New Delhi: Minister of State for Home Affairs G. Kishan Reddy in the Lok Sabha Tuesday attacked the Congress on the issue of the sedition law, saying cases under the law are not unique to the Narendra Modi government, and that their numbers are “low”.
Reddy said the Congress, when in power, tried to hide the data on sedition cases, as it did not maintain separate data and clubbed them with other Indian Penal Code cases.
Reddy was responding to Congress leader Manish Tewari’s question in the Lok Sabha about the number of cases registered under the sedition law — IPC Section 124A, punishable with life imprisonment — in the last 10 years. He said the Modi government has maintained the figures related to sedition cases separately, unlike the earlier Congress regimes.
He also countered the Congress’ allegations of misuse of the sedition law, reminding the party of stringent laws it has passed and used such as TADA and MISA.
“The less Congress speaks of misuse, the better it is. You jailed JP Narayan, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, L.K. Advani and others by misusing MISA (Maintenance of Internal Security Act). Congress has no right to speak on democracy,” Reddy said.
Also read: In India, sedition law is the ‘toolkit’ to suppress dissent and criticism
‘Nothing to hide, numbers quite low’
Congress’ Tewari had said while posing the question that Section 124A is being misused by the NDA government to “use, abuse and chill free speech”. He cited activist Disha Ravi as the latest example, saying the police failed to provide any proof of sedition against her.
However, minister Reddy read out the figures maintained by the National Crime Records Bureau, and said the government had nothing to hide.
“There are 130 crore people in India. The media has become quite aware and often gives high sermons on democracy, but despite that, the number of cases of sedition is quite low,” he said.
According to the NCRB’s figures, available till 2019, the numbers of sedition cases filed were 47 in 2014, 30 in 2015, 35 in 2016, 51 in 2017, 70 in 2018 and 93 in 2019, he said.
However, Tewari and fellow Congress MP Anumula Revanth Reddy expressed dissatisfaction over the answer, and insisted that the minister should reveal the number of cases registered after 2019. They also demanded a specific reply on the Disha Ravi case and the farmers arrested for rioting in Delhi on Republic Day this year, to which Reddy responded with the counter-attack on the Congress.
Also read: ‘Sedition can’t be used to quieten disquiet’ — Delhi court gives 2 arrested for FB posts bail
Edited by Shreyas Sharma
Save during Emergency Period, which was provided by the Constitution, when opposition leaders and critiques of Government were jailed, to maintain internal security, Governance in India, by Congress Party has been more democratic, inclusive and treated opponents with more sensitiveness and concern, unlike today’s PM Modi’s Government.
Wrong. There are many cases of Congress detaining journalists
Such a bunch of liars every bjp minister is,,, the bjp can and does speak about anyone and everyone rigging up past stories and personal attacks,,, They dont call this sefition,, but if anyone other than a bjp member or politician or minister does,,, then its termed anti national and sedition charges slapped against them,,,,, such is the state of punishment