Submitted by narendramodifacts on Fri, 12/06/2019 - 00:00
Section 124A of the Indian Penal Code defines "sedition", roughly, to be the act of inciting disaffection towards the government. The sedition law has been used as a tool to stifle protest and freedom of expression by consecutive governments in India. In particular it has been widely misused since the Narendra Modi government came to power at the centre in 2014.
'According to information from non-government sources, those who have been detained include Dr Praful Vasava from Rajpipla, Rohit Prajapati from Vadodara, Krishankant from Surat, Shailesh Tadvi from Vagadiya village, Gikubhai Tadvi from Shira village, Nareshbhai Tadvi and Narendrabhai Tadvi from Kevadia village, and Ramkrishna Tadvi from Gora village.
'On Saturday, February 16, a circular was issued by the proctor’s office of Delhi University, banning any kind of protests or demonstrations on the university campus. The circular read: “All students of Delhi University are advised not to occupy premises of departments, library and administrative blocks for protests and dharnas. These acts cause disruption in academic activities as well as day to day functioning of the respective offices. The students found violating the ordinance can be expelled, rusticated, fined or debarred from taking the examinations.”...
'A lawyer has filed a complaint in a court here seeking directions to the Delhi Police to lodge a sedition case against certain students for allegedly raising anti-India slogans at Ramjas College on February 21. Complainant Vivek Garg alleged that the students had raised the slogans following withdrawal of permission to organise a seminar called “Unveiling the State: Regions in Conflict” by the college principal...
'Forty people have been booked for sedition in the town of Kishtwar in Jammu, and at least two dozen government employees are being investigated for their role in the "anti-India" protests which followed the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen militant Burhan Wani. The Indian Express reported this development to be the "first action of this scale" in the town of Kishtwar. Those booked are wanted for protests held in the town between July 11 and September 13, but most of them have underground to avoid arrest...'
'On September 5 the same day as the Supreme Court said criticism of the government isn’t sedition, a figure on a white board in a village on the distant southern tip of the country was changed — to Day 1,846. The Supreme Court ruling was on just one case, won by S P Udayakumar of Idinthakarai, but there are 140 more such cases against people in the village. In India’s sedition map, Idinthakarai is ground zero.
'Two former policemen, who were at the forefront of efforts to get policemen in Karnataka to go on a mass leave on June 4 to protest low wages and poor working conditions, were arrested Thursday. President of Akhila Karnataka Police Mahasangha V Sashidhar was arrested at his Bengaluru home, while Basavaraj Koravankar of Working Police Families Welfare Committee was arrested in Dharwad. The two have been booked under various charges, including sedition...'
A group of filmmakers and scholars have written a letter written to Arun Jaitley, Minister for Information & Broadcasting, Rajyavardhan Rathore, minister of state for I & B and C. Senthil Rajan, Director of Film Festivals condemning the manner in which students of the Film and Television Institute of India have been treated at the International Film Festival of India currently going on in Goa. They have pointed out that ex-students have been arrested for protesting and one student was even put in preventive detention. The letter reads:
"...Last week as hundreds of people exercised their democratic right and demonstrated in solidarity with their Palestinian sisters and brothers at the Israeli embassy in New Delhi, the Indian state violently attacked the unarmed, nonviolent demonstrators, injuring several and arresting several more. But in doing so, it also settled once more the question of where the democratic impulse of a country truly lies: in its people, never in its state.
'Protests against the situation in Gaza have been held in Delhi yesterday, (Sunday, 13th July, and today, 14th July, in the morning). Yesterday, on Sunday morning, there was a peaceful protest in front of the Israeli Embassy – this came out of a call for protest by individuals. Yesterday, about a hundred odd people, including many young people, had gathered. I was present at this gathering. Some people made statements condemning the Israeli state’s aggression against the Palestinian people. The Delhi Police was present, but did not try to disrupt or disturb the protest.
