The challenges of dealing with dissent

For a country facing serious external and internal threats, dealing with issues of dissent and freedom of speech presents a difficult challenge.

An essential ingredient of democracy as a political system is freedom of speech, which Article 19 of our Constitution provides, subject to some reasonable limits that include the security of the state, public order, and India’s sovereignty and integrity.

Can freedom of speech therefore be exercised to the point of raising anti-state slogans and calling for the break-up of the country?

Sporadic sloganeering of this kind by rootless fringe groups can be ignored, but should it be if these groups are active in some of the premier universities and have links – practical or ideological – with those actually involved in activities against the state?

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