Subi Chaturvedi
moderating the panel discussion for What's Up Bharat on
FREEDOM OF SPEECH, CENSORSHIP AND SEDITION – CAN YOU TELL THE TRUTH IN INDIA?
More interventions from the event can be found here
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nIsrtVbz4bg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SfELj19su20
Event Details:
What’s up Bharat presents…
A Panel Discussion and Open Forum on Freedom of Speech
Date: 15th August, 2012
Time: 5pm to 8pm
Location: Jai Bharat Centre, 1 Hauz Khas Village
Featuring Keynote by Shoma Chaudhary (Tehelka) and Panel with Young Media and Free Speech Experts including
CENSORSHIP AND SEDITION – CAN YOU TELL THE TRUTH IN INDIA?
A Panel Discussion and Open Forum on Freedom of Speech
Date: 15th August, 2012
Time: 5pm to 8pm
Location: Jai Bharat Centre, 1 Hauz Khas Village
Featuring Keynote by Shoma Chaudhary (Tehelka) and Panel with Young Media and Free Speech Experts including
Subi Chaturvedi (LSR), Hindol Sengupta (Fortune) and Anshul Tewari (Youth Ki Awaaz)
To explore this critical issue, ask your questions, share your views, tell the truth and trust the people.
THE ISSUE
Freedom of speech is the right to communicate one's opinions and ideas via speech. The term freedom of expression is sometimes used synonymously, but includes any act of seeking, receiving and imparting information or ideas, regardless of the medium used. In practice, the right to freedom of speech is not absolute in any country and the right is commonly subject to limitations, as with libel, slander, obscenity, copyright violation and incitement to commit a crime. In India, like in other democracies which value the right to freedom of speech and expression, the issue has many manifestations with respect to censorship – of art, literature, print, radio and television media, and now social media – by the government, self-regulation by artists, writers or media itself or a combination of political, economic and social pressures.
Examples abound from M.F. Hussain’s controversial paintings (art) to the banning of the Salman Rushdie’s Satanic Verses (literature) to allegations of “paid news” in the newspaper industry; “corporatization” of television broadcast news and outright censorship of feature Bollywood films; and most recently, attempts by the government to regulate content posted by users on Facebook and Twitter (social media). These are diverse examples with one theme in common – they all reduce the Indian citizen’s access to free and unbiased information.
In addition to censorship, sedition, defined as overt conduct or speech and organization deemed by legal authority to tend towards insurrection or social order, including subversion of constitution and incitement of discontent and resistance to lawful authority, is another critical topic under freedom of speech. Going beyond censoring something on grounds of it being defamatory or incendiary, likely to cause grievance to a particular community, sedition charges place certain speech/expression as actions taken by an individual against the nation state, and such serious allegations have been leveled against activists from Binayak Sen to Arundhati Roy to Seema Chishti, leading many to question whether we are becoming a less democratic country, or whether such are the trade-offs required for peace and security.
As a nation proud of its constitutional freedoms, and a noisy democracy where citizens have always expressed their opinion with vigour, are Indians slowly losing their freedom of speech? And if so, why is this happening? What is the role of the Indian media in being part of the problem and/or a solution towards its improvement? Is truth in India truly censored? How does censorship get amplified in the case of sedition? How does one understand fundamental issues of freedom of speech in a country like India with its unique social, economic and political mix and where is freedom of speech likely to head in the next decade?
SCHEDULE
5:10pm
PLAY
Delhi University Street Theatre Society
5:30pm
WELCOME – Kartik Desai (Founder of What’s up Bharat)
Video: “Be The Change” and Indian National Anthem
Launch of www.whatsupbharat.com - Technology for Social Change
6:00pm- 6:30pm
KEYNOTE SPEAKER – Shoma Chaudhary
Shoma Chaudhury is a leading Indian journalist with over 15 years of experience, currently serving as the managing editor of Tehelka, a weekly news magazine that has been in a pioneer in bringing the truth to Indian citizens including numerous ‘sting operations’ that have exposed the powerful in a way that few others can. A leading authority on the issue of freedom of speech and expression, Shoma will deliver the keynote talk on the topic before the panel begins.
