Gandhi & Arundhati Roy: patriotic or seditious?

[Omar1984]

New Delhi: There is little that Arundhati Roy has in common with Mahatma Gandhi. If Delhi police books the writer-activist for her remarks on Jammu and Kashmir, she will join a league of eminent people booked under the controversial law for acts of defiance against the state.

During his sedition trial in 1922, Mahatma Gandhi had said “Section 124 A, under which I am happily charged, is perhaps the prince among the political sections of the Indian Penal Code designed to suppress the liberty of the citizen.”

The law defines Section 124A of IPC as “whoever by words, either spoken or written, or by signs, or by visible representation, or otherwise, brings or attempts to bring into hatred or contempt, or excites or attempts to excite disaffection towards, the Government established by law in India can be booked under sedition.”

In his trial Gandhi has clearly stated that if one had “no affection for a person or system, one should be free to give the fullest expression to his disaffection, so long as he does not contemplate, promote, or incite to violence.”

“Some of the most loved of India’s patriots have been convicted under it. I consider it a privilege, therefore, to be charged under that section,” he said.

However, with the establishment of a sovereign, democratic, republic, and shifting definitions of “affection” for the state, civil rights activists are questioning the relevance of sedition laws in a post-colonial India.

While Gandhi is termed a patriot for defying sedition laws, should Roy be charged under it for voicing her opinion on alleged military excesses in Kashmir?

Social activists have slammed Section 124A as “draconian”, pitching for freedom of speech and expression in a non-military state.

Comments expressing disapprobation of the administrative or other action of the Government without exciting or attempting to excite hatred, contempt or disaffection, do not constitute an offence under section 124 A of IPC.

Activists claim that governments have time and again abused the sedition law to prosecute political dissenters. There have been allegations of misuse of the law by the Punjab police for many years. Pamphleteering in the name of Jarnail Singh Bhinadranwale landed many Punjab youths in jail under sedition laws.

Political analysts and social activists now demand that the scope of the law be expanded to protect free speech.

The ‘Free Speech Hub’, an initiative of the media watch website ‘The Hoot’, which seeks to monitor instances of attacks and threats to the freedom of speech and expression, claimed in a report in May this year that democracy was under threat with repeated instances of attacks on the media.

Activists argue that sedition cases rarely stand in a court of law and that there should be clear demarcation between offences committed by cross-border terrorists opening fire on innocent citizens and citizens voicing dissatisfaction with governance. They should not fall under the purview of one common law.

The government maintains that peacefully making pro-Azadi speeches does not amount to sedition but inciting hatred through inflammatory oratory in an already emotionally charged atmosphere in the Valley may lead to violence.

Union Law Minister M Veerappa Moily slammed Roy’s speech as “unfortunate” and said "Freedom of speech cannot violate the patriotic sentiments of the people and country.”

Booker winning author Roy’s speeches are also replicated in several Pakistani websites.



Gandhi Vs Arundhati Roy: patriotic or seditious? - India News - IBNLive

 

[KS]

WTF !!!!..Comparing a attenion seeking creature to a Mahatma

As expected this attention wh0re is turning this into a PR fest.

Oh Nobel Comittee...Please take a note.

 

[Areesh]

WTF !!!!..Comparing a attenion seeking creature to a Mahatma

As expected this attention wh0re is turning this into a PR fest.

Oh Nobel Comittee...Please take a note.

Talking about comparison do you get as angry as you are now when some rightist or hindu extremists abuse Gandhi or this anger only applies to Arundhati roy?

 

[third eye]

Talking about comparison do you get as angry as you are now when some rightist or hindu extremists abuse Gandhi or this anger only applies to Arundhati roy?

The issue here is an attempt to compare Gandhi & The lady with misplaced loyalty.

 

[KS]

Talking about comparison do you get as angry as you are now when some rightist or hindu extremists abuse Gandhi or this anger only applies to Arundhati roy?

Mahatma was not a 100% perfect man and there is nothing wrong in criticising if he had done something wrong.

But comparing him to a creature who is 110% imperfect..Nah.

 

[Tayyab1796]

Back in my college days whenever i would pass through our library book shelves i would look at the name ' Arhundati Roy' on some books . Later i came to know she is not a 'yes woman' but can stand up for her opinion even if that means challenging the might of India.

 

[Areesh]

The issue here is an attempt to compare Gandhi & The lady with misplaced loyalty.

Mahatma was not a 100% perfect man and there is nothing wrong in criticising if he had done something wrong.

But comparing him to a creature who is 110% imperfect..Nah.

Oh ok so one can abuse him. So much for the mahatma.

 

[Moorkh]

the article itself in its opening remarks clearly states that there is almost nothing in common between Mahatma Gandhi and Roy. The only common thing seems to be that Gandhi ji was charged under the sedition act and Arundhati might be.

