sedition language wars and federalism | political line
2 years, 8 months ago

sedition language wars and federalism | political line

The Hindu  

Laws and lawlessness I have returned from a nice vacation; so has PL. The Supreme Court’s directive that put a brake on the mindless and often cruel use of sedition cases by the state against critics turned out to be a breath of fresh air, though that in no way guarantees that the state will be more tolerant towards dissent and criticism from now on. The Indian state, for instance, is much more tolerant and compromising towards Naga and Sikh separatism as we speak, as opposed to its unforgiving attitude towards separatism in Kashmir or subversive politics of the Left. The hope and the expectation arise from the Union government’s own submission that it has decided to re-examine and reconsider the provision as part of the Prime Minister’s efforts to scrap outdated laws and compliance burdens.” Amit Shah in the Northeast The controversial Armed Forces Powers Act, or AFSPA, could be removed from the entire State of Assam soon, Home Minister Amit Shah announced during a visit. A State Minister wondered why Hindi speakers were selling pani puri in Tamil Nadu if the language made them more employable.

India Tamil Nadu Sedition Hindi State Naga Political Line  sedition  state  debate  separatism  line  wars  hindi  court  federalism  language  political  nadu  tamil  supreme  india

History of this topic

Terms of Trade | Kamaraj to Ponmudi: Has non-Hindi belt politics turned inward?
2 years, 7 months ago

Terms of Trade | Kamaraj to Ponmudi: Has non-Hindi belt politics turned inward?

Hindustan Times  

How?”, is what K Kamaraj, one of the biggest leaders of the Congress of his times, is supposed to have told the party leadership when he was asked to take over as the Prime Minister of India after Lal Bahadur Shastri’s death in 1966. Kamaraj’s view of ability to speak Hindi being a necessary skill for a politician who were …

India puts hold on harsh sedition law used to stifle critics
2 years, 8 months ago

India puts hold on harsh sedition law used to stifle critics

Associated Press  

NEW DELHI — India’s top court put the country’s colonial-era sedition law on hold Wednesday. “It will be appropriate not to use this provision of law till further reexamination is over,” the three-judge bench headed by India’s Chief Justice N.V. Ramana said in New Delhi. India’s sedition law, like its equivalent in other formerly British-ruled countries, offers a legal framework …

'Hindi imposition' debate: Amit Shah's statement and Congress' hypocrisy
2 years, 9 months ago

'Hindi imposition' debate: Amit Shah's statement and Congress' hypocrisy

Op India  

On the occasion of Hindi Diwas, The Home Minister of India made a statement that closely translates as follows: “We hope that all of us will be involved with complete dedication in developing national language Hindi as the language of the entire country“. Buoyed by this meaningless support and forgetting the stellar role of the Congress party in fomenting this …

BJP unleashing ‘cultural terrorism’ against non-Hindi speaking States: Congress
2 years, 9 months ago

BJP unleashing ‘cultural terrorism’ against non-Hindi speaking States: Congress

The Hindu  

Asserting that Hindi is not the country’s national language, Karnataka Congress leaders on Friday accused the BJP of trying to unleash its agenda of “cultural terrorism” against non-Hindi speaking States. Shivakumar, and former KPCC president Dinesh Gundu Rao took strong objection to Home Minister Amit Shah’s statement on using Hindi as the medium of communication. Mr. Siddaramaiah recalled the failure …

Supreme Court agrees to hear plea challenging sedition law
3 years, 8 months ago

Supreme Court agrees to hear plea challenging sedition law

India Today  

The Supreme Court has agreed to hear a plea challenging the legal validity of Section 124A of the Indian Penal Code that deals with the offence of sedition. The sedition law has been challenged by two journalists -- Kishorechandra Wangkhemcha from Manipur and Kanhaiya Lal Shukla from Chhattisgarh -- on the grounds that the law violates the fundamental right of …

Disagreeing with govt is not sedition, says SC
3 years, 10 months ago

Disagreeing with govt is not sedition, says SC

Hindustan Times  

It is not seditious to have views different from the government, the Supreme Court said on Wednesday as it junked a petition that sought action against former Jammu & Kashmir chief minister Farooq Abdullah for his comments on the scrapping of Article 370 and the bifurcation of the state into two Union territories. The word “sedition” disappeared from the Constitution …

A colonial relic: The Hindu Editorial on need to scrap sedition law
3 years, 10 months ago

A colonial relic: The Hindu Editorial on need to scrap sedition law

The Hindu  

A sessions court in Delhi has affirmed the belief that a dispassionate scrutiny of outlandish claims by the police is necessary for protecting the liberty of those jailed on flimsy, often political, reasons. Rejecting the purported evidence presented by the Delhi Police against climate change activist Disha Ravi, as “scanty and sketchy”, Judge Dharmender Rana has granted bail to the …

CISF Officer Asked If I’m Indian For Not Knowing Hindi: Kanimozhi
4 years, 5 months ago

CISF Officer Asked If I’m Indian For Not Knowing Hindi: Kanimozhi

The Quint  

Critics however point out that this is not an issue with an individual officer from a central force, but the larger belief being pushed in India that Hindi is the national language, or that Hindi is more important than other Indian languages. Currently, there are 22 official languages recognised in the eighth schedule of the Indian Constitution, and it includes …

How the sedition law has become a weapon to muzzle dissent
4 years, 10 months ago

How the sedition law has become a weapon to muzzle dissent

India Today  

A week is fast becoming a long time without a sedition case being slapped on one pretext or another on Indian citizens. Although the sedition law, Section 124A, is an archaic one enshrined in the antiquated Indian Penal Code, the National Crime Records Bureau began recording data on this only in 2014. "Neither the sedition law, much less any other …

The widening fissure in India’s rule of law
5 years ago

The widening fissure in India’s rule of law

The Hindu  

Last month, the news website Scroll revealed that more than 10,000 people in the Khunti district of Jharkhand had been chargesheeted by the police for sedition. The first information reports that follow allege that the police were attacked with “sticks and traditional weapons” ; but additionally, the FIRs also state that the leaders of the movement have been “misleading the …

BJP will make sedition law even more stringent, says Rajnath Singh
5 years, 9 months ago

BJP will make sedition law even more stringent, says Rajnath Singh

India Today  

Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday slammed the Congress for its stand on sedition law as mentioned in the party's Lok Sabha election 2019 manifesto. Rajnath Singh said the Bharatiya Janata Party will make the law even more stringent if it forms government for a second term. If our government comes to power we will make the sedition law even …

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