Is 'sedition' the favoured weapon of intolerance?

'An old 1870 law that a democratic state should have struck down seems to have become the weapon to muzzle dissent, used by politicians in power at the state and centre with increasing frequency, and without valid justification. The British used this law against Gandhi and other freedom fighters, and the modern Indian state in recent years and even more so in the past year, used it against artists, actors, writers, cartoonists, political opponents making arrests, and in many cases imprisoning the ‘offenders.’

Two sedition cases have been slapped against actor Aamir Khan in courts in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, for voicing his concerns about increasing intolerance. He is the most high profile individual in recent months to have been hit with this law, that is being used now increasingly to control the freedom of expression. Human rights organisations have urged the governments to remove this law, but to no avail, with different political parties---the list includes the Bharatiya Janata Party, Congress party, AIADMK, ---finding use for it to clamp down on ‘opponents’.

An Advocate Manoj Kumar Dixit filed the case against Khan in Kanpur because in his view the actor had made an 'anti-national' statement amounting to sedition.The case has been filed under IPC section 124 A (sedition), 153 A (promoting enmity between different groups on religious grounds) 153 B (Imputations) and 505 (statements amounting to public mischief).

A second complaint has been filed in a court in Bihar against Khan and his wife Kiran Rao by another advocate Sudhir Kumar Ojha in the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate Sushma Trivedi.The court fixed December one for hearing into the matter. Ojha stated in the complaint that he felt “hurt” hearing Aamir’s remarks. Khan has come under strong attack from the ruling BJP for expressing concern about growing intolerance in India. His remarks were more about his own disappointment, but even so have attracted right wing flak even as other political parties have rallied around him.

The sedition law was used against activist , public health specialist Binayak Sen for allegedly supporting the Maoists, charges that he has stoutly denied, and later in 2012 against cartoonist Aseem Trivedi in Maharashtra. Both were arrested, Sen was given life imprisonment but got bail after a long stint in jail. Trivedi was taken into judicial custody on charges of sedition over a series of cartoons against corruption. He was accused of uploading “ugly and obscene” content and of insulting the Constitution. This arrest led to considerable protest as well, and Trivedi was finally released. More so as it followed a circular issued by the Maharashtra government under the Congress party at the time, that a speech against a ‘government representative’ could be taken as sedition...'