The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Repeal of sedition laws urged

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Sunday, Jan 30, 2011
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Repeal of sedition laws urged

Staff Reporter

BANGALORE: Academics, lawyers, students and human rights activists participating in a consultation on ‘Sedition laws and the Indian democracy' called for the repeal of sedition laws, and all other legislations that target the freedom of speech and expression of citizens.

In the wake of the conviction of public health expert and activist Binayak Sen, delegates said that section 124(A) of the Indian Penal Code (sedition), must be revoked. “Such provisions have no place in a country that prides itself on a Constitution that guarantees to all its citizens the fundamental right to dissent,” a delegate noted.

This consultation was organised by the Centre for the Study of Social Exclusion and Inclusive Policy (CSSEIP), National Law School of India University (NLSIU) and the Alternative Law Forum (ALF), Bangalore.

At the consultation, Ujjwal Kumar Singh, Department of Political Science, Delhi University, spoke about how the law on sedition has no place in a modern constitutional democracy.

Siddharth Narrain, legal researcher with ALF, pointed out that a law that was used against patriots such as Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi and Bal Gangadhar Tilak should find no place in independent India.

Delhi-based lawyer Jawahar Raja argued that 300 of the 350 cases filed against the Students Islamic Movement of India under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act had nothing to do with their promotion of violence, but were targeted at their speech.

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