The great thing about improvisation is that it allows us to establish an uncensored form of theater. Freedom of speech is absolutely inherent to artistic expression. – Lucien Bourjeily
Remember the good old days when laughter was free? Nah! Me neither! We are in the 21st century where jokes are neither free for the audience, nor for the comedians. In today’s FREE INDIA, it is rather costlier for the comedians to crack jokes and the consideration is not just monetary. The ‘Taandav’ comedians and artists have to face for merely cracking a joke or sharing an opinion which happens to reflect dissent, disapproval or even dislike to the contemporary government or their favourite religion is surprising.
The colonial era sedition law, that was once used against political leaders and freedom fighters like Gandhi and Tilak, seeking independence from British rule, is today being reduced and unfortunately loosely inflicted on comedians for cracking jokes or even apprehended jokes. Albeit not so surprisingly, the number of cases in which such allegations are actually proved are nil to bleak, the process itself is a punishment one does not deserve to undergo.
As per the English law as it was formulated, sedition was equated with treason. Are we really trying to equate a joke to treason?
Better late than never, as a ray of hope at the end of this dark tunnel, the Apex Court has finally raised concerns on the necessity and validity of this colonial law of sedition in today’s independent India.
Sedition vis-à-vis creative and artistic freedom of speech and expression:
Albeit the use of sedition law against journalists and activists is not something new, however, the increased number of controversies and cases accusing artists including filmmakers, comedians, actors, cartoonists, etc. of sedition and hate speech demands a serious introspection on the part of the authorities. Taking offence to an individual’s personal views, opinions, craft or even jokes makes one ponder on the idea of democracy that the founders of the Constitution had envisioned.
New Era of liberal (mis)use of sedition against artists:
The sedition cases registered against the climate activist Disha Ravi, filmmaker Aisha Sultana and journalists Vinod Dua and Siddique Kappan are only a few of the illustratively long list which point towards the increasing application of sedition law by the State(s) and Centre. However, the awfully negligible rate of conviction in these cases casts a dark shadow of doubt over the genuineness of such cases, and incites an essential thought on the blazing attempt of the government to curtail the exercise of freedom of speech and expression which in fact is the primary and the most important right guaranteed under the Constitution of India.
While the law is well settled that mere criticism or disapproval of government policy cannot be termed as sedition, the State and the Central agencies fail to consider the same and arbitrarily impose sedition charges on artists merely because they dare to opine differently from those of the contemporary parties in power.
The essence of freedom of expression includes freedom of dissent and that is one of the most crucial and indispensable features of our democracy which distinguishes it from dictatorship or other forms of government; freedom to express a view different from that of a ruling party or individual. Despite the same, the sedition law has been incessantly misused to harass and intimidate dissenting and unpopular opinions.
While discussing the sharp increase in the sedition laws being invoked in the last few years, specially against artists, we cannot miss the infamous arrest of stand-up comedian Munawar Faruqui who was arrested along with his friends for a joke he didn’t even make. Further, to illustrate, let us consider a few other appalling instances where the law of sedition was applied by the Government clearly as a tool to oppress and suppress dissent, disapproval or an unpopular opinion:
- Aseem Trivedi: an Indian cartoonist was arrested and detained under the laws of sedition for his drawings which purportedly showed the government in bad light. One of his cartoons included depicting the parliament building as a lavatory buzzing with flies
- Kanhaiya Kumar: a JNU student and activist along with his other activist friends has been charged with sedition for seditious slogans
- Asifa Sultana: a filmmaker was charged with sedition for a statement of criticism on the administrative action of the government
- JNU students were arrested for sedition for protesting against the CAA and NRC
- 60 Kashmiri students were charged with sedition for cheering for Pakistan in a cricket match against India
From the recent imposition of sedition law, it appears that taking offence by the government is a fundamental right, while expressing any view, opinion or art different than that of the government’s allegedly incites hatred and hence, must be cramped and crushed.
Pseudo democracy:
The meaning and scope of sedition has been evolved and while its need in the present day and age is arguable to say the least, however, the contemporary government(s) are presuming and equating sedition with the love for Government and not for national security, sovereignty and integrity. Given the liberal and arbitrary imposition of the law of sedition on citizens and that too not for not loving their nation, but for not agreeing with the government, the claim of being world’s largest democracy is in jeopardy.
Sedition as it stands used today intrudes into the inherent democratic value of free speech and expression.
