Dissent isn’t anti-national, says Supreme Court judge

New Delhi: Describing dissent as the essence of democracy, Supreme Court judge Justice Deepak Gupta on Monday said that criticising a government is different from criticising the country and a person can’t be branded an anti-national for holding views different from that of the government.

The right to dissent, Justice Gupta said, is inherent to democracy, human right and the right to life. “Dissent must be encouraged. Any attempt to curb dissent will be dangerous.”

In an apparent reference to the prevailing scenario, where dissent is labeled as anti-national inviting prosecution, Justice Gupta said, “What is troubling is that dissent is being considered as anti-national. You may be disrespectful to the country, but being disrespectful to the government was different from being disrespectful to the country.”

Describing as “dangerous” the labeling dissent as anti-national, Justice Gupta said that no idea was holy which can’t be criticised and “if there has to be a clash of ideas, there has to be a dissent.”

The cause being espoused by those dissenting may not always be “just or right” but at the same time governments too are not always right, underlined Justice Gupta.

Delivering a lecture on Democracy and Dissent, he said, “Dissent is the very basis of society. Society will not develop if there is no dissent; it will stagnate if there is no dissent.”

He attributed to the emergence of Jesus Christ, Prophet Mohammad, Buddha, Guru Nanak, Karl Marx, Martin Luther King Jr to their questioning the prevailing notions and practices of their times.

Elaborating on the theme of democracy and dissent, Justice Gupta said, “Democracy is a rule of majority but practicing majoritarinism is anti-thesis of democracy.”

He said that the government is not just for those who voted it to power by for the entire people, including those who voted against it.