Death of Debate: How Every Protest Becomes a Communal Battle?

India’s capacity for hypocrisy seems to have no end. We tend to celebrate democracy when it suits us and question it when it doesn't. We proudly tell the world that India is the largest democracy on Earth, yet every major public protest leads to the same exhausting cycle: Hindu versus Muslim, left versus right, nationalist versus anti-national.

It is the same cycle we tends to witnessed, we saw it during the Farmers’ protest, rising air pollution and deteriorating AQI levels and now we are seeing once again in the recent CJI youth protest.

The issue might get changed overtime but somewhere along the way, many of us have forgotten a fundamental principle of democracy: Disagreement with a government policy is not the same as opposition to the nation itself.

In the landmark case of Kedarnath Singh Vs. State of Bihar (1962), the Supreme Court made it clear that criticism of the government does not automatically reflect sedition or anti-national activity.

Well, let’s acknowledge that governments are temporary, but nations are permanent. Citizens have every right to question, criticise, protest, and demand accountability from those in power.

Democracy Until Disagreement Begins

However, Rights do not exist in isolation. Article 19(1)(a) of the Indian Constitution guarantees freedom of speech and expression, but Freedom can never be absolute, which is why we have Article 19(2) for reasonable restrictions and to acknowledge the sovereignty, integrity of India and to ensure security and public order.

Freedom without responsibility becomes chaos; on the other hand, restrictions without freedom become authoritarianism as India experienced during the National Emergency of 1975-77, when civil liberties and freedom of expression were significantly curtailed.

The Constitution attempts to strike a balance between liberty and responsibility, but it is the duty of the citizens and people in power to understand that balance.

India is a diverse country with multiple cultures, religions, ideologies, languages and identities. In such a nation, public discourse might unite people, but it can also sow the seeds of division among millions.

So ask yourself a simple question: Do we want an India where diversity and democracy walk hand in hand? Or do we want a nation where every discussion eventually collapses into "us versus them"?