AA Edit | Govt, Legislatures Must Act Against Hate Speech

The strong observations contained in the Supreme Court’s judgment on hate speech and the ways to tackle it must work as an eye-opener for the Indian state and its citizens. The observations have come not one day late, and every arm of the state, whether legislative, executive or judiciary, and above all, the citizenry, must respect their spirit and act on them, lest the republic suffer irreparable damage to its body politic.

While declining to introduce new mechanisms to deal with cases of hate speech, the court left it to the wisdom of the legislature to frame new laws to take on the menace but reminded the government that the existing legal framework empowers and arms it with sufficient powers to crack down on it as of now. The erstwhile IPC and the replacement laws have provisions in them to check the unbridled use of the freedom of speech to cut at the roots of the constitutional value of fraternity, the court has pointed out. The apex court has practically put the ball in the court of the executive.

Hate speech runs counter to the history and culture of the republic, the court said. In a series of poignant observations, the court said hate speech is not merely a deviation from acceptable discourse, it is “fundamentally antithetical to the constitutional value of fraternity and strikes at the moral fabric of our republic”. Making the point that the spreading of hatred runs counter to the deeper civilisational ethos of India, the court reminded all that “the land historically known as Bharat has, across centuries, been a refuge for diverse communities fleeing persecution, offering not merely shelter but acceptance and assimilation. This tradition of inclusivity is not episodic, but deeply embedded in the cultural consciousness of the nation”.

As inheritors of such a past, it is the larger responsibility the citizenry who also enjoys the fruits of fundamental and constitutional rights to faithfully observe their duties as well, the court said. The preservation of a constitutional order is not the responsibility of the state alone, and individuals and public figures must also bear it, it insisted. “Individuals and public figures must remember that words have consequences in a diverse society like ours.”

There is no gainsaying the fact that the law can do only so much in protecting the social order as it is equally the responsibility of every stakeholder. “While the law provides mechanisms to address conduct that threatens public order or communal harmony, the more enduring safeguard against the menace of hate speech lies in the collective constitutional conscience of society,” it said. “Ultimately, the Constitution does not survive merely through institutions or legal frameworks, but through the sustained fidelity of its citizens to the values it embodies," the court said.

It was not very long ago that the apex court directed the state police chiefs to take suo motu cognizance of those who make hate speeches anywhere in India and warned those failing to do so that they would be held accountable. Unfortunately, that order is observed more in its breach than its adherence. Political and community leaders continue to make hate speeches of the worst kind and go scot free with police looking the other way. Those who make such speeches and those who refuse to act on them are undermining the ethos on which the republic is built; a threat to them is a threat to the very foundation of India.

It is time we got the message.