Red Line – What happened?

In India, in many cases people are publicly humiliated in horrible ways. This punishment is intended to scare and hurt people and their families. Sadly, this has happened for a long time. But now, Telangana’s chief minister Revanth Reddy has said something shocking – he threatens that anyone who talks about women in his family will be deprived and marched.

As a CM, Reddy promises to follow and protect the Indian Constitution. But his words show that he supports punishment that is both illegal and cruel. Instead of treating all citizens fairly, he seems to have placed his family above the law.

Why is this a big problem?

In this way, Reddy makes the people in his state worse. His words could encourage mobs to take the law into their own hands. Furthermore, he is attacking freedom of speech, which is everyone’s right to express their thoughts.

Reddy’s anger comes from videos made by two women on YouTube, in which someone criticized him and his family. Instead of dealing with it in court, he arrested them. But that wasn’t enough for him. He now wants the media organizations to decide who counts as “reporters” and send a list of names. He warned that anyone who is not on the list would be considered a criminal.

What does the law say?

Indian law does not provide journalists with special rights to freedom of speech, and everyone has the right to express their opinions under certain restrictions, such as not spreading lies or damaging the country’s relations with other countries. Some of these restrictions are worth discussing, but the real danger comes from police actions controlled by politicians.

Only the court can decide when freedom of speech should be restricted. This should not be determined by angry neighbors, moral opinions or the frustration of politicians like Reddy. Freedom of speech is a fundamental right and no leader can attempt to take it away.

End of the article