Skip to main content

Vengeful, spiteful, unconstitutional: PUCL on travel ban on anti-BJP journalist-activists

Counterview Desk 
Taking strong exception to travel ban, imposed on journalist-activists Aakar Patel and Rana Ayyub, known critics of the ruling BJP, the People’s Union of Civil Liberties (PUCL), India’s premier human rights organisation, has has qualified it as an act of censorship of dissent”, stating, it is nothing but “an act of betrayal of the Indian constitution and diminishes Indian democracy.”
In a signed statement PUCL general secretary Dr V Suresh said, “We urge the Government to allow for the free play of dissenting voices as that is the mandate imposed upon them by the Indian Constitution which they have sworn to uphold. We demand that the government refrain from the unconstitutional use Look Out Circular as a policy tool to stifle legitimate criticism.
The statement demanded that the government immediately issue public apology to both for “the unconscionable and unconstitutional actions of preventing them from expressing their constitutional rights of expression and movement.”

Text:

On April 6, 2022, Aakar Patel, well known human rights activist and journalist, was prevented by Immigration authorities in Bengaluru airport from catching a flight to the US and forced to turn back. Aakar Patel was on his way to speak at various universities in the US. The basis of the denial to fly out of the country was a “Look-Out Circular” (LOC) allegedly issued by the CBI.
PUCL strongly condemns the actions of the Government of India to arbitrarily and capriciously abuse its power to detain or block prominent and well known persons like Aakar Patel just at the time when they are about to leave for scheduled visits abroad, details of which have been informed to the authorities.
What exposes the sinister and motivated act of the Government of India is that Aakar Patel was travelling abroad only after obtaining permission from a Court in Surat which permitted return of his passport deposited in the Court, to enable him to travel to the US. The Court order was passed only after the Gujarat state police and the government were informed of Aakar Patel’s request to travel abroad and fiercely opposed the petition.
Eventually, the Court permitted him to travel only after he gave full information to the Government authorities about his tour plan, addresses of places he was planning to stay and tour itinerary, which included lectures in the New York University and Berkeley. Very importantly, Aakar complied with the condition of the Court to deposit Rs 2 lakh as condition for permission for return of passport to enable him to travel between March 1 and May 30, 2022.
It should be pointed out that the government did not disclose before the appropriate court which legally permitted Aakar to travel, that there was a travel ban by virtue of an existing CBI case. It is in this background that the actions of the government to block Aakar Patel from travelling is illegal and reprehensible.
It is important to note that such a circular has no statutory or legal basis and is a misuse of executive power to impose what is in effect a de-facto travel ban.
The action of the Government of India is nothing but vengeful and spiteful as Aakar Patel has been a trenchant and strong critic of the ruling BJP government and has exposed and opposed its anti-democratic, unconstitutional an anti-people policies, laws and actions.
A week earlier, on March 29, 2022, another prominent journalist, Rana Ayyub was also prevented from travelling abroad to address an international journalism festival as well as speak at the office of prominent global newspaper, the “Guardian”, in London.
Rana Ayyub was not given any written intimation about the reason for Immigration department not allowing her to fly but was orally told that the Enforcement Directorate will be emailing summons to her. Two hours after her detention at the airport, ED issued a summons to her. Though later, the Delhi High Court has permitted her to travel, the fact remains that the Central Government brazenly and arbitrarily abused its power to violate the fundamental right of Rana Ayyub to travel, free speech and dissent.
Both Rana Ayyub and Aakar Patel are prominent journalists and well known citizens, who by no stretch of imagination can be put in `flight risk’ category or list of people who will try to escape the law. In a similar case adjudicated by the Delhi High Court the Court held that a person going to attend a conference to express an opinion which may not be palatable to the government cannot be stifled. As the Court noted in `Priya Pillai v. Union of India’.
The Government of India is in effect misusing its executive power to censor a person’s political opinion
Amongst the varied freedoms conferred on an individual (i.e., the citizen), is the right of free speech and expression, which necessarily includes the right to criticise and dissent. Criticism, by an individual, may not be palatable; even so, it cannot be muzzled.
What both decisions have in common is that they target prominent critics of the government who are very articulate, expressive and well informed critics of the Central government and its anti-people policies.
In effect, by not allowing dissent its rightful constitutional place, the government is proving its critics right, namely that the Central government is so intolerant of criticism that it will not shy away from brazenly abusing the various instrumentalities at its disposal, from the ED to the CBI, to prevent its critics from speaking out. The government is in effect misusing its executive power to censor a person’s political opinion.
This is a matter of deep shame for a country which prides itself on being the world’s largest democracy. If democracy is to mean anything at all, it should mean that criticism even fierce criticism which the government perceives to be unfair, is accepted with good grace. As Gandhiji said in the context of India’s struggle for independence:
“We must first make good the right of free speech and free association before we can make any further progress towards our goal. [...]We must defend these elementary rights with our lives. Liberty of speech means that it is unassailed even when the speech hurts; liberty of the press can be said to be truly respected only when the press can comment in the severest terms upon and even misrepresent matters…”
Every action of censorship of dissent is an act of betrayal of the Indian constitution and diminishes Indian democracy.
We urge the Government to allow for the free play of dissenting voices as that is the mandate imposed upon them by the Indian Constitution which they have sworn to uphold. We demand that the Government refrain from the unconstitutional use LOC’s as a policy tool to stifle legitimate criticism.
We also demand that the travel ban imposed on Aakar Patel, as also on Rana Ayyub, be immediately rescinded and a public apology be tendered to both of them for the unconscionable and unconstitutional actions of preventing them from expressing their constitutional rights of expression and movement.