Lets not get sidetracked. The article attacks the law which allows the government to act against seditious activities. It in no way is comparing Gandhi ji and Roy.

Booking Arundhati under the sedition law would be really wasteful. she is pretty much ineffectual. She doesnt have the support of the people she claims to represent, neither is she lent a ear by many.

We should act when she brings forth genuine concerns, but speaking against the state can be pretty much ignored.

 

[Moorkh]

Oh ok so one can abuse him. So much for the mahatma.

Abuse is a strong term. I wont use it.

There are people in India who blame Gandhi ji for all sorts of ills we might have in our country. but the same people have to agree to the great sacrifices he made and his concerns and motivations.

Nobody is perfect neither was Gandhi ji but his good side vastly overshadows his ills.

 

[Areesh]

Abuse is a strong term. I wont use it.

There are people in India who blame Gandhi ji for all sorts of ills we might have in our country. but the same people have to agree to the great sacrifices he made and his concerns and motivations.

Nobody is perfect neither was Gandhi ji but his good side vastly overshadows his ills.

I am talking about abusing. I have seen guys even on this forum calling Gandhi as something which definitely I won't call my national heroes.

 

[LaBong]

Back in my college days whenever i would pass through our library book shelves i would look at the name ' Arhundati Roy' on some books . Later i came to know she is not a 'yes woman' but can stand up for her opinion even if that means challenging the might of India.

She is an one book wonder, kind of strange that you always looked at her book(s)!

 

[Bill Longley]

NEW DELHI, India—You don’t antagonize a superpower-wannabe, especially one that is so serious it is spending $30 billion on latest weapons. But if you do, get ready to pay the price.

That’s the lesson Arundhati Roy, Booker Prize winner, is learning the hard way. She is India’s most famous international face. And she has embarrassed the entire Indian political, religious and military establishment like no one has done before.

For the first time in the 63-year-old international dispute with Pakistan over Kashmir, which India forcibly annexed, Roy sat next to a Kashmiri freedom leader and declared in the heart of the Indian capital that Kashmir “is not an integral part of India”.

If that’s not enough, she also said, “No one should be killed, raped, imprisoned or have their fingernails pulled out in order to force them to say they are Indians.” This was a direct attack on the Indian military, whose half a million soldiers occupy the tiny Kashmir valley near Pakistan’s border despite daily protests by Kashmiris shouting, ‘We’re not Indian.’

This is big. So far no one in India had the courage to speak up against Indian human rights violations in occupied Kashmir, which are otherwise well documented by rights organizations outside India.

For those who don’t understand how big a deal this is, consider this: All mainstream Indian newspapers and television networks strictly adhere to the state policy on Kashmir. It is impossible to find a major Indian news outlet breaking away from this unspoken consensus. [In other words, for India, this is bigger than Commonwealth Games Delhi 2010.]

Now an environment is being created in New Delhi to arrest Roy, or at least terrorize her enough to silence her and any other Indians who might be having similarly dangerous thoughts. Unfortunately for Roy, she is a Christian, coming from a minority group vulnerable to attacks by Hindu fundamentalists. Indian Christians have been burned alive in acts of violence as recently as winter 2008.

There are early signs of a whisper campaign and intimidation against Ms. Roy inside India. Prominent Indian news outlets confirmed a sedition case was being prepared against her. Normally the accused in Indian sedition cases receives harsh treatment even before a trial and conviction.

More worrying is that her opponents – a motley crew of extremist politicians, Hindu fanatics, Hindu terror groups, media affiliates of extremist politicians, and sympathizers inside Indian security agencies – might get to her in other ways without making it look like payback for her Kashmir remarks. Already there are reports suggesting she might be dragged to court in other cases. Funny how these reports suddenly appeared just in time to take her down.

So no one should be surprised if there is a sudden news blackout on her and she slips off the headlines any minute.

The mainstream India media has begun whipping up religious sentiments against Roy. This is dangerous in a religious boiling pot like India where rumors in 2002 resulted in Hindu mobs burning alive 2,000 Indian Muslim men, women and children in the Indian state of Gujarat, in what was 21st century’s first incident of religious genocide.

Ironically, mainstream India media is at the forefront of inflaming passions. For example, the Indian Express has dedicated a page on its internet version of the newspaper to lynching Roy.

“If I were the prime minister I would stripped her citizenship and deport her to Pakistan,” wrote one reader who signed his name as ‘Indian’.

Another Indian, Sunanda, based in Manchester, UK, ironically chides Roy for her Western links. She writes: “looking for some more European awards missy? By selling your nation that too (&#8230 You remain a pointless non productive self serving woman, your life is wasted. Dont pride yourself with a thinkers cap, clearly you are a confused ugly face, pretending to be an angel.”

Karan titled his comment, “Arundhati, a publicity hungry maggot.”

