie up” every compelling issue the students are facing in India today and place them in its anti-ruling party narrative. A similar incident had earlier happened in Hydrabad Unversity in south of India where  one hindu Dalit (socially oppressed backward) student Rohith Vemula did suicide allegedly due to the non-payment of scholarship. This happened after some students belonging to Dalit (socially oppressed backward and a constitutionally job reservation getting caste), one of them was Rohith Vemula carried out protests against the death penalty for Yakub Memon. Yakub Memon was a convict in 1993 Bombay Bomb Blast case, in which 257 people were killed. His appeals and petitions for clemency were all rejected and he was executed by hanging on 30 July 2015. Rohith and his friends also alleged to have condemned ABVP attack on the screening of a documentary on Muzaffar Nagar (a city near Delhi) communal riots in Delhi University. The Muzaffar Nagar riots between Hindu JAT community and Muslims took place about two years back, after some Muslim youths tried to rape a Hindu girl and when opposed, murdered her brothers. Action was taken against Rohith by college due to his involvement in an alleged attack on ABVP activist Nandanam Susheel Kumar. According to reports, Susheel Kumar was admitted to hospital on August 4. A university official denied the allegation of non-payment of scholarship, citing the delay on "paperwork." Rohith's suicide was declared an "institutional murder" by Congress and the Communist Party of India (Marxist). A police case was lodged in the context of his suicide and has included the name of Bandaru Dattatreya, ruling BJP MP and Indian government's Minister of Labour and Employment.

Indian National Congress leaders led by Rahul Gandhi and Communist Leaders also met President Pranab Mukherjee over the JNU row and alleged targeting of students in various parts of the country. Accompanied by senior leaders and also the young MPs of the party, the Congress vice president highlighted the “lawlessness” in Delhi in the wake of Patiala House court attacks by the “lawyers” and the way the government has handled the JNU row.

The student union in JNU (JNUSU) for decades usually comprises of  communists. This year also president Kanhaiya Kumar belongs to the All India Students Federation (AISF) which is the student wing of Communist Party Of India (CPI).

Some News Channels in India showed sympathy with these students and are trying to  twist the issue. They go ahead to report that Kanhaiya Kumar belongs to a very poor family and should not be harassed. If someone is poor and indulging in anti-national activities (still to proof) he/she should not be touched! What kind of an irrelevant logic is this? Is he becomes above Law? Why “Senior Journalists” are defending him and trying to sympathize with him? Instead of sympathize with him, they should show both side of stories. Why only one side of story?

Some media also tried to give the twist that Umar Khalid, who was absconding, is an atheist and not Kashmiri traitor. The question arises if he was so innocent and didn’t shout anti-national slogans, why he was absconding? And what if he is an atheist & not a Kashmiri traitor? Will it weaken his case or “Bharat tere Tukde honge (India will be broken to pieces)” slogans will be proved as gospels by Umar Khalid “ji”(“JI” is written if you respect someone as some political party spokespersons are using for Umar).

The third twist is that they are students and Modi government must not harass them. These anti-national activities are really dangerous and definitely will create the base for the next ‘Afzal Guru’. If students are not mature enough (as the twist given by “other Journalists”) then we must not give them the privilege to cast their vote. We must ask them to surrender their voting rights. Once they complete their study then they should apply for the Voter Id.

Do we in US or in any other country in the world have this freedom to chant slogans like “we’ll fight on till America is destroyed”, “we’ll dismember America” or “long live Osama Bin Laden”. Well Americans can be used to such type of freedom of expression, but we in India, will prefer to die than to be so free. We worship Mother India. Our nation is our proud.

(Dear friends, this article was written to be published in New York Times, USA, but they did not dare to publish it)