Comments

TRENDING

Right-arm fast bowler who helped West Indies shape arguably greatest Test team in cricket history

By Harsh Thakor*  Malcolm Marshall redefined what it meant to be a right-arm fast bowler, challenging the traditional laws of biomechanics with his unique skill. As we remember his 25th death anniversary on November 4th, we reflect on the legacy he left behind after his untimely death from colon cancer. For a significant part of his career, Marshall was considered one of the fastest and most formidable bowlers in the world, helping to shape the West Indies into arguably the greatest Test team in cricket history.

Andhra team joins Gandhians to protest against 'bulldozer action' in Varanasi

By Rosamma Thomas*  November 1 marked the 52nd day of the 100-day relay fast at the satyagraha site of Rajghat in Varanasi, seeking the restoration of the 12 acres of land to the Sarva Seva Sangh, the Gandhian organization that was evicted from the banks of the river. Twelve buildings were demolished as the site was abruptly taken over by the government after “bulldozer” action in August 2023, even as the matter was pending in court.  

Tributes paid to pioneer of Naxalism in Punjab, who 'dodged' police for 60 yrs

By Harsh Thakor*  Jagjit Singh Sohal, known as Comrade Sharma, a pioneer of Naxalism in Punjab, passed away on October 20 at the age of 96. Committed to the Naxalite cause and a prominent Maoist leader, Sohal, who succeeded Charu Majumdar, played hide and seek with the police for almost six decades. He was cremated in Patiala.

United organisations oppose privatisation of health services in Madhya Pradesh

By Our Representative  In a strong show of opposition, multiple health associations under the umbrella of the United Organisations for Action against Privatisation of Health Services have condemned the Government of Madhya Pradesh’s recent moves towards privatising public health facilities. They argue that these actions, including outsourcing and the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model, will compromise the availability and accessibility of essential health services for the state’s citizens.

Outreach programme in medical education: Band-aids for compound fractures

By Amitav Banerjee, MD*  Recently, the National Medical Commission (NMC) of India, introduced two curricular changes in medical education, both at the undergraduate and the postgraduate levels, ostensibly to offer opportunities for quality medical education and to improve health care accessibility among the underserved rural and urban population.

Swami Vivekananda's views on caste and sexuality were 'painfully' regressive

By Bhaskar Sur* Swami Vivekananda now belongs more to the modern Hindu mythology than reality. It makes a daunting job to discover the real human being who knew unemployment, humiliation of losing a teaching job for 'incompetence', longed in vain for the bliss of a happy conjugal life only to suffer the consequent frustration.

A Hindu alternative to Valentine's Day? 'Shiv-Parvati was first love marriage in Universe'

By Rajiv Shah  The other day, I was searching on Google a quote on Maha Shivratri which I wanted to send to someone, a confirmed Shiv Bhakt, quite close to me -- with an underlying message to act positively instead of being negative. On top of the search, I chanced upon an article in, imagine!, a Nashik Corporation site which offered me something very unusual. 

Will Left victory in Sri Lanka deliver economic sovereignty plan, go beyond 'tired' IMF agenda?

By Atul Chandra, Vijay Prashad*  On September 22, 2024, the Sri Lankan election authority announced that Anura Kumara Dissanayake of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP)-led National People’s Power (NPP) alliance won the presidential election. Dissanayake, who has been the leader of the left-wing JVP since 2014, defeated 37 other candidates, including the incumbent president Ranil Wickremesinghe of the United National Party (UNP) and his closest challenger Sajith Premadasa of the Samagi Jana Balawegaya. 

Will Bangladesh go Egypt way, where military ruler is in power for a decade?

By Vijay Prashad*  The day after former Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina left Dhaka, I was on the phone with a friend who had spent some time on the streets that day. He told me about the atmosphere in Dhaka, how people with little previous political experience had joined in the large protests alongside the students—who seemed to be leading the agitation. I asked him about the political infrastructure of the students and about their political orientation. He said that the protests seemed well-organized and that the students had escalated their demands from an end to certain quotas for government jobs to an end to the government of Sheikh Hasina. Even hours before she left the country, it did not seem that this would be the outcome.