Recent comments by religious leaders spark debate on balancing free speech with the responsibility to curb hate speech in a maturing democracy. (Image: Freepik)
Freedom of speech and expression is one of the foundation stones on which the edifice of democracy has been built and protection of this right holds the key to the survival of the very idea. No right comes without riders, and hence the statute book has entries that make hate speech a crime. The skill to successfully negotiate these apparent contradictions reflects the maturity of the civilisational advancement a society has made.
In that case, then India needs to introspect where it stands on this score. Back-to-back utterances by religious and organisational leaders against revered figures of the two minority communities in India would reflect poorly on the ability of its people to understand the nuances with which they express themselves. A democracy must allow criticism of religions and religious figures but it must step in the moment it takes the form of hate speech.
The references made by Yati Narsinghanand, the chief priest of a temple in Ghaziabad, against Prophet Mohammed, the founder of Islam and those by Goa RSS leader Subhash Velingkar about the relic of Francis Xavier, whom the Christian community venerates as a saint, are clearly out of sync with the rigours of the right of speech and expression and squarely fall in the category of hate speech. The law must take its course in both the cases in a way that people get a better idea of the dos and don’ts in a democracy.
While the governments must act to protect the spirit of the freedoms the Constitution guarantees and that of the laws, it is incumbent upon the citizens to recognise and appreciate the values and rights democracy bestows on them. Indians must remember that we did not inherit those values and rights; we fought hard and won them. Those who were part of the struggle and those who were not alike have a responsibility to protect them. The law can do only so much when it comes to arresting the spread of hate.
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