A lot of people in my coterie feel that we have lost the right to criticise the government and I reckon that's valid to an extent. Dwelling in a democracy where freedom of speech and transparency is stifled, most decisions are just born out of nowhere, leaving societies in bewilderment.

Let's just take the past couple of years into consideration; a lot of people landed themselves a spot in jail, a case of sedition, defamation charges, severe intimidation and bullying because of their criticisms of the government.

We have gone from individuals with rights and privileges protected by the government, to people who are completely governed by their states. The intimidation and threats are real, and there is no way for one to get away with charges after talking ill about the government.

1. When RJ Malishka was slapped with Rs 10,000 fine and Rs 500 crore lawsuit for defamation

Earlier this month she released a video called “Mumbai, don’t you trust the BMC”. In the video, Malishka questioned BMC about Mumbai’s most dreaded problem, the potholes, but for obvious reasons, BMC didn’t like it. They raided her house without prior notice and issued a notice or Rs. 10,000 for breeding mosquitoes. They even slapped a whopping Rs. 500 crore lawsuit against her and Red.FM for defamation.

2. When a 31-year-old was arrested for posting anti-Modi comments

Devu Chodankar from Goa reportedly posted comments against Prime Minister Narendra Modi on his Facebook account during the Lok Sabha election campaign back in 2014, and was arrested subsequently. “Custodial interrogation of the accused is very much essential to find out any motive of a larger game plan to promote communal and social disharmony in the state," said Rajesh Job of the Goa Police cyber cell.

In the comment, Devu wrote that a holocaust would follow and also that Christians in Goa would lose their identity. Now, this may seem a bit too much, yet it’s his personal belief, from his personal social media profile.

3. When tweets bought these two guys jail time

themangonews

Back in 2012, with the advent of ‘freedom of speech’ on social media, Ravi, a small plastic packaging businessman in the southern state of Tamil Nadu was arrested for questioning the assets and net worth of Karti Chidambaram, the son of P. Chidambaram, the former Union Minister of Finance of India.

Another person that goes by the name of Saravana Kumar Perumal was arrested for criticising a famous movie singer called Chinmayi.

4. The BSF Jawan who was sacked for complaining about food quality

Urdu Information Lab

Indians hold the highest form of admiration for its Army and take great pride in the work they do. So obviously, when earlier this year when Tej Bahadur Yadav complained about the poor quality of food served to personnel on duty and how they even had to sleep on an “empty stomach” at times, various debates cropped up across the country. Sadly, this put his job in jeopardy and he was asked to apply for retirement. He was eventually dismissed.

5. Teo girls in Mumbai were arrested for a Facebook post against Bal Thackeray

Shahin and Renu’s mistake was that they decided to question the shutdown in the city for Shiv Sena patriarch Bal Thackeray's funeral, back in 2014. They were then sent to 14-day judicial custody by a court. While Shahin was the one who wrote the post, her friend Renu was simply arrested for liking the post.

6. This professor who was jailed for circulating a cartoon on Mamata Banerjee

indianpoliticalleague

A professor of chemistry at the prestigious Jadavpur University in Kolkata was arrested for forwarding a cartoon of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in 2012. Ambikesh Mahapatra was also attacked by Trinammol Congress workers on Thursday night when he was returning home.

7. When a 19-year-old was jailed for criticising Azam Khan

newindianexpress

The class XI student was jailed for 14 days in March 2015 for sharing an “obnoxious” post on his Facebook account against the senior Samajwadi party leader and state Urban Development Minister Azam Khan. He was held on the grounds that his comments were capable of instigating communal tensions to spoil peace and harmony of the region.

8. This guy who was arrested for posting abusive content about Prime Minister Narendra Modi

PTI

An outcome of useless banter, Rajeesh Kumar allegedly shared abusive comments and photos of the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Back in August 2014, debating on Facebook about the elections became popular, and Rajesh’s comment was part of that jibe. He posted a picture where Modi was depicted in a picture shown with an imprint of a shoe on his face.

9. Earlier this month, when AIB faced a defamation case for a meme on PM Modi

Must you follow AIB on social media, you would have been aware of the fact that some random accusations along with FIR and legal notices were thrown at them of late for making fun of the Indian Prime Minister. AIB did the unthinkable and fabricated one of Modi's pictures.

There they put Snapchat's infamous dog filter on his face and the Indian politicians couldn't plate some humour in their meal. Anyway, AIB deleted that picture.

Ideally, a democratic society must encourage any sort of criticism and use it as a mode of feedback from its citizens, however, government is being too insensitive towards these agenda and public outbursts.