Press Release - PUCL, Gujarat is disturbed by the arrest of Mr. Kutty, the editor of the Maoist paper, People's March

PRESS RELEASE
 

Date: 27^th January 2008

 

PUCL, Gujarat is disturbed by the arrest of Mr. Kutty, the editor of the Maoist paper, People's March. Earlier the Chhattisgarh Government arrested the prominent human rights activist Dr. Binayak Sen.

This trend of Governments arresting activists and the journalist who have different viewpoint must be condemned. If India is to emerge as a genuine democracy, everyone must have a right to freedom of ex-pression. The only limit is that it should not endanger the life of another person. We may disagree with someone, but we must defend her/his right to express her/his viewpoints.

The litmus test of a democracy is the right to dissent. Democracy is not about showing the door to one who dares to disagree with your viewpoint. The right to dissent is an integral part of democracy. Democracy is about granting the right to dissent from within the fold.

Dr. J. S. Bandukwala
Rohit Prajapati
People's Union for Civil Liberties, Gujarat.

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