Kerala Governor Arif Mohammad Khan has defended the citizens’ right to dissent if such views are not sought to be imposed on authorities and others. Speaking at a panel discussion on the topic of “ free speech, censorship, and media”, at Difficult Dialogues conference at the international centre, Goa, the Governor said, “those dissenting against any decision of the Government should not start with a premise to force the authorities to overturn it.”
“ You have the right to dissent. You have the right to peacefully raise your concerns, but you can’t expect the authorities to accept your point of views,” he said.
When asked the growing tendency to brand dissenters as traitors by persons or group close to power, the Governor referred to excesses against the minority community in Pakistan and said such happenings are finding echo in India. “ I don’t justify such brandings, but we have to also understand the context in which such utterance are being used.”
Khan disagreed with the rigid stand adopted by the Shaheen bagh anti-CAA protesters and said that they have closed the door on possibility of holding dialogues by holding an open-ended talk.
“ They are not ready to settle for anything but scrapping of the Citizenships Act. This is not dissent. This is imposition of views. Such rigid views should not be confused as democratic dissent,” he said.
On alleged by the Government to muzzle the media, the Governor said, Media faces much bigger threats from within and authorities have not been able to curb the freedom of the press even though such attempts go back to the first constitutional amendment in 1951.
The Governor has a word of advice for the media. He cautioned against blaming the Government for muzzling the press whereas the real threats are coming from several other sources. “ in the age of social media, the Government cannot impose it’s will dissemination of news. The media must stand up and fight for its independence.”