New Delhi: Saying that freedom of expression was at stake in the Delhi lieutenant governor (LG)’s granting sanction to prosecute Arundhati Roy and Sheikh Showkat Hussain under stringent laws for statements they made in 2010, over 200 academics, activists and journalists have urged the withdrawal of this sanction.
“We the concerned citizens of India deplore this action and appeal to the government and the democratic forces in the country to ensure that no infringement of the fundamental right to freely and fearlessly express views on any subject takes place in our nation,” an open letter they signed read.
Delhi LG Vinai Kumar Saxena granted sanction last week to prosecute Roy and Hussain under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act or UAPA, an anti-terror law that makes it difficult for accused persons to secure bail.
Booker Prize winner Roy and former professor Hussain are accused of delivering provocative speeches at an event in Delhi in 2010 where Kashmir’s secession from India was allegedly discussed.
In October, Saxena granted sanction to prosecute Roy and Hussain under sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) dealing with promoting enmity between groups, making assertions prejudicial to national integration and circulating information with the intent to cause mutiny or incite offences against the state.
Noting that the Supreme Court had stayed prosecution under the IPC section relating to sedition, Saxena did not grant sanction but noted that a case was made out to do so.
The signatories of Friday’s letter – which is reproduced at the end of this article – noted that the Supreme Court had ruled sedition was applicable only when there was incitement to violence or public disorder.
“[Roy’s] statement made in a seminar cannot be considered as an incitement to violence. Nor did any violence result from her statement,” they wrote.
The Indian Express noted that the invocation of the UAPA against the two will allow the government to bypass the statute of limitations for the IPC sections involved and that the definition of “unlawful activities” – in Section 13 of the Act, under which the police have sought sanction to prosecute them – includes phrases used in sedition law.
The signatories added: “Indeed, the health and vibrancy of our democracy is crucially dependent on upholding such rights.
“We appeal that the [LG] should immediately withdraw this sanction to frame charges against [Roy] and [Hussain] for sedition and also again appeal to the democratic forces across political parties to take forward the constitutional struggle for freedom of speech and expression by asking for withdrawal of such draconian acts as the UAPA.”
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Statement of Concerned Citizens
June 21, 2024
We the concerned citizens note with dismay the sanction of Delhi’s Lt. Governor to frame charges of sedition under UAPA against the well-known writer and Booker prize winner, Ms. Arundhati Roy and Dr S Hussain, a former professor of Central University of Kashmir. From all accounts a statement made way back in a seminar(in which both were participants) in 2010 on Kashmir has been made the reason for framing these charges.
Now it is well known that the Supreme Court has made it clear that charges of sedition cannot be brought against an individual if there is no incitement to violence. Ms. Roy’s statement made in a seminar cannot be considered as an incitement to violence. Nor did any violence result from her statement.
The issue at stake is freedom of expression guaranteed under our constitution. We the concerned citizens of India deplore this action and appeal to the government and the democratic forces in the country to ensure that no infringement of the fundamental right to freely and fearlessly express views on any subject takes place in our nation. Indeed, the health and vibrancy of our democracy is crucially dependent on upholding such rights. We appeal that the Lt. Governor should immediately withdraw this sanction to frame charges against Ms. Roy and Dr. S Hussain for sedition and also again appeal to the democratic forces across political parties to take forward the constitutional struggle for freedom of speech and expression by asking for withdrawal of such draconian acts as the UAPA.
