On the eve of Independence Day Dalit Sthree Sakthi conducted a conference on the topic Freedom of Expression in Independent India on 17/8/2024 at Ambedkar Resource Centre, Samrat Commercial Complex, Lakadikapool, Hyderabad, Telangana. Jhansi Geddam, National Convener of DSS chaired the conference. The important speakers were: Sri Ramdas, Chief Legal officer of Telangana State Wakf Board; Sri Siddoji Rao, Convenor, Helpdesk, Officers Forum; Sri P S N Murthy IDAS, Chief Advisor, Prabuddha Bharat International; Sri Padmaja Shah, Retd Professor, IFLU and Sri Sajaya, Freelance Journalist, Sridevi, Susanna, Kireeta, Yashoda, Satya and other coordinators of DSS also participated.
Shri Jhansi Geddam, National Convenor, Dalit Sthree Sakthi said in her speech that the freedom of expression is a basic right that was given to us by the Constitution of India. Unfortunately, for the marginalised women, this right is violated in the society as well as in the family. She insisted that, we need to understand freedom of expression and its importance in the present scenario and create awareness about it. She cordially invited all the guests onto the dais and started the meeting with her introductory speech.
Sri Ramdas, Chief Legal officer of Telangana State Wakf Board, said in his speech that, for India to prosper and develop, the women of the country should be protected. He explained the basic meaning of what Freedom of Expression by taking the example of Mariamma Lock up death case. Whenever a system fails or government misrules or a public representative does not deliver his service, the individuals of this country can show the inefficiency of the system/representative of the system thru freedom of expression. But the government has overruled these freedoms, which were given to us through the Constitution of India.
He also took the examples of Karamchedu, Tsundur and Laximpeta massacres as examples to explain the present scenario of Freedom of Expression in our country. He mentioned about the recent protest of fishermen in Godavari districts on the Reliance company. The Reliance Company had started extracting oil from the sea near Godavari Districts and due to this, the fish in those waters either dead or not available for fishing. This has directly affected the livelihood of the fishermen in those areas. They have utilised the right to expression and protested against the Reliance Company. Now, every fisherman in that area is getting INR 11,000/- per month as compensation. In a similar scenario, most of the Dalit families do not have proper houses to live, but no one dares to utilise the freedom of expression and achieve a better livelihood for our community. He closed his speech saying that the state and central governments restrict our rights and we should start fighting for these rights.
Shri Siddoji Rao, Convenor, Officers Forum said in his speech that Freedom of Expression is right that is given in our constitution to express our happiness or unhappiness with respect to the functioning of the state. If an individual is unhappy with the functioning of the state, then, he could express it through freedom of expression and vice-versa. But does the state allow and create an atmosphere for the citizens to express these feelings? He compared the situation of state vs citizen with man vs woman in a household. Women are never given freedom to express their views to their husband. The husband also does not create an atmosphere for his wife to exercise the right / freedom to express her views. Similarly, even in our country and states; the rulers do not create an atmosphere to exercise the freedom of expression.
He also questioned the state if the ruling inside the framework of the constitution and law. All the rulers are corrupted, one-sided and are behind money and power. Neither the executive or judiciary questions them. Government officers, police, judiciary does not question the ruling party of their way of working. Even the citizens do not question due to lack of awareness. Dr B R Ambedkar fought for the rights of all the citizens are it is our responsibility to utilise them. As human beings we need to express ourselves. And as matured intellectuals we need to question what is not right. Freedom of Expression is a primary trait of any individual who is sound and aware. He concluded his speech saying that to utilise the freedom of expression one should have the capability between right and wrong and act based on a moral principle.
Sri P S N Murthy IDAS, Chief Advisor, Prabuddha Bharat International explained in his speech about the origin of Freedom of Expression. He said that when British ruled India there was no Freedom of Expression. All the castes were oppressed under the rule of British. When there is oppression, there cannot be freedom of expression. After all these years of Independence, there is still oppression and there is no freedom of expression for the citizens of India. The elected representatives of the state and centre are taking salaries from the hard-earned tax money that we pay and in return are stealing us our fundamental rights from us. The basic job of the elected representatives is to govern for the betterment of the society. The governance of today’s government is very corrupted, oppressive and anarchic. It is the right of every individual to question the government when the governance is not right. But unfortunately, when questioned, the government is putting the individual in jail. This is clearly against the Constitutional framework. The elected representatives are ascending the power positions only to enjoy but not to fulfil the responsibilities of the positions. Dr B R Ambedkar wrote in the constitution that when Freedom of Expression is utilised without hurting others, by not disturbing the safety and security of the community, then such people cannot be constrained in the jail. He framed Article 19 of the Indian Constitution with an outlook to grant freedom of expression to all the individuals to question the governance of the state. Freedom of Expression is not only restricted to words but also to emotions, posters, photos, art, slogans and many more.
Newspapers play a very important role in expressing these freedoms. The constitutional framework accepts the freedom of expression until criticism but not to an extent of scolding or beating, not even to individuals proven guilty. He concluded his speech saying that the Constitution of India which was framed by Dr B R Ambedkar teaches morality, culture, intellectuality and values to live in a democratic society.
Sri Padmaja Shah, Retd Professor, IFLU in her speech said that the print and electronic media are utilising the freedom of expression in a very ill manner. The media houses are using their media for their own benefit. Thus, it has become a business for all the political representatives to start a media house of their own to boast about their party or community. She mentioned that Freedom of Expression or Freedom of speech are rights that we should have against the government or wrong doers, but when these media houses are owed by the government and wrong doers, these freedoms are utilised in a very wrong way and are being snatched away from us. She concluded her speech saying that these media houses are using the freedom of expression to turn against the framework of the constitution which is a very serious concern and needs to be addressed immediately.
Sajaya, Freelance Journalist, explained that freedom of expression is a very important element of the Indian constitution. Women should gain awareness about what needs to expressed and where it needs to be expressed. She mentioned that freedom of expression is immunity against the government but why is every individual constraining themselves even though the governance is bad.
She also explained that caste, class and gender discrimination are also restricting us from using the freedom of expression. Whenever some atrocity happens, we only look at the facts of it, but in order to understand the roots for happening of that incident we need the freedom of expression to understand it.
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