What do we mean when we cry sedition?

What is sedition?

The meaning of sedition under Section 124 A, IPC was in the colonial period to defend British colonialism.

That is why Gandhi pleaded guilty in a celebrated case to the charge of sedition, though he consistently damned it as the worst of the colonial laws.

So later did Nehru.

After the strident outburst of ultra-Left students, the ABVP lodged a complaint earlier this month. The Delhi Police, at its most supine under Commissioner BS Bassi, promptly endorsed the complaint.

Anything the Hindu Right says goes, but not considered arguments by JNU students and teachers, because what RSS says is the gospel truth.

What do post-colonial judgements say about the ambit of sedition?

In the case of Kedar Nath v. State of Bihar, AIR 1962 SC 955, sedition ordinarily means a stirring up of rebellion against the government. However, in law, it includes “to excite discontent or dissatisfaction towards the Constitution, or the Government, or Parliament to create public disturbance, or lead to civil war, and... promote public discord or disorder”.

Clearly, the students did not commit sedition as defined by the Supreme Court.

The BJP is now admitting, mealy mouth, that perhaps this was not the appropriate charge.

But Union minister of finance as well as information and broadcasting, Arun Jaitley, insists on turning a blind eye to the video coverage of Kanhaiya Kumar's criticism of the ultras' slogans, focussing on everything else, much like the perpetually hysterical "nationalist" anchors.

This is defamation.

A last word about the extremist fringe. If they had the courage of their convictions, they should have stayed and defended their positions in JNU, courts and public spaces. They obviously lacked conviction and courage, and left JNU and other civil society spaces to face the uproar they created.