Artistic freedom of speech and expression:
“It is impossible to be truly artistic without the risk of offending someone somewhere”
– Wayne Gerard Trotman
However, the mere act of getting offended of someone’s views, opinions, exhibition, demonstration, let alone jokes, does not entitle the offended to curb or curtail the right of the purported offender. The importance of creative and artistic freedom of speech and expression cannot be understated. The acceptance that 2 contradictory or parallel opinions can co-exist in an ecosystem is the mark of a true democracy.
The who’s who of the comedy and entertainment industry have all been subject to the crippling effect of dissent. From the AIB Roast to comedians like Vir Das, Kunal Kamra, Tanmay Bhat, Rohan Joshi. Varun Grover, all have faced the terror of dissent.
Freedom of speech and expression attracts the highest honor and status being amongst the most valuable fundamental rights under the Indian Constitution. This freedom defines the backbone of any democracy and includes a wide ambit in itself, thus, deserves to be protected with utmost vigilance by the citizens, law agencies and the government. Suppressing freedom merely because it does not resonate with those in power, ceases an individual of his liberty and individuality.
Curtailing free speech and expression in art, comedy and entertainment:
There are a number of instances where the freedom of speech and expression have been vehemently curbed under the garb of terming it as “offensive” or “hurtful of religious sentiments” or an excessively misused term “contempt of court”. Taking offence and hurting one’s religious sentiments is a self-controlled emotion and cannot or rather, must not depend on someone else’s views, opinions, statements much less art and craft.
Based on various news articles and viral/ trending social media posts, an attempt has been made to enlist an illustrative set of cases where the government has unabashedly and unapologetically suppressed the voice of dissent or dislike of the artists, whereby the freedom of expression has not only been curtailed and crumbled by the government, but also criminalized:
The curious case of comedians:
Stand-up comedian Kunal Kamra was slapped with contempt proceedings in respect of his tweets expressing his views against the Supreme Court’s purported bias in deciding a matter before it, which in fact were intended to be a joke. The comedian had remarked that jokes are not reality and he does not claim to be so. Kamra had merely posted his opinion which happened to be against the government, and this displeasure led to something as grave as contempt proceedings. Our democracy cannot be so vulnerable to be threatened by a joke
In yet another comedian Munawar Faruqi’s case, as mentioned above, despite no evidence and the witnesses and video footage defying the allegations, Faruqui remained in jail and his bail plea was rejected multiple times by the State Court, to be later enlarged on bail only by the Apex Court.
Comedian Agrima Joshua, had to retract her statements owing to the severe backlash and unwarranted threats for allegedly hurting the sentiments of a certain sect of community, while she was merely pointing and highlighting the contents existing on a website.
The infamous AIB Roast was one of the first hits inflicted on the comedy sector and was met with huge outcry and rage for supposedly being indecent and of obscene language. Several other stand-up comedians including Aadar Malik, Rohan Joshi, Tanmay Bhat, Vir Das, Varun Grover and others have been hammered with threats and repercussions for their statements, views and opinions which has had a rippling effect on their families as well.
Filmmakers and creators on the OTT platforms:
Whilst movies such as Kissa Kursi Ka, Deshdroshi, Da Vinci Code, Rang De Basanti etc. have been at the centre of controversy and have faced censorship and litigation in the past, one cannot forget the outcry and outrage the movie ‘Padmavat’ faced for allegedly hurting sentiments of a certain sect of society. The web-series and short movies are too being at the helm of controversy often for minor and subjective reasons. For instance, the makers of a web-series “Taandav” released on an OTT platform were compelled to delete certain scenes from the show for allegedly insulting Hindu Gods and Goddesses.
Cartoonists:
While we read about Aseem Trivedi, the cartoonist who was arrested and detained in jail for his satirical drawings, recently another cartoonist Rachit Taneja was at the helm of controversy for his art.
Given the impulse of invoking grave provisions at the slightest discomfort, it is practically impossible to produce an exhaustive list of such cases wherein democracy has been literally throttled under the garb of sedition, hurting religious sentiments, offensive content etc.