To be fair, there is the occasional supportive comment, like that of Mr. I. Gill, who writes: “How many of you have been to Kashmir (I am talking for last 40 years, since I have been there)? If you have been then you will understand what Kashmere's think of India. If you want to bring India pride then listen to your people and give them freedom.”

But the worry is from rabble-rousers aiming to activate extremists. An Indian apparently based in the United States wrote this: “In America, we have a way to deal with these crazies. The rest of the media will make them look like clowns incessantly. That will shut them off permanently (&#8230 Wake up [local] scribes go for the kill.

 

[Markus]

She is India’s most famous international face.

 

[saurabh]

NEW DELHI, India—You don’t antagonize a superpower-wannabe, especially one that is so serious it is spending $30 billion on latest weapons. But if you do, get ready to pay the price.

That’s the lesson Arundhati Roy, Booker Prize winner, is learning the hard way. She is India’s most famous international face. And she has embarrassed the entire Indian political, religious and military establishment like no one has done before.

For the first time in the 63-year-old international dispute with Pakistan over Kashmir, which India forcibly annexed, Roy sat next to a Kashmiri freedom leader and declared in the heart of the Indian capital that Kashmir “is not an integral part of India”.

If that’s not enough, she also said, “No one should be killed, raped, imprisoned or have their fingernails pulled out in order to force them to say they are Indians.” This was a direct attack on the Indian military, whose half a million soldiers occupy the tiny Kashmir valley near Pakistan’s border despite daily protests by Kashmiris shouting, ‘We’re not Indian.’

This is big. So far no one in India had the courage to speak up against Indian human rights violations in occupied Kashmir, which are otherwise well documented by rights organizations outside India.

For those who don’t understand how big a deal this is, consider this: All mainstream Indian newspapers and television networks strictly adhere to the state policy on Kashmir. It is impossible to find a major Indian news outlet breaking away from this unspoken consensus. [In other words, for India, this is bigger than Commonwealth Games Delhi 2010.]

Now an environment is being created in New Delhi to arrest Roy, or at least terrorize her enough to silence her and any other Indians who might be having similarly dangerous thoughts. Unfortunately for Roy, she is a Christian, coming from a minority group vulnerable to attacks by Hindu fundamentalists. Indian Christians have been burned alive in acts of violence as recently as winter 2008.

There are early signs of a whisper campaign and intimidation against Ms. Roy inside India. Prominent Indian news outlets confirmed a sedition case was being prepared against her. Normally the accused in Indian sedition cases receives harsh treatment even before a trial and conviction.

More worrying is that her opponents – a motley crew of extremist politicians, Hindu fanatics, Hindu terror groups, media affiliates of extremist politicians, and sympathizers inside Indian security agencies – might get to her in other ways without making it look like payback for her Kashmir remarks. Already there are reports suggesting she might be dragged to court in other cases. Funny how these reports suddenly appeared just in time to take her down.

So no one should be surprised if there is a sudden news blackout on her and she slips off the headlines any minute.

The mainstream India media has begun whipping up religious sentiments against Roy. This is dangerous in a religious boiling pot like India where rumors in 2002 resulted in Hindu mobs burning alive 2,000 Indian Muslim men, women and children in the Indian state of Gujarat, in what was 21st century’s first incident of religious genocide.

Ironically, mainstream India media is at the forefront of inflaming passions. For example, the Indian Express has dedicated a page on its internet version of the newspaper to lynching Roy.

“If I were the prime minister I would stripped her citizenship and deport her to Pakistan,” wrote one reader who signed his name as ‘Indian’.

Another Indian, Sunanda, based in Manchester, UK, ironically chides Roy for her Western links. She writes: “looking for some more European awards missy? By selling your nation that too (…) You remain a pointless non productive self serving woman, your life is wasted. Dont pride yourself with a thinkers cap, clearly you are a confused ugly face, pretending to be an angel.”

Karan titled his comment, “Arundhati, a publicity hungry maggot.”

To be fair, there is the occasional supportive comment, like that of Mr. I. Gill, who writes: “How many of you have been to Kashmir (I am talking for last 40 years, since I have been there)? If you have been then you will understand what Kashmere's think of India. If you want to bring India pride then listen to your people and give them freedom.”

But the worry is from rabble-rousers aiming to activate extremists. An Indian apparently based in the United States wrote this: “In America, we have a way to deal with these crazies. The rest of the media will make them look like clowns incessantly. That will shut them off permanently (…) Wake up [local] scribes go for the kill.

View Point - Happenings in tha world: PakNationalists - Indian Extremists Endangering The Life Of Arundhati Roy Over Kashmir Remarks

BY AHMED QURAISHI

 

[KS]

Oh ok so one can abuse him. So much for the mahatma.

There is a difference between Abusing and Criticising.