Since the inception of democracy, a lot of emphasis has been given to rights and duties of both the citizens and the Government. In a democratic society, every citizen has the right to dissent from majority view. But there is also a stipulation that no citizen has the right to disrupt other’s views or enforce his/her views on others. The same goes for the Government, they are here to govern within jurisdiction of the law as prescribed by the constitution. The right to freedom in Article 19 of Indian constitution guarantees the Freedom of speech and expression, as one of its six freedoms. But in the present-day scenario things are not as clear and distinctive as right or wrong. For what was supposed to be the fundamental root of a democratic society is being abused and misused by both the sides. When anti-national slogans were raised during Jallikattu protests, it came as a shockwave to the democratic society of India. A similar incident had occurred in JNU on February 09, 2016. This has changed the way liberals look at an ideal democratic society. The freedom of speech was entitled to citizens so that never can a totalitarian government be able to oppress the views of the society. But if this right is abused to raise anti-national slogans then the society enters a grey area of a democratic society. For if these people are punished for this, it would reflect upon the government as tyrannical and oppressive to those who dissent, but each time they don’t the domain of personal sense of rights and liberties, and even a sense of personal nationalism will keep expanding, till a point is reached where everyone will have their own version of democracy with no sense of cohesiveness. When the Supreme Court passed a law that all cinemas must play the national anthem at the start of each show and that everyone who is physically fit to stand must do so, it was in limelight of the same idea that the personal versions of nationalism mean broken nationalism. There was a mixed response to this, some heartily welcomed this decision, while the others saw this as another blow at the freedom of citizens. But after Jallikattu incident one can clearly see why this move is so necessary. On the other side, there are also incidents suggesting a definite mockery of right to dissent. There were instances where dissent from the views of demonetization were being labeled as anti-national and hence being condemned. The right to dissent is one of the cornerstones of a democratic society. If such a right is haunted away by the scepter of anti-nationalism, the very essence of democracy will fade away. In the similar way if this right to dissent is abused to harm national spirit the very reason of democracy will get dissolved. The solution to this problem lies not in the white of the freedom or in the black of the restrictions but in the grey of understanding.

Share this: Twitter

Facebook

More

LinkedIn

Reddit



Tumblr

Pinterest



Pocket

Telegram



WhatsApp

Skype



Like this: Like Loading...