Luminaries seek scrapping of IPC 124A
Communist Party of India (CPI) General Secretary D Raja has called for the scrapping of Section 124A (known as the sedition section) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), which he said is being grossly misused by the present Narendra Modi led government at the Centre.
Raja was speaking at a webinar on Scrapping of Sedition Law today, organised by Jan Andolan Sangharsh Samiti.
A former parliamentarian, who had moved Private Member Bill in the Rajya Sabha in 2011 and the Bill came up for discussion in the House the following year. Later, the Law Commission of India made a reference to the Private Member Bill in one of its consultation papers.
Raja said that the citizens have the right to criticise the government and its policies, question the government and to express their dissent, but today’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government, led by Modi is fascist and does not tolerate criticism, dissent and being questioned. He blamed it on the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), which has the ideological control of the BJP and that ideology tries to impose a monolithic socio-political order.
Raja said that under the present BJP-led government 160 persons have been charged under Section 124A of IPC. He stated that the section is being used against student activists, tribal activists, minorities, Dalit activists, academicians. He described the death of Stan Swamy as institutional murder and also mentioned how Dr Saibaba, who is 90 per cent disabled, who is languishing in Nagpur Central Prison without adequate medical care.
“India should be a welfare State, now the BJP-led government is destroying all the fundamental values of our Constitutions. The sedition charges are used against those who raise their voices in support of the suffering masses. They are called anti-nationals. How can we all this or tolerate this?” Raja asked.
The Communist leader gave a brief history of the insertion of the of Section 124A in the IPC by the British government in 1898 and said that root of cause of the insertion was the First War of Independence in 1857, which was termed Sepoy Mutiny by the British. The British used the law against Mahatma Gandhi, Lokmanya Tilak, Shahid Bhagat Singh and countless Communists, he added.
Raja reiterated that the section has to be scrapped as it is not in tune with the fundamental position of our Constitution. He regretted that the Parliament of our country has been made redundant as it is not being allowed to function. “We have to save our democracy. Unless we save our Constitution and democracy today, we cannot save our nation and that is the reason our party is fighting the sedition law. The law has to go and we need to mobilise the public opinion to put pressure on the government,” Raja said, but was quick to add that the government is not going to listen to the public opinion and will suppress it. “The government will continue to use the sedition law. There should be social and popular movements to throw out this government. Today is the 262nd day of the farmers agitation and there is no response from the government,” he said.
Earlier, noted jurist Prashant Bhushan pointed out how the law is being used against journalists, against cartoonists, against anybody who speaks against a Chief Minister or the Prime Minister.
According to Bhushan, apart from Section 124A of IPC, there are other laws which are against democracy and the fundamental rights. He mentioned how the law has been used against those charges under what is known as Bhima Koregaon case, against social activists like Sudha Bhardwaj, Anand Teltumbde and Gautam Navlakha, based on fabricated emails that they were planning to assassinate the Prime Minister.
Bhushan too called for the scrapping of the sedition law.