New Delhi: The first four months of 2024 in India have already seen at least 134 instances of free speech violations, with journalists, academics, YouTubers and students being among those affected, the Free Speech Collective organisation said on Wednesday (May 1).
The collective tracks and categorises free speech violations and provides support to those face such violations, its website says.
It released a report titled ‘Crossing The Line: 18th Lok Sabha Elections and Free Speech In India’ on Wednesday, in which it listed free speech violations so far in 2024 and categorised them into sections like arrests, censorship and ‘lawfare’, a word that is a blend of law and warfare and that is used to refer to the use of the judicial system against one’s opponents.
There have been 36 cases of arrest, 36 cases of censorship, 24 cases of internet control, 13 cases of attacks and seven cases of lawfare so far in 2024, the collective’s report said.
Chart: Free Speech Collective.
The report notes that Australian reporter Avani Dias and French reporter Vanessa Dougnac were either made to leave India or their stay here was made untenable.
Five journalists were arrested since January and 34 have been attacked, the collective said, adding that apart from them, six others journalists, including Gautam Navlakha, Prabir Purkayastha and Aasif Sultan, continue to be in custody as of Wednesday.
Among the journalists who were attacked are Nikhil Wagle, who was pursued by attackers after he criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP stalwart L.K. Advani, as well as Sanjay Kanera, a photojournalist who was attacked by a mob in Uttarakhand’s Haldwani.
Internet shutdowns and censorship are also addressed by the report, which recalls the blocking of Hindutva Watch and India Hate Lab‘s websites in India as well as the blocking of 177 social media accounts during the farmers’ protests this year.
Other instances the report has classified as free speech violations are the government-ordered closure of Bolta Hindustan’s YouTube channel, the Caravan magazine being made to remove its article on allegations of torture surrounding the military in Kashmir, and the suspension of Ramadas Sivanandan from the Tata Institute of Social Sciences for his attending a protest critical of the Modi government.
It also notes that the incident of a Mumbai school principal being reportedly asked to resign based on posts she liked on X (formerly Twitter).
Scroll reports that the principal, Parveen Shaikh, was asked to resign after after she was accused of being anti-Hindu, a supporter of Hamas and of “Islamist Umar Khalid” based on her X likes.
“Free speech in India has sunk into a perilous abyss and steadily falling press freedom indices underscore the dangers of crossing a line that is becoming increasingly contentious,” the collective said in its report.
It added: “The recorded data on free speech issues clearly shows that while openly partisan sections of dominant media echo a dangerously divisive agenda with impunity, independent media faces punitive action and struggles to be heard.”