Mukta Manohar, Social Activist
Sunil Chavan , Social Worker
Kumar Ketkar, Journalist, Former MP
Ajay Mahurkar, Academic
Ajay Dandekar, Academic
Shriranjan Awate, Poet and Writer
Nandini Sundar, Academic
Romila Thapar, Historian
Shruti Tambe, Academic
Amit Bhaduri, Economist
Annapurna Garimella, Art Historian
Gagan Sethi, Educationist
Meera Sanghmitra, Activist, NAPM
Vikram Srinivas, Political Activist
Parimal Maya Sudhakar, Columnist and Political Commentator
Yogendra Yadav
Niranjan Takle, Journalist
T Gopal Sing, Retd.Civil Judge, President, Lohia Vichar Manch
Surinder Jodhka, Academic
Sanjay Srivastava, Academic
Shripad Dharmadhikary, Activist
Himanshu Thakkar, Activist
Sharad Lele, Academic
Pradip Chatterjee, Activist
Zahid Parwaz Choudhary, Activist
Rajesh Ramakrishnan, Activist
Ravi Chopra, Environmentalist
Ayush Chaturvedi, Student
Anjali Deshmane, Rtd. Government Employee
Ramesh Awasthi, Activist
Tushar Gandhi, Public Intellectual
Sanjay Mangala Gopal, Activist
Madhurata Deshmukh, Retd Director, C-DAC
Manjiri Manerikar, Pathologist
Jayendra Parulekar, Pediatrician, Environmental Activist
Rajaram, Academic
Leena Pandhare, Academi
Jo Chopra McGowan, Social Worker
Dipak Dholakia, Social Activist
Soumya Dutta, Activist
Ashutosh Shirke, Counsellor and Activist
Pushpesh Kumar, Academic
Utpal V. B., Writer and activist
Padma Velaskar, Academic
Anant Maringanti, Academic
Vineeta Bal, Academic
Ravindra Rukmini Pandharinath
J. Joy, Activist Researcher
Brinelle D’Souza, Academic and activist
Govind Mathur, Retired Judge
Nagmani Rao, Academic and activist
Veena Naregal, Academic
Sanjeev Chandorkar, Academic
Shekhar Deshmukh, Journalist
Nitish Navsagare, Academic
Shilpa Ballal, Filmmaker
Dayanand Janakdande, Publisher
Sanjay Savale, Researcher, Activist
Youvraj, Activist, New Socialist Alternative
Milind Champanerkar, Activist, Translator
George Chira, activist
G D Parekh,Rtd. Judge
Vandana Palsane, academic
Azhar Tyabji, Urban planner
Gautam Bhatia. Architect
Kamini Tankha, Concerned Citizen
Bharat Patankar, Activist
Ananta, Activist
Manu Bhatnagar, Activist
Neeraj Hatekar, Academic
Narendra Dengle, Architect
Vijaya Chauhan, Activist
Neera Adarkar, Architect
Chhaya Datar, Academic
Lara Patwardhan, Academic
Vibhuti Patel, Academic
Megha Pansare, Academic
Paramjit Singh Judge, Academic
M P S Ishar, Former vice chancellor, Jammu University, MRS Punjab Technical University Bathinda
Satish Sharma, Academic
Ajit K Pandey, Academic
Suneeti Jain, Retired Govt Officer
Jogi Panghaal, Design Practitioner and Professor
Kranti Kanade, Filmmaker
Sambit Malik, Academic
Ganesh Vispute, Poet, Writer and artist
Riyaz Tayyibji, Architect
Beulah Kaushik , Housewife
Snehanshu Mukherjee, Architect
Dattatraya Gangode, Academic
Sakshi Varade,Student
Dhanashree Gangurde,Student
Nikhil Gorwadkar, student
Siddharth Agarwal, Researcher-Activist
Dinesh Abrol, Activist, Delhi Science Forum
Prema A., Academic
Qaneez Sukharani, Activist
Avli Verma, Researcher
Abhijit Arvind Deshpande, Academic
Suniti S. R., Activist
. Hemant Patil, Media Consultant
. Abhay Karde, consultant
. Vandana Kulkarni, activist
. Vinay R. R. , Activist
. Arati Rohan Khatu, Academic
. Chaitra Redkar, Academic
. Depinder Kapur, Development professional
. Manu Kaushik, management professional
. Varsha Mehta, Independent researcher
. S. Faizi, Ecologist
. Bibind Vasu, Management professional
. Ahmed Fawaz, Development professional
. Emmanuel Murray, Investment professional
. Laxmikant Deshmukh, Retd. IAS, Writer
. Pradeep Shinde, Academic
. Javed Anand, Journalist and Activist
. Bhausaheb Chaskar, Teacher
. Amber Habib, Academic
. Vipul Mudgal, Academic
. Rajeswari Raina,Academic
. Robina Gupta, Filmmaker
. Ashish Chaddha, Academic
. Anindita Mukhopadhyay, Historian
