A NEW PERSPECTIVE

TWO FRIENDS ROHAN AND ATUL MEET IN A PARK AND THEY DISCUSS THE RECENT INCIDENT AT RAMJAS COLLEGE. Rohan – Hi Atul, long time, where have you been. Atul – I had gone to my aunt’s home for a week. Rohan – you must be all energised now after a week long holiday. Atul – I am all energised but there is something hurting me. Rohan – what is it? Atul – I do not know! Rohan – I doubt that. We always know what hurts us, it’s only that we do not want to acknowledge it. Atul – I feel horrible, I see my country going to the dogs and I can’t do a thing. I feel so helpless. Rohan – well that is a new and weird observation. I see my country rising each day. I do not think it’s going to the dogs. What makes you think so? Atul – do you not watch the news every day? Rohan – I watch it but dare not believe it. Atul – There are certain news which can be believed. Rohan – I believe that the role of the news channels should only be restricted upto reporting news ...

‘Absolute freedom of speech and of expression has never existed in civilized world and it shall never exist’. This is not a tyrant’s remark but a statement by someone who has historically and empirically analyzed the world to reach this conclusion. This is a statement by a person who sees the world not through J.S.Mill’s notion of liberty but by the events that have occurred across the world, in developed and developing countries over the decades that have passed. The debate over freedom of speech and expression has gained ground in the Indian media. The issue was obvious to surface considering the colossal victory of a political party which had so far played a minor role in the Indian politics. I see the sudden concern of Indians about their freedom of speech and expression as an elongated ripple created by the results of 2014 general elections and the following student body elections in central and state universities in which the major ruling party was dethroned by a secondary an...