Within hours of Haryana Police arresting Ashoka University academic Alik Khan Mahbudabad, the lead author had posted a strong critique on X, the social media platform formerly known as X. The authors even discussed the issue soon after and agreed that the Supreme Court might step in and grant bail to the professor, as it has done in many cases in the recent past where activists, journalists, academics and critics have been arbitrarily arrested on specious grounds.
During the conversation, the co-author pointed out the elephant in the room related to the rising intolerance and authoritarianism in political parties and their regimes. Goes without saying that much of that debate has landed on the doors of “intolerant” right wing, but the abject failure of the left-liberals to behave in a truly liberal fashion is adding fuel to the fire as they have been blatantly selective in their outrage.
Protests against assault on free speech and individual liberty have become so polarised along ideological and political lines that they have become a meaningless display of partisanship. It is indeed the duty of all sensible citizens to support the fundamental right of people like Ali Khan Mahbudabad to express their opinions without being carted off to jail on vague and specious charges. But the future looks grim because we as a society have become conditioned to selective outrage. In that context, it is indeed time for the Indian liberal to look at the mirror and accept that she doesn’t practice what she preaches. The first