‘WHAT HAVE WE REDUCED GOD TO’: SC ACTS ON HATE SPEECH

NEW DELHI: Worried about a “climate of hate” in a “religion-neutral” country, the Supreme Court on Friday passed stringent orders to the police chiefs of Delhi, Uttarakhand, and Uttar Pradesh to file suo motu cases against hate speeches made by people from any religion, and warned of contempt action if the orders of the court are not complied with.

The order came on a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by journalist Shaheen Abdullah, who highlighted instances of hate speech against Muslims made at separate events in the three states.

A bench of justices KM Joseph and Hrishikesh Roy said, “This is the 21st century. What have we reduced God to? Article 51 says we should have a scientific temper. In the name of religion (what is happening). This is tragic.”

Article 51(A)(h), which underlines Fundamental Duties, says: “It shall be the duty of every citizen of India to develop the scientific temper, humanism and spirit of inquiry and reform.”

The court said, “The Constitution of India envisages Bharat as a secular nation and fraternity assuring the dignity of the individual and unity and the integrity of the country is the guiding principle enshrined in the Preamble. There cannot be fraternity unless members of community drawn from different religions or castes of the country are able to live in harmony.”

To be sure, the bench clarified that its directions were not restricted to hate speech against Islam, but against any religion.

Issuing a notice on the PIL,