‘Labelling dissent as anti-national’ is against ‘ethos of democracy’: Supreme Court Judge

February 15:Terming dissent as the “safety valve of democracy,” Supreme Court judge Justice D Y Chandrachud on Saturday said that labelling dissent as “anti-national” or “anti-democratic” strikes at the heart of deliberative democracy.

Several terminologies were often used by the ruling dispensation to identify the voice of dissent. In the recent past, terms like, ‘tukde tukde gang’, ‘urban Naxal’, ‘Pakistani’ and many other such words were used to describe those who disagreed with the views of the establishment. It is probably in this backdrop that Justice D Y Chandrachud said that silencing of dissent and the generation of fear in the minds of people go beyond the violation of personal liberty and a commitment to constitutional values.

Justice Chandrachud was speaking on the topic “The Hues That Make India: From Plurality to Pluralism” as part of the 15th Justice PD Desai Memorial Lecture in Gujarat on Saturday. “A state committed to the rule of law ensures that the state apparatus is not employed to curb legitimate and peaceful protest but to create spaces conducive for deliberation,” said the Judge of the Supreme Court.

Speaking at the event, Justice Chandrachud also stated that the suppression of difference and silencing of popular or unpopular voices that offer alternate views is a great threat to pluralism in the country. The destruction of spaces for questions and dissent destroys the basis of all growth — political, economic, cultural and social, said the Judge.

Justice Chandrachud’s comments came at a time when the passage of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the proposed National Register of Citizens (NRC) has triggered massive protests in many parts of the country.