Sugata Bose, Netaji's kin wants colonial-era sedition law repealed
Colonial-era laws such as sedition, which are continued to be used to stifle dissent, should be repealed, said Sugata Bose, the grandnephew of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose. Expressing concern, he pointed out that several colonial-era laws, which were used to try silence freedom fighters such as Netaji, Mahatma Gandhi, and Bal Gangadhar Tilak, are still being used by the government.
We have to strengthen pillars of our democracy: Bose
"We have to strengthen the pillars of our democracy and there is a need to repeal these lawless colonial-era laws... I am especially worried by the fact that even the writ of Habeas Corpus can be suspended in some cases," he told PTI.
'Would like to bring qualitative change in support of democracy'
Bose won the Lok Sabha elections from Jadavpur in 2014 as a Trinamool Congress (TMC) candidate but refrained from contesting the last parliamentary polls. He said that he would like to "play a role" to bring about qualitative change "in support of democracy" -- a comment seen as an indication that he may return to active politics soon.
Supreme Court also recently questioned the need for sedition law
Bose, who is the chairman of Netaji Research Bureau, besides being the Gardiner Professor of History at Harvard University, pointed out that the Supreme Court too recently questioned the need for the sedition law. "We've continued with a whole battery of these colonial laws, sometimes under new names such as the UAPA. These need to be scrapped to protect erosion of democracy," he said.
Some new rules have the potential to be misused: Bose
"Even without a formal Emergency, application of these laws is enough to create a state of Emergency," Bose added. Notably, the charge of sedition was imposed against Netaji several times. Bose noted that even some new rules, including those under the IT Act, "which may be well-intentioned" have the potential to be misused.
I firmly believe in federalism: Bose
Bose is known to be close to TMC chief Mamata Banerjee and the Gandhi family, which may help him in playing a major role as the opposition parties look to unite ahead of the 2024 elections to take on the BJP. "I firmly believe in federalism and consequently feel that we will have a stronger Union if we have a flexible union," he said.
