Colonial Er
a Sedition Act must be abolished a
Era
at t once!
Now time has come to every
Indian to seriously think whether we
are living really under democratic
system of rule or under the colonial
rule of oppression and suppre-
ssion. We have to critically examine
whether the freedoms supposed to
have been endowed by the
Constitution are real or mere empty
talk to hood-wink the people.
The experiences of people for
the past few years witnessed by us
too indicate to the contrary and
affirming that we are not at all
under any rule of democratic
systems, but under the rule of
despotic rulers under the ruse of
democracy.
The people who differ with the
opinions of the ruling BJP and their
thugs are being implicated in the
false cases of sedition and
conspiracy charges booking under
IPC sections 121 and 123. The
police are permitted to show
excessive zeal in filing these
sedition cases against whoever
that differ or criticize the policies of
government or opinions of the
ruling party in power – BJP and its
cohorts who chants their own
version of bigoted ‘nationalism’.
In January 2019, sedition cases
were registered against Sahitya
Academy awardee and Assamese
litterateur Hiren Gohain; RTI
activist Akhil Gogoi and activist-
journalist Manjit Mahanta for their
comments on the citizenship bill
which is being vehemently opposed
by the people of Assam. The police
allege that at a public meeting, they
said that demand for sovereignty
might arise if the centre ignores the
voices of people of Assam against
the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill-
2016.
Again in January 2019, sedition
and conspiracy charges were filed
against three former JNU students
and seven others nearly three
Feb, March - 2019
years after a political event in the
campus for campus sloganeering,
dubbing it as ‘anti-national-
slogans.
Thus it has become a common
feature to brand as ‘anti-national’
those who do not endorse all anti-
people actions and policies of the
state.
The 150-year old colonial law
of ‘sedition’ which was used by the
British against Tilak and
M.K.Gandhi who were demanding
independence, has now come
handy to the rulers of BJP to
criminalise those who express
contrary opinion.
The very rulers who argue that
the labour laws are archaic and
have to be amended or abolished,
when then they intend to do away
any legal rights and entitlements to
the workers in the country, when it
comes to the suppression of
contrary opinion are using the very
age old law of sedition, thus
exposing their hypocratic and
despotic nature.
Even the British Constitution
and their laws removed the acts of
sedition from their statute books.
But our BJP rulers even as on today
have chosen to rule our
‘independent’ India in the foot-
steps of the colonial masters to
suppress and oppress opponents
with state coercion.
Within period of three years by
July 2017, there have been 165
cases of filing sedition charges,
which denote the seriousness of
the problem lurking around the
people with democratic aspirations.
Unable to solve the all-
encompassing crisis created in all
fronts of life through their anti-
people and anti-national policies,
the BJP rulers are using state
coercion of suppression and
oppression on the people who
protest their policies. And sedition
law is one such instrument of
suppression.
Such a state of affairs of de-
spotic rule shall not be allowed to
continue. All democratic forces in
the country have to unitedly fight
against the policies of suppression
and oppression of freedoms by the
state of democratic system of rule.
We will always remember Comrade AMK
Rich Tributes paid in the Condolence Meeting
A condolence meeting of the departed leader comrade A.M.
Kodandaraman was organized by the CPI (ML) on 12 February 2019
at Madras Reporters Guild Building, Cheppakkam, Chennai. The
meeting was presided by Com. M.Gunalan.
Speaking on the occasion Com. J.Kishore Babu paid
revolutionary homage to com.AMK and recalled the role played by
com.AMK in building the strong trade union movement in the city of
Madras.
Comrades A.S.Kumat of CPI(ML)-liberation; Balan of Tamil
Nadu Communist Party(MLM); Sankara Subbu, peoples advocate;
Thiyagu of Tamil Nadu Liberation Movement; prof.Kochdai; Ilango
Pichadai of New Science Forum; and Pulavar Kaliaperumal’s son
Chola Nambiar paid rich tributes to com. AMK.
The leaders of CPI(ML) comrades Sundaravinayagam,
Karunakaran, Muthulakshmi, Ilango and Selvasekhar recalled their
experiences with com. AMK as they worked together in same
organization in the past.
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