By Anshikajain
In recent times, religion has been considered as the center for a hostile idea or target the individual for initiating communal violence in society. For the same reasons that all hate speech prosecutions are problematic, “religious” hate speech trials are polarizing. Conflicting views in the society exists regarding, the position of hate speech to harmonize with the public view in democracy.
After all, the prominent presence of our religious values or morals in the Indian society that connects personal identity of individual towards truth and right that gives the cultural position which gives deep-rooted connection to pre–notion beliefs and gives both a personal commitment to a set of allegations about truth and right practices. This added more complexity and layers to religious hate speech and its publication.
Inter-religious hate speech can be understood as individual views of citizens regarding religion, which are often expressed against people of a different religion. These views create personal abhorrence between the different communities. It is a common practice that has been expressed on the public platform. For better understanding and a better scope of research, I have defined inter-religion hate speech as “any written or printed speech/ remarks on religion, that expresses the writer/editor’s disinclination towards any particular religious community.”
This article highlights the following themes:
- The historical context in which “freedom of speech and expression” was enacted or changed, along with the legal analysis of hate speech in India.
- To observe laws passed in the colonial period and after independence by the Constituent Assembly, which eventually led to the formation of laws in today’s context.
- To understand the role of the court in limiting the “freedom of speech and expression” concerning an argumentative religious publication that amounts to offending societal norms.
- To examine the role played by non-state actors in controlling the publishing of religious content.
- Lastly, to understand global perspectives of countries, i.e. UK, USA and their ideas towards publishing religious content, which amounts to hate speech towards religion.
The Background Of Free Speech And Its Expression During Colonial India
Due to modernity in ideas and institutions have been brought to India by agents of European imperialism in particular by Britishers during their rule in India. This was in stark contrast to Europe’s enlightenment and modernity effort, which had been established mostly or entirely through internal or indigenous processes. The monopoly and competence claim on modernity was exploited by colonial nations as justification for meeting their imperial objectives.
The colonial rule showed dichotomy on two levels. First and foremost, a freedom that was considered the holiest and universal virtue of the illumination project was reduced to another product of the same illumination project through colonialism and the formation of the subject. The idea was used as a tool to expand fundamental rights of speech in the west whereas, in contrast, deny the same rights to colonial people.
In the domain of “freedom of speech and expression“, this conflict was particularly obvious. When individuals observe that, “freedom of speech and expression” plays a vital role in society, thereafter they had become opponents of colonial powers. British India has been a conflicting political structure for many.
This story was originally published in legalserviceindia.com. Read the full story here.