2 weeks ago

Manu Joseph: Where our freedom of speech came from and where it went

A few years ago, someone got in touch with me asking if I would agree to be part of an interview series where authors are interviewed in front of a live audience by a person who has never read a book. In 2015, after Islamist terrorists opened fire in the Paris office of the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, killing 12 people, the Catholic Pope said, “If my good friend Dr. Gasparri," referring to a person standing near him on the papal aircraft, “says a curse word against my mother, he can expect a punch. After Kamra aroused the Shiv Sena’s ire, the strongest support for his freedom to speak came from Uddhav Thackeray and his son Aaditya Thackeray, who had lost control of their party to the very man Kamra had insulted. In that way, an esoteric idea like freedom of expression has the potential to be a mass right almost on par with more natural freedoms, like the freedom to live, the freedom to own property and the freedom to practise a religion. So, without wide political support, it appears that freedom of expression is a niche nuisance, something only comedians and artists want.

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India Constitution Freedom Free Speech Shiv Sena Free Politicians Kamra Expression Came
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