Crippling impact of dissent:
It is saddening to see this mockery where the government has been misusing the very law which intends to protect the sovereignty and integrity of the nation. The shocking journey of sedition has seen it go from when the law of sedition was applied and imposed against the likes of Gandhi, Tilak and such freedom fighters for raising their voices against the tyrannical treatment at the hands of the British, the law has now been reduced to be hammered on artistes, activists, students, academicians, and even cartoonists and comedians. One must shudder to think that is our democracy so vulnerable that it can be shaken by a picture, joke, or even an apprehension of a joke? Slapping sedition cases on creative artistes and individuals will only hamper and infact cage the bright creative minds of the nation.
As far as the art of comedy is concerned, it is beyond doubt that stand-up, due to its popular demand, is here to stay and even grow in the future. However, arbitrary and callous imposition of sedition and other laws to curtail the artistic freedom for sheer discomfort, would deter individuals and artists from thinking, imagining, expressing and exhibiting their true and creative ideas and blossom. It would deter creative growth which not only hampers the individual, but the community as a whole. In turn, it also affects the audience as they lose the opportunity to witness perhaps what could have been the best work.
Comedians today are faced with the constant, terrifying prospect of both legal and ‘extralegal’ repercussions for their words. Online trolls often intimidate artists to withdraw their work. The impulse, naturally, is to self-censor so as to limit all provocations. Stand-up comedians are constrained to mitigate such risks which ultimately hampers the quality of their content and moreover, such factors, ultimately affects the earnestness and honesty of their craft.
While we read about the imposition of sedition charges on stand-up comedian Munawar Faruqi in the foregoing paragraphs, who was detained in jail before being released on bail, it is pertinent to mention that he was arrested with 4 other people merely for being a part of the event where the alleged incident was ‘apprehended to be committed’ purely on the basis of presumptions, conjectures and surmises. Nalin Yadav, also a stand-up comedian, who was arrested along with Munawar, was enlarged on bail much later and has been forced to work as a labourer since no café or venue is willing to host him fearing the backlash/ attack and the consequent loss. The risk for the venue is also too high which has doomed Yadav’s career trajectory, while he continues to face the charges.
Imposing sedition on artists for voicing disagreement, disapproval or dislike to the contemporary party, would leave us with the monotony of puppets singing and dancing to the tunes of the ruling party.
If such restrictions and law of sedition continues to be applied so liberally on dissenting and discerning opinions, expressions, views etc., the meaning of “opinion” would become redundant and the freedom of speech and expression defunct – and that is certainly not the democratic India our fore-founders had envisioned and certainly not the Free India our forefathers fought for.
Incessant abuse of such draconian laws itself poses a greater threat to the sovereignty and integrity of India, than individuals being arbitrarily inflicted with such laws, as nothing incites more hatred than injustice.
Process being the punishment:
Notwithstanding the unsurprising humungous gap in the ratio of the number of cases where such draconian provisions are inflicted and the number of actual convictions, going through the process in India can often be a punishment in itself, thereby jeopardizing one’s fundamental rights and liberties. The process is expensive and exhaustive. While most such cases are ultimately dismissed, but the dismissals are too late to protect the rights of the individuals. As is rightly said ‘Justice delayed is justice denied’.
The societal and psychological impact of imposing such draconian provisions has a far reaching effect on an individual in addition to the financial breakdown. The arrest of an individual per se paints a social stigma on him/her which adds to the immense mental trauma as also one’s career trajectory. Legal process extracts a heavy price from the accused during the trial process and even if the outcome leads to acquittal, the time lost, which is a valuable asset, cannot be compensated. The financial resources that one requires to expend in a legal proceeding in India by itself acts as a deterrent from pursuing, fighting or defending a legal action. Moreover, the media trial, online trolling and the excruciating backlash from the biased/ uninformed sect of the society also takes a heavy toll on the mental peace and health of the individual as well as their families. Consequently, more often than not, the artist facing such charges withdraw their statements purported to be offensive rather than engage into prolonged legal, social and financial battles, more particularly given the nil to miniscule consequence in case the proceedings are found to be frivolous.
Dawn or dusk:
The rise in the incidents of misuse of such grave laws against human rights activists, journalists, artists, comedians, students, academicians, intellectuals in the country have raised concerns on the continuity of such a law in a democratic country like India.
To quote Mr. Jawaharlal Nehru: “I would rather have a completely free speech and expression with all dangers involved in the wrong use of the freedom, than a suppressed of regulated speech and expression”.
The nation eagerly awaits the decision of the Apex Court on this status of this archaic law of sedition.
-Krishma Shah
Senior Associate, A&P Partners
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