Amnesty international Quote by Shashi Tharoor
““Sedition was therefore explicitly intended as an instrument to terrorize Indian nationalists: Mahatma Gandhi was amongst its prominent victims. Seeing it applied in democratic India shocked many Indians. The arrest in February 2016 of students at New Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) on charges of sedition, for raising ‘anti-Indian’ slogans in the course of protests against the execution of the accomplice of a convicted terrorist, and the filing of an FIR against Amnesty International in August 2016 on the same charges, would not have been possible without the loose, colonially-motivated wording of the law.””
About This Quote
Source Speech: Parliamentary debate, 2016
Sedition law, rooted in colonial intent, is misused to suppress dissent in modern India.
In simple terms: Colonial sedition law is used to silence critics.
Key Takeaway
Reform or repeal oppressive laws.
Themes
law
colonial legacy
free speech
Mood
concerned
thoughtful
Type
political
historical
When to use this quote
- student protests
- NGO activism
- legal challenges
Key Concepts
colonialism
human rights
Questions to Reflect On
- Should sedition be redefined?
- How protect free speech while maintaining security?
A Different Perspective
Law can be weaponized against legitimate protest.
