Police in Bihar’s Muzaffarpur Thursday filed an FIR under a number of sections, including IPC 124A (sedition), against 49 celebrities who had written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in July against mob lynchings. The FIR has named Ramachandra Guha, Aparna Sen, Shyam Benegal, Mani Ratnam, Konkona Sen Sharma among others.
ThePrint asks: FIR against celebrities for criticising lynching: Does impact matter or is speaking up enough?
Legal harassment & intimidation proof of that otherwise immeasurable thing – impact of speaking up
Shivam Vij
Contributing editor, ThePrint
The fact that the Narendra Modi government and the Hindutva forces at large are so busy silencing dissent shows that just the act of speaking up matters. In fact, it matters a lot. When people don’t speak up, when they choose silence out of fear or favour, the result is manufacturing of consent.
When there are no dissenting voices, people in power are able to say that their decisions have popular support. Former finance minister Arun Jaitley, for instance, said unemployment couldn’t be on a 45-year high because there were no “major social and political agitations” in the last five years.
That is why silence is complicity. Merely speaking up can impact public opinion. It is, however, often immeasurable. Lynchings may continue despite all the outrage over them, but there would perhaps be even more lynchings without the outrage. Without the outrage, PM Modi wouldn’t even need to distance himself from these incidents. And that would be worse, it would give greater impunity to lynch mobs.
Some public figures wrote a joint open letter to the Prime Minister against lynching. It’s absurd to say that it is sedition, but in a mockery of Supreme Court judgments on sedition, a magistrate has entertained an FIR against the signatories. The legal harassment and intimidation are proof of that otherwise immeasurable thing, the impact of speaking up. The truth must have hurt to invite legal harassment. Truth must always be used like a weapon because it is one.
Instead of just writing to Modi, celebrities should help the families of those lynched
Nikhil Hajirnis
Chief producer, ThePrint
Amnesty International’s website ‘Halt The Hate’ has documented that the number of alleged hate crimes in India has been the highest in the first half of 2019, since 2015.
What we really need are long-pending changes in our archaic laws to define what a hate crime is and how it should be penalised.
The act of celebrities writing a letter to the Prime Minister and now the police filing an FIR against them has not really changed anything on the ground for the victims of hate crimes. In fact, just writing to the PM against lynching looks like a publicity stunt.
How many of these celebrities have moved courts against organisations and individuals accused of lynchings? Have they assisted the families of the victims to fight their cases in court? I haven’t seen or heard of any such gesture. So, in my ‘letter’ to these personalities, I’d like to tell Ramachandra Guha, Aparna Sen, Mani Ratnam and company to leave the secure confines of their metro cities and at least take the effort to console the families of those lynched because ‘actions speak louder than words’.
Also read: Bihar lawyer behind FIR against 49 celebrities for Modi letter had targeted Bachchan, Lalu
Celebs were speaking up about a matter that caused them concern. Every Indian has the right to do so
Samira Sood
Associate editor, ThePrint
It’s strange that when we should be focusing on the wisdom of a petition against those who merely wrote a letter and the subsequent FIR against them — and the utter waste of time this means for the police and judicial machinery — we are debating whether the celebrities’ letter had an impact at all.
To my mind, this is not really relevant, given that these celebrities — Mani Ratnam, Aparna Sen, Anurag Kashyap and tens more — are not bound by any law to create an impact. The government and the Prime Minister they wrote to, however, are constitutionally bound to ensure that peace prevails, which is what this letter was about.
These celebrities were merely speaking up, peacefully, about a matter that caused them concern. This is something that every citizen of this country has the right to do and, frankly, I wish more people did.
And clearly, their voices were heard, and clearly, their voices did have an impact, which is why someone was bothered enough to file a petition in the first place, and why the court ordered this ridiculous FIR.
Also read: India’s Right-wing doesn’t mind different voices within. That’s what separates it from Left
Criticism of govt policy or its absence is not seditious. Speaking out is important
Snehesh Alex Philip
Senior associate editor, ThePrint
It is a travesty that an FIR has been filed against historian Ramachandra Guha, actor Konkona Sen Sharma, and directors Aparna Sen and Shyam Benegal besides 45 other celebrities for writing an open letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on rising intolerance in India.