6:30pm- 7:00pm
PANEL DISCUSSION
● Amol Sharma, Wall Street Journal (invited)
● Anchal Vohra, NDTV (invited)
● Anshul Tewari, Youth Ki Awaaz
● Hindol Sengupta, Fortune Magazine
● Mihir Sharma, Business Standard (invited)
● Subi Chaturvedi, Free Speech Expert, LSR (moderator)
7:00 pm- 8:00pm
OPEN DISCUSSION WITH AUDIENCE
8:00pm: CLOSING
Arvind Khavadiya and Kartik Desai
Video: Are You Satisfied? Tell The Truth & Trust the People
8:00pm onwards PERFORMANCE
Bands/Musicians to be Confirmed
http://allevents.in/new%20delhi/freedom-of-speech,-censorship-and-sedition-–-can-you-tell-the-truth-in-india/130226683788751
To explore this critical issue, ask your questions, share your views, tell the truth and trust the people.
THE ISSUE
Freedom of speech is the right to communicate one's opinions and ideas via speech. The term freedom of expression is sometimes used synonymously, but includes any act of seeking, receiving and imparting information or ideas, regardless of the medium used. In practice, the right to freedom of speech is not absolute in any country and the right is commonly subject to limitations, as with libel, slander, obscenity, copyright violation and incitement to commit a crime. In India, like in other democracies which value the right to freedom of speech and expression, the issue has many manifestations with respect to censorship – of art, literature, print, radio and television media, and now social media – by the government, self-regulation by artists, writers or media itself or a combination of political, economic and social pressures.
Examples abound from M.F. Hussain’s controversial paintings (art) to the banning of the Salman Rushdie’s Satanic Verses (literature) to allegations of “paid news” in the newspaper industry; “corporatization” of television broadcast news and outright censorship of feature Bollywood films; and most recently, attempts by the government to regulate content posted by users on Facebook and Twitter (social media). These are diverse examples with one theme in common – they all reduce the Indian citizen’s access to free and unbiased information.
In addition to censorship, sedition, defined as overt conduct or speech and organization deemed by legal authority to tend towards insurrection or social order, including subversion of constitution and incitement of discontent and resistance to lawful authority, is another critical topic under freedom of speech. Going beyond censoring something on grounds of it being defamatory or incendiary, likely to cause grievance to a particular community, sedition charges place certain speech/expression as actions taken by an individual against the nation state, and such serious allegations have been leveled against activists from Binayak Sen to Arundhati Roy to Seema Chishti, leading many to question whether we are becoming a less democratic country, or whether such are the trade-offs required for peace and security.
As a nation proud of its constitutional freedoms, and a noisy democracy where citizens have always expressed their opinion with vigour, are Indians slowly losing their freedom of speech? And if so, why is this happening? What is the role of the Indian media in being part of the problem and/or a solution towards its improvement? Is truth in India truly censored? How does censorship get amplified in the case of sedition? How does one understand fundamental issues of freedom of speech in a country like India with its unique social, economic and political mix and where is freedom of speech likely to head in the next decade?
SCHEDULE
5:10pm
PLAY
Delhi University Street Theatre Society
5:30pm
WELCOME – Kartik Desai (Founder of What’s up Bharat)
Video: “Be The Change” and Indian National Anthem
Launch of www.whatsupbharat.com - Technology for Social Change
6:00pm- 6:30pm
KEYNOTE SPEAKER – Shoma Chaudhary
Shoma Chaudhury is a leading Indian journalist with over 15 years of experience, currently serving as the managing editor of Tehelka, a weekly news magazine that has been in a pioneer in bringing the truth to Indian citizens including numerous ‘sting operations’ that have exposed the powerful in a way that few others can. A leading authority on the issue of freedom of speech and expression, Shoma will deliver the keynote talk on the topic before the panel begins.
6:30pm- 7:00pm
PANEL DISCUSSION
● Amol Sharma, Wall Street Journal (invited)
● Anchal Vohra, NDTV (invited)
● Anshul Tewari, Youth Ki Awaaz
● Hindol Sengupta, Fortune Magazine
● Mihir Sharma, Business Standard (invited)
● Subi Chaturvedi, Free Speech Expert, LSR (moderator)
7:00 pm- 8:00pm
OPEN DISCUSSION WITH AUDIENCE
8:00pm: CLOSING
Arvind Khavadiya and Kartik Desai
Video: Are You Satisfied? Tell The Truth & Trust the People
8:00pm onwards PERFORMANCE
Bands/Musicians to be Confirmed
http://allevents.in/new%20delhi/freedom-of-speech,-censorship-and-sedition-–-can-you-tell-the-truth-in-india/130226683788751
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