HVK Archives: Of dissent.......
Of dissent....... - The Times of India
Soli J. Sorabjee
()
11 January 1997
Title : Of dissent.....
Author : Soli J. Sorabjee
Publication : The Times of India
Date : January 11, 1997
Does the universally acclaimed greatness of Gandhiji depend upon whether
he is called the Father of the Nation or a great son of the soil? if
crude aspersions are cast upon his celibacy by the likes of Bal
Thackeray, whose authoritarian frame of mind cannot brook any criticism
of himself, the reaction should not be a hunger strike or calls for his
prosecution, but to dismiss such gibberish without giving it undue
publicity.
Thirty years ago the Bombay High Court in the case of Anant Karandikar
in the context of adverse criticism of Gandhiji In certain articles
observed: "The right to dissent is the very essence of democracy.
Conformity to accepted norms and belief has always been the enemy of
freedom of thought... everyone ought to have the privilege of expressing
opinions which are unpopular or distasteful."
The relevance of these observations cannot be underestimated in view of
the rising trend of intolerance of dissent. The right to dissent however
does not permit the expression of views which have the inherent
potential of incitement to offence or disturbance of public order, as,
for example, the vilification or scurrilous abuse of founders of any
religion or its tenets, as distinct from sober criticism of the validity
of its claims or dogmas.
The crux of the matter as Ernst Freund reminds us is "to know what you
may do and what you may not do, and how far you may go in criticism".
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