Justices Deepak Misra and Amitva Roy concurring with a petitioner who had expressed concern over the lack of public respect for the national anthem, opined that requiring movie theaters to play the national anthem accompanied by the image of the Indian flag will instill a sense of patriotism and national pride.
Should it be up to two appointed judges to decide what people do inside movie theatres in the largest democracy?
To be sure, the Supreme Court is undoubtedly the ultimate authority on interpreting the law, including what it means to insult the national anthem as per the National Honors act of 1971. But the judiciary has no role to play in law and policy making decisions. Judges usurping the legislature of its role of making policy decisions by legislating from their benches sets a dangerous precedent: perhaps another judge can require every house to display the national flag, just like North Korean households are required to display a portrait of the two Kims.
Early this year Salil Chaturvedi, a wheelchair bound player was assaulted by a right wing mob because he did not stand up for the national anthem played by a movie theatre. If Salil Chaturvedi was assaulted even before the court’s ruling, what will now to happen to those who have to be seated in their wheelchairs when theatre’s play the national anthem?
The core idea of a democracy is free speech, and free speech, does not include the speech that we want to hear, but also those that make our blood boil. Perhaps, this is why, many Americans are against President-elect Donald Trump’s proposal to amend the American constitution to make flag burning illegal.
Recently when Football player Colin Kaepernick refused to stand up for the American national anthem to protest against the killing of African Americans by police officers, President Obama himself supported the player’s right to protest.
It is time that the incumbent B.J.P and its conservative support base understand that protesting against the court’s ruling is not necessarily supporting the idea of refusing to stand up for the national anthem, but it is merely a protest against judicial overreach and restrictions on free speech that threaten the very core idea of what it means to be a democratic country.
In The Friends of Voltaire, Evelyn Hall wrote, “I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it”. Perhaps the least we can do is not silence what we disapprove of.
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