AHMEDABAD: Justice D Y Chandrachud of the Supreme Court on Saturday said dissenting voices cannot be labelled ‘anti-national’ or ‘anti-democratic’ and such assertions are an attack on the people’s commitment to protecting constitutional values.“Within the bounds of law, liberal democracies ensure that citizens enjoy the right to express themselves in every conceivable manner, including the right to protest, and express dissent against prevailing laws. The blanket labelling of dissent as anti-national or anti-democratic strikes at the heart of our commitment to the protection of constitutional values and promotion of a deliberative democracy,” Justice Chandrachud said during a talk at the Gujarat high court auditorium in Ahmedabad.Laying emphasis on retaining India’s plural traditions, he added, “What is of utmost relevance today is our ability and commitment to preserve, conserve and build on the rich pluralistic history that we have inherited. Homogeneity is not the defining feature of Indianness.”The SC judge said India as a nation is not committed to just one language, one religion, one culture, or one assimilated race. “No single individual or institution can claim a monopoly over the idea of India,” Justice Chandrachud said, insisting that the country at present finds itself “in defence of its plural views and the multitude of its cultures”.Later, as chief guest of the 10th convocation of the Gujarat National Law University (GNLU), the SC judge encouraged students to stand up not just to government but for those who cannot speak for themselves. He asked students to question and question often. “It is important to stand up and be dissenters. It is only through your power of expressing views and courage of stating contrary positions that you will make others stop and think,” he said.Earlier, during his talk on the ‘Hues that make India’ organised by the Justice P D Desai Memorial Lecture Committee, Justice Chandrachud called on the audience to include communities that are pushed to the fringe of the mainstream for being minorities — based on their language, faith, culture or gender — and asserted that this was aimed for by the Constitution.Speaking after Justice Chandrachud, SC senior advocate Dushyant Dave reminded the audience and judges present about the Karnataka police investigating schoolchildren for performing a play opposing the Citizenship (Amendment) Act and the “unfortunate incident” at a Bhuj hostel where girls were being kept in a basement because they were menstruating.“We have these situations which are completely antithetical to constitutional beliefs and values. Why is it happening? Why is the judiciary sitting (quietly) watching them? I would request the judges to ponder upon them. These are something on which you can definitely speak. What we need is pluralism in action, not merely in thoughts,” he said.