The website www.hinduhumanrights.org was banned by the Indian govt, so I went to that site to see if it had some hate speech on it. It did not -- it basically had photos of Kashmiri Pandits who were slaughtered by militants. And it had criticism against the Congress Party for not doing enough to help their plight. I guess things like this are enough to motivate a ban by the govt. Far easier to put a gag on the victims of terrorism and stifle their unpleasant cries, than to expend the effort required to stop the terrorism itself.
Fredom of expression is precious and it is the essence of our independence and liberty in a democratic set-up. However, no one will deny the fact that such freedom is not unfettered and come with responsibility and patriotism. We all know that Patriot act of USA is deemed to curtail freedom and liberty to a certain extent but in the overall interest of national security. Such surtailments are acepted by one and all in US and on similar line, if some blogging sites are restricted or stopped from spreading a message tentamount to communal hatered, the state is and must be at liberty to curtail such unfettered freedom. It should be acceptable to all of us in larger interests of the safety of our society.
RE:Freedom is Precious but Unfettered Liberty is Dangerous
by Ashish on Jul 24, 2006 12:06 PM Permalink
Well Doctor, if Govt was serious about terrorism, if would not have scrapped POTA. The question is not about blocking the sites but the intention of this coalition government. Remember this government is headed by the party who imposed emergency on this nation in 1975. Also remember that SIMI was banned by BJP and congress has opposed it at that time also. The head of Congress in UP, great Mr. Salman Khurshid is the lawyer of SIMI in Supreme Court. Terrorists are not in Pakistan but amongst overselves.
Well, I'm sure that you will all agree that we are in a state of war. Even though it is only a proxy war, we ARE in a state of war; have no doubts about it! In a state of war, one of the first things a government does is to cut off all non-essential communication and strictly monitor the rest. This is the first strong step that the government has taken against militancy, though I will have to say that it may not be enough to sever communications between the terror modules! However, it is an act in the positive direction. It may seem like a case for a writ petition, but it is within the constitution to curtail the freedom of expression (amongst other fundamental rights) in a war-like situation. So it is not entirely unconstitutional (except that emergency hasn't been officially declared yet). However, this was required! Bloggers, you do have a right to be angry, but don't be impatient. This is for the greater good, and I can assure you that you will have your freedom at some time in the near future... and you know what they say - "the fruits of patience are sweet"
RE:Curtailing communication is a requirement in a war like situation!
by Girish on Jul 22, 2006 03:17 AM Permalink
Huh?! In a war-like situation? Are we living in a banana-republic in middle-stone age? World's largest democracy, fastest growing economy, IT super-power and leader of 21st century world, That is what India is. There is no space for such callousness. If we go by your arguments, you wont have been able to post them here.
I think it good to block those blogs which discusses on religion and spreads hatred against other religions. I am supporting government on this. Everybody should preach GOD but not religion to their children. That will sove major problems that this generation goes through.
Well...it did not come as a surprise to me...infact it made me wonder how they did not bring this rule long before(immediately after they came to power)....it is to be noted that this is the only spaces where educated people come together and share their views(except for very few who come for some other intentions)....and think about the developement of the country...well as always congress believes in divide and rule....restricting access to people information rights...and knowledge sharing....lately as I could see from the blogs the govt's rule was highly questionable...and well within accuses....so how else do u think the government can restrict and manupulate in a better way....if I can think clearly...the govt will take over the newspapers and other mass medias (as it happens in china) and restrict access to knowledge sharing of common educated people...kudos to the govt and people who support the govt...which has taken india to the peak of poverty and diversity in the past years and will lead india to it more in the future
Really - I wonder what kind of technically-challenged moron made this dumb decision. Does anyone really believe that blocking websites will stop proponents from spreading hate messages? A child of ten will be able to tell you that the answer is a big NO!
Bloggers use blogs only to chat and not to show in actions, just words pass and nothing happens. What were bloggers doing before blogging concept came ?. India doesnt need blogs, it needs action to revive itself. If blogging is used as a way to spread terrorism and hatred, i dont think its wrong in blocking that. Most of blogs are useless, chatting on unnecessary stuff.
Its a right move by the government.There has been recent increase in the number of blogs carrying religious-hate expressions.However, the government must be cautious enough to first check the nature of blog and then act lest it may be branded as autocratic.
If we want to see India as strong as the other counties as per the dream of our President,we should stop talking about freedom of speech,writing etc..
Unless otherwise if we control all the corruptions at the beginning then there is no meaning in talking about the development.
Compare the law system in US and in India.Still they are enquiring about the bomb blasts that happened in 1993.When this will be over?
Every bigshot in India is having the opinion that anything can be done in India if we have either money or political background.(95% true also).
Unless otherwise we restrict the persons who are doing all these kinds of bad activities should be stopped and we should not talk about any other stuff..
