02-11-2006, 12:44 PM
<b>Well the present cartoon controversy has turned violent and destructive and has generated considerable amount of tension in many parts of the world. The main contention of the Danish Newspaper is that it has exercised its right of freedom of speech and expression. This is a very important right of the individual in any democratic society. In India, Article 19 (a) (I) of the Constitution of India gives this right to the Citizens of India. However, no right is absolute and infinite as each right also comes with a responsibility. If this limitation is removed then the civilized society will be destroyed.
The framers of the Indian Constitution, therefore, after careful deliberation has also empowered the State to impose such reasonable restriction as is necessary for the reasons mentions in Article-19 ( b ) of the Constitution. Moreover, in the Indian Penal Code under Section- 151 the State is empowered to prosecute anyone who crosses the limits while exercising the right of freedom of speech and expression. These provisions have been retained in the statutes of the worldâs largest democracy by successive parliaments duly elected by the people of India. Why this has happened, because it is necessary for maintaining the integrity of the nation like ours with its multi racial, multi cultural and multi religious population. These legal provisions have in way damaged the image of India as the worldâs largest democracy.
The problem that has arisen in Europe is that its democratic institutions and systems developed at a time when there was no large scale migration of people of other faiths into Europe. Therefore, in most of the Western democracies the democratic principles are not fine tuned to be made applicable to a multi religious and multi cultural population. Even their political leaders are not much experienced in handling such a diverse population as has been seen in the recent unrest in France and now the cartoon controversy generated by the Danish newspaper. It is perhaps only in the United Kingdom, that the Government has handled the situation in a very realistic manner, which only speaks of their past experience in ruling over the Empire where the sun never sets. Credit should also go to the US Government and the US media, on there measured reaction and handling of the controversy.
Let us hope that better sense prevails on all sides and peace is upon all of us. </b>
The framers of the Indian Constitution, therefore, after careful deliberation has also empowered the State to impose such reasonable restriction as is necessary for the reasons mentions in Article-19 ( b ) of the Constitution. Moreover, in the Indian Penal Code under Section- 151 the State is empowered to prosecute anyone who crosses the limits while exercising the right of freedom of speech and expression. These provisions have been retained in the statutes of the worldâs largest democracy by successive parliaments duly elected by the people of India. Why this has happened, because it is necessary for maintaining the integrity of the nation like ours with its multi racial, multi cultural and multi religious population. These legal provisions have in way damaged the image of India as the worldâs largest democracy.
The problem that has arisen in Europe is that its democratic institutions and systems developed at a time when there was no large scale migration of people of other faiths into Europe. Therefore, in most of the Western democracies the democratic principles are not fine tuned to be made applicable to a multi religious and multi cultural population. Even their political leaders are not much experienced in handling such a diverse population as has been seen in the recent unrest in France and now the cartoon controversy generated by the Danish newspaper. It is perhaps only in the United Kingdom, that the Government has handled the situation in a very realistic manner, which only speaks of their past experience in ruling over the Empire where the sun never sets. Credit should also go to the US Government and the US media, on there measured reaction and handling of the controversy.
Let us hope that better sense prevails on all sides and peace is upon all of us. </b>