Charges as stringent as sedition have been invoked in the FIR. Only the State should have the right to decide on sedition charges against anyone, and those should be pressed only after proper checks.
Of course, impact matters. But then it is important to speak up to bring about any real impact.
One of the rights guaranteed in a democracy is free speech. Of course, every right comes with some responsibility. Free speech does not mean calling for an armed rebellion against the government or spreading hatred along communal and caste lines.
It is important to speak up on issues, especially those that affect people at large. Criticism of a government’s policy or its absence is not seditious.
Across the world and in India, positive changes have happened because people chose to speak up.
India needs powerful voices who can deploy better tactics to make Modi govt listen to them
Aastha Singh
Journalist, ThePrint
It is disgraceful that a government that won a massive mandate in 2014 and 2019 on the plank of “development” has not cracked the whip on lynching.
So, even when personalities like Ramachandra Guha, Anurag Kashyap, Aparna Sen, Binayak Sen and Ashis Nandy write to PM Modi, the establishment hardly takes note.
One possible reason is that all these personalities have a niche following and don’t command the mass popularity of a Salman Khan or an Amitabh Bachchan. That also explains why most people would not be bothered about such an open letter.
Also, in times like these, just writing a letter to the PM is not enough — even mass protests have failed to bring about the desired change.
Celebrities, if they are really serious about social responsibility, should do more.
This government is infamous for its high-handed decisions and has, so far, not come down heavily on mob lynchings. India needs powerful voices who can deploy better tactics to make the Modi government listen to them.
This was a complaint filed by a “Private Lawyer”, and neither the State nor Central governments are concerned or involved. It is being made out as if EVERY voice in India is throttled by them. A huge DRAMA, for publicity.
Muslims regularly rape and lynch Hindus. These never make the pages of the media. Celebrities never write letters to PM about them.
no, because the PM is never silent or encouraging about such atrocities, if they ever take please – where on earth have you ever heard of muslims regularly lynching hindus? rape, yes, i give it to you – men rape – irrespective of religion. this is a SHAME and we, have to fight this culture collectively without bringing in hindu/muslim etc.
ThePrint is inching towards an anti government news media house. It’s down fall is imminent.
you mean one more critical voice will be silenced? in that case that act will prove what the article says!
It is an absurd comment from Mr Nikhil. He appears to suggest that instead of writing to our PM, celebrities should help the victims. What is the duties of elected government?
Since when writing letters to govt has become a criminal act? Next time The Print should not even publish articles like an open letter to PM or to any constitutional functionaries you may never know when author and publishers charged with sedation. It is like saying the job of a news organisations is not reporting about the problems and crimes instead help the victims to get the relief from them. it is not the the job of news organisations to provide relief. It is the duty of the govt to take care of its citizens. Or else we will be waiting for the day when telling the king that he is naked will be a punishable offence
The 49 individuals – whom we are incredibly proud of – should directly petition the apex court. Not merely to quash the FIR for sedition. More to sensitise the Court to how its 1962 guidelines are being wantonly flouted. Not just by policemen who wrongly invoke this drastic colonial era law but also, in this case, by the lower judiciary. 2. This would be a fit case for the SC to read down the Section and strike down the law. Incompatible with the most basic tenets of democracy.
We?! May be you are proud foreign agents. Lynching?! is nothing but hysteria. These are normal criminal case which local police deals with, why create hysteria on it?
Queen Victoria ke jaise hum bhi aksar royal We ka istemaal karte hain … Have no doubt in my mind that tens of millions of Indians admire these individuals, have been touched by the magic of their artistic attainments.
India needs harsh law to tackle with agents working for Christian & muslim countries.
Rajvir Singh, are you a paid IT-cell guy? your (low) level of English and nonsensical support of the govt. both point to that…
I wonder why the IT-cell guys seem to deliberately mangle the English language – tell me, is that part of a deep strategy?
That is the point, if these publibicity mongers apply to S C matter will be closed in a day or two then what? No publicity. Kapoot, I am always found these type of hyping news every time elections are there , check all these news, akhlak , dadri, zarkhand this news,you can see the pattern and always against present govt. I didn’t find any news how these celebrities helped /gone these places