Covid: Don’t clamp down on criticism

Last week, Delhi Police arrested 25 people in 13 police stations for putting up posters critical of the prime minister and the Centre’s Covid-19 vaccination policy. Nearly 1,800 posters — which read “Modiji humare bachon ki vaccine videsh kyon bhej diya? (Why did Modi send vaccines meant for our children to foreign countries?) — were found in several districts in the Capital. All the cases were registered under sections 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant) of the Indian Penal Code and other sections, including section 3 of the Prevention of Defacement of Property Act. A majority of those arrested were released on bail by Sunday. The police are trying to ascertain if the posters were printed at one press, and whether the order for the posters was given by an individual or any political party. Some news reports have alleged some opposition leaders were behind the posters.

The Centre’s Covid-19 approach has become a major political faultline. However, this case isn’t about the merits of a critique of a policy (in fact, this newspaper believes that, in principle, vaccine maitri was a good initiative); or what is an acceptable form of the critique; or who facilitated and encouraged it. It is about the constitutional right of citizens to have a political view on an issue of national importance and propagate that view as a citizen or a member of a party. A full and free debate, including political narratives and counter-narratives, on Covid-19 will also ensure accountability, enable citizens to articulate and aggregate differences democratically, and provide the system with feedback. From political inputs to public sentiment to expert views, the State needs all the help it can get, and should see a distinct viewpoint as helpful. A clampdown on discussion and debate — even if in the form of political posters — is both wrong and unwise.