As I write this one of the breaking news on NDTV is that Bollywood celebrities including Anurag Kashyap and Taapsee Pannu are facing Income tax raids. The only thing common amongst these names is that they had been vocal regarding political issues.
Also just this Sunday there was an article in the Indian Express by the respected journalist, Tavleen Singh. She wrote about why dissent in political and business circles should be encouraged or at least tolerated. It is obvious that the IT officials and their political masters did not agree with her.
Link to the article is below:
If you look at Western Civilization, it has progressed mainly due to advances in science. And the pioneers of modern science like Galileo, Kepler and Copernicus were subjected to similar pressures by the powers that be in their time. That was mainly the clergy of the Catholic and Protestant churches.
The old chestnut is who will decide what form of free speech should be tolerated and what is not permissible or offensive. If the Catholic church, with its proud tradition in theology and track record of producing saints and mystics, does not have a monopoly over truth then nobody else has it either.
Modern science is now so important for the economy and for military use. The USA is a superpower mainly because of modern science. Most if not all the major tech companies – like Apple, Google and so on – are US based and are worth many trillions of dollars. Had it not been for this strength in science and technology the US with its spendthrift ways would no longer be creditworthy.
I have written an article on this subject prior to this in my blog. Link is below:
If India wants to be a world power then we need to attract and retain the best talent in all fields. Using pressure tactics to inhibit their right to free speech is not the way to do this.
I’ll end with a few quotes from the book – The History of Western Philosophy by Bertrand Russell. I think that Bertrand Russell and his writings on political subjects should be made required reading for our politicians. I don’t expect them to agree with everything he says but at least they will realise that there are other points of view with sound reasons supporting them.
It is not what the man of science believes that distinguishes him, but how and why he believes it. His beliefs are tentative and not dogmatic; they are based on evidence, not on authority or intuition.
Protestant clergy were at least as bigoted as Catholic ecclesiastics; nevertheless there soon came to be much more liberty of speculation in Protestant countries than in Catholic ones, because in Protestant countries the clergy had less power.
I voted for the NDA and Narendra Modi in the last general election because I felt that India needed a strong leader with the ability to take risks. But if this sort of hounding of people (who exercise their right to free speech) goes on then it may be best if India does not have a strong leader. Like the clergy in Europe post the Renaissance, the less power politicians have to interfere with free speech the better.
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