India uses outdated laws to ‘stifle’ dissent

New York, May 24

India “routinely” uses vaguely worded laws such as sedition and criminal defamation as “political tools” to “stifle” dissent, a leading rights group said today while calling on the government to repeal or amend such laws that are used to criminalise peaceful expression.

The Human Rights Watch (HRW) in a 108-page report titled “Stifling Dissent — The Criminalisation of Peaceful Expression in India” stressed that Indian authorities should stop treating critics as criminals and not use “vaguely worded, overly broad laws”, which are prone to misuse, and have been repeatedly used for political purposes against critics at the national and state level.

The report called on the government to review all these laws and repeal or amend them to bring them in line with international law and India’s treaty commitments.

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It said while India’s Constitution protected the right to freedom of speech and expression, recent and colonial-era laws, such as sedition and criminal defamation, were frequently used in an attempt to clampdown on critics. “Indian authorities routinely use vaguely worded, overly broad laws as political tools to silence and harass critics,” the HRW said in the report. “The government should repeal or amend laws that are used to criminalise peaceful expression,” the report said.

“India’s abusive laws are the hallmark of a repressive society, not a vibrant democracy,” said Meenakshi Ganguly, South Asia director at Human Rights Watch.

“Putting critics in prison or even forcing them to defend themselves in lengthy and expensive court proceedings undermines the government’s efforts to present India as a modern country in the Internet age committed to free speech and the rule of law,” she said. The report, which cited the arrest of student leader Kanhaiya Kumar and the ensuing unrest at the Jawaharlal Nehru University earlier this year, said criminal laws were used to limit and chill free speech in India.

“Vague laws are used to stifle political dissent, harass journalists, restrict activities by non-governmental organisations, arbitrarily block Internet sites or take down content, and target marginalised communities and religious minorities,” it said. The report said one of the “most abused laws” in the country was the sedition law, which had been used by successive governments to arrest and silence critics. — PTI