Freedom Has its Price

Varun Gandhi's hate speech against Muslims in PiIibhit is indecent, immoral and condemnable. But, should it also be illegal? Do we really need a law to punish someone for speaking out their mind? Though I am disappointed and shocked at his speech, I do believe, in a free society, everyone has the right to express their opinions, however flawed, outrageous and unacceptable those opinions might be.

A case has been filed against Mr. Gandhi under the Section I53A of the Indian Penal Code. Under Section I53A, it is illegal to promote enmity between different groups by speech or writing. But, here is the catch. I, for instance, wouldn’t have developed any sort of enmity or hatred towards Muslims even if I had listened to that speech. And, as readers of this blog, it is highly probable that you wouldn’t have turned hostile too. So, if Mr. Gandhi had delivered his hate speech to us and if his speech had failed to incite any hatred or enmity among us, is he still punishable under law? What made Mr. Gandhi’s venomous speech at PiIibhit, a tiring or, at the most, an exasperating speech to most of us is the progress we have made in our education, awareness and opportunities.

Success of a democracy lies in its ability to provide the same level of education, awareness and opportunities to all its citizens, so that the hate mongers will not be heeded anywhere. We cannot claim our democracy to be a success, if we have to arrest our speakers and writers in order to keep the hatred and enmity dormant under the rags. Don’t get me wrong. I am not supporting Varun Gandhi’s PiIibhit speech. Neither do I want my country to have parliamentarians winning elections on hatred. But I do want to live in an India where even folks like Varun Gandhi are free to express who they really are and be judged on that.