Preventing the nation from turning into an ‘illiberal democracy’ is need of hour

International treaties recognise the right to protest through protections related to freedom of assembly, freedom of association, and freedom of speech.” Article 19 (1) of the Indian Constitution declares and guarantees that, “All citizens shall have the right—

(a) to freedom of speech and expression;

(b) to assemble peaceably and without arms, among other rights.

India, as a nation, is at a crossroads today. Our constitutional ideologies, commitments that we have made to ourselves through our national laws and various international conventions that we have signed are being bypassed. We are moving away from secular notions and fostering Hindutva as evident from the recent developments of the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill (CAB) becoming law after receiving the President’s assent on December 12 this year.

The nationwide protests and agitations by various sections of people against the National Register of Citizens (NRC) and the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) are being quelled by oppressive, undemocratic and arbitrary measures. The State machinery is making a mockery of laws and dancing to the tunes of their political bosses.

Applications for permission to assemble and protest against NRC and CAA have been routinely denied by the Tamil Nadu police, like their counterparts all over the country. Yet, people gather and protest. Unable to contain the rallies, the police force is pressed into service to regulate and ensure peaceful protests. The Chennai City Police Commissioner proudly said that protests in Valluvar Kottam were peaceful in the morning despite them not having been permitted. In the evening, the city police registered First Information Report (FIR) against six hundred protesters. Likewise, the Chennai police have registered cases against DMK president MK Stalin and 8,000 others who took part in the protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act held in the city on December 23.

Students who protested in their colleges/universities or in their vicinity have been arrested and cases foisted against them. One German student from IIT-Madras has been deported for participating in a protest rally.

The Madras High Court Justices, S Vaidyanathan and PT Asha, had on the night of December 22 rightly declined to stop the rally headed by Stalin, saying, “In a democratic country, a peaceful demonstration cannot be prevented as it is the backbone of the democratic set-up.”

The State police refuses to take a cue from the said judgment which was filed to stop the rally. Citizens are pushed to a state of fear. Criminal cases are the reward for expression of dissent. We are in a state of undeclared emergency. Democracy has lost its meaning.

“To live freely means being able to challenge those in power without fear of harm or persecution,” stated the Index on Censorship chief executive, Jodie Ginsberg. We are far from this index. Unless the authorities rise up and work towards protecting the democratic values and act as per law, there is going to be anarchy and chaos.

In The Guardian’s article on “Liberal democracy is in crisis. But...do we know what it is?” Helena Rosenblatt says that there is a rise of Fareed Zakaria’s “illiberal democracy” around the world. India is a living example for this by leading this flock by “routinely flouting liberal principles, openly violating the rule of law, and depriving their citizens of basic rights and liberties.” Liberal democracy is “closer to collapse than we may wish to believe,” writes Ed Luce of the Financial Times. Hope they are proved wrong and India remains a vibrant secular, liberal democracy.