. Kaveri Gill, Academic
. Pushpendra, Academic, Activist
. Rahul Ghai, Academic
. Swasti Singh, Academic
. Amita Josheph, Concerned Citizen
. Abha Dev Habib, Activist, Academic
. Navdeep Mathur, Academic
. Tanishka Kachru, Academic
. Bhupen Sarmah, Academic
. Swagata Naidu , Academic
. Ajoy Lagoo, Professional
. Sulbha Lagoo, Professional
. Shaila Shintre , Teacher
. Atharva Shintre, Student
. Anand Shintre, Professional
. Gajanan Nimgaonkar, Professional
. Mahendra Khandelwal, Professional
. Shobha Paranjpe, Teacher
. Pranjal Shrotriya ,Theatre Professional
. Maya Joshi, Teacher
. Harsh Joshi, Academic
. Sunita Gupta, Doctor
. Shafi Shekh, Service
. Jaya Mehta , Economist
. Vineet Tiwari , Journalist
. Anuradha Tiwari, Teacher
. Satish Bagal, Retd. Civil Servant
. Roopashri Sinha, Freelance Researcher
. Naresh Dadhich, Scientist
. Shrikant K.T., Businessman
. Vijay Kandgaonkar, Consultant
. Arun Khore, Journalist
. Shiney Varghese, Development Professional
. Gauri Bhagwat, Academic
. Meet Jafar Sultan, Academic
. Lalita Joshi, Banker
. Aparna Phadake, Academic
. Subhash Lomte, Activist
. Prabhakar Shetty, Bank Union Activist
. Anil Prabhu, Bank Union Activist
. Dhananjay Kulkarni, Bank Union Activist
. Harishchandra Thorat, Academic
. Sangita Hari Narke,Concerned Citizen
. Ujwala Masdekar, Bank Union Activist
. Medha Purao Samant, Banker
. Shubhangi Thorat, Concerned Citizen
. Smruti Landge, Concerned Citizen
. Arun Anavkar, Bank Union Activist
. Suresh Landge, Academic
. Ulka Mahajan, Activist
. Shivpriya Surve, Writer
. Milind Wagh, academic
. Umesh Bagade, Academic
. Shriram Jadhav, Activist
. Firoz Amir, Businessman
. Tilottama Zade, Activist
. N. Shankar, Bank Union Activist
. Ankita Yadav, Head of Operations in NGO
. Shrish Tambe, Concerned Citizen
. Sheeva Dubey, Academic and Activist
. Madhuri Awate, Concerned Citizen
. Amitabh Kumar, Retd. IPS
. Vidyarthi Vikas, Faculty, AN Sinha Institute of Social Studies, Patna
. V D Patil, Activist
. Tushar Gandhi, Writer and Activist
. Radhika Das, Filmmaker and Artist
. Sooraj Samant, Consultant and Analyst
. Madhukar Dube, Journalist
. Raju Parulekar, Journalist
. Chaitanya Sawale, Concerned Citizen
. Vishwas Utagi, Banker
. Satish Deshmukh, Retd. Officer, Air India
. Suvarnreha Jadhav, Visual Artist and Colourist
. Rahee S.G, Ph.D. Scholar
. Gauri Shintre, Student
Tarun Chowdhury, Student
. Gauri Gill, Artist
. Neeraja, Writer
. Kavita Kowshik, Retd. Social Entrepreneur and Farmer Activist
. Vivek Bhandari, Academic
. Dhruv Raina, Academic
. Ashish Kothari, Environmentalist
. Anant Phadake, Activist Researcher
. Seema Kulkarni, Activist Researcher
. R S Sandhu, Academic
. Anchal, Concerned Citizen
. Sanchita Days, Concerned Citizen
. Jharna Jhaveri, Concerned Citizen
. Nina Pathak, Environmentalist
. Ila Kambali, Activist
. Madhavi Inamdar, Concerned Citizen
. Girija Gupte, Academic
. Sadhana Khatti, Activist
. Rumina Pushkin, Concerned Citizen
. Anuradha Gaikwad, Concerned Citizen
. Ravindran Gopinath, Academic
. Paranjoy Guha Thakurta, Journalist and Academic
. Meera Viswanathan, Academic
. Shobhana Warrier, Academic
. Divya Bhatnagar, Academic
. Ujjwala Mehendale, Freelance Journalist
. Prasad Zaware, Chartered Accountant
. Sangram Khopade, Media Person
. Kedar Gadgil, Business Consultant
. Prashant Kothadia, Founder, Forum for Constitutional Nationalism
. Anvar Rajan, Trustee, Maharashtra Gandhi Smarak Nidhi
. Umesh Thakur, Activist
. Anjali Chipalkatti, Educationist
. Nitin Thakur, Journalist
. Shashikant Malode, Academic
. Umesh Shinde, Academic
. Dattatrey Gangode, Academic
. Sakshi Varade, Student
. Dhanashree Gangurde, Student
. Nikhil Gorwadkar, Student
. Vidya Dengle, Artist
. Ashok Bhandari, Rtd. IPS
. Nandita Narain, Academic
. Vijaya Venkatraman, Academic
