Protect the dissenter: 

Protect the dissenter:

Context

There is a need to allow and respect  the dissenters for their courage and fearlessness. In doing so, we shall be preserving and strengthening the democracy in India.

What is the issue?

• The recent murder of Gauri Lankesh, apparently not for any personal enmity or monetary gain, was most deplorable.
• Equally deplorable is the murder of democracy, because dissent is the soul of democracy.

Democracy and Dissent:

• Democracy is the system of government in which the power is vested in the people, who rule either directly or through freely elected representatives.
• In fact, the history of progress of mankind is a history of informed dissent; much of creative activity of high quality in all areas of human endeavor at any given time has been a reflection of such dissent.

Test of democracy:

One critical test to adjudge the claim of any country of being democratic is its tolerance of dissent and the protection afforded to the dissenter.

Importance of dissent in a democracy like India:

• We favor democracy as the most acceptable form of governance because a citizen has a right to dissent without fear of victimization.
• Dissent in an authoritarian, dictatorial or colonial regime could lead to the severest of punishments.
• Though, dissent should not lead to inhuman or unconstitutional action.
• For example, In a democracy, non-governmental organizations provide a platform to civil society to dissent in an informed and reasoned manner. They provide a mechanism for the ruled to keep a check on the rulers.
• However, there are of course many NGOs that engage in illegal or objectionable activities using Indian and/or foreign funds.
• Liberal democracies give their citizens not only the right to express their views but also the right to protest and express dissent against prevailing procedures and laws, so long as they do not rely on violence or coercion.

What makes a society tolerant?

• In any civilised society, people will have different notions of what is good and beneficial for the country.
• A truly tolerant society grants a fair field and an honest race to all – radicals and reactionaries, industrialists and workmen, the religious and the free thinkers, capitalists and communists, and all the infinite variety of crackpots, fanatics, and self-appointed saviors of mankind.
• The dissenter must feel free to express his views vigorously, pungently, without any lurking fear of incarceration. The only requirement is that there should be no incitement to violence.

What is the opinion of Courts on the right to dissent?

• Courts in India have also recognised the right to dissent.
• In 1967, the High Court of Bombay in the case of Anant Karandikar significantly ruled that “it is implicit in the freedom of press that everyone ought to have the privilege of expressing opinions which are unpopular or distasteful. Right to dissent is the very essence of democracy. Conformity to accepted norms and belief has always been the enemy of freedom of thought.”
• The Supreme Court of India in a decision pronounced on 1974, observed: “Peaceful protests and the voicing of a contrary opinion are powerful wholesome weapons in the democratic repertoire. It is, therefore, unconstitutional to pick up a peaceful protester and to put him behind the prison bars.”
• The historic dissent of Justice Fazl Ali in 1950 must be noted.
• In the A.K. Gopalan case, the Supreme Court was required to construe Article 21 of the Constitution which reads as “Protection of life and personal liberty – No person shall be deprived of his life or personal liberty except according to procedure established by law.”
• The majority in that case ruled that the expression “procedure established by law” in Article 21 means positive or state made law. It rejected the plea that the procedure prescribed by law should comply with the basic principles of natural justice.

Conclusion

• The voice of dissent, when it is not the voice of violence, is essential for the advancement and progress of society. But for bold dissenters, the scourge of Sati and other social evils would be still haunting us.
• Let us respect and honor the dissenters for their courage and fearlessness.
• One need not accept the dissenter’s views. They can be rebutted in a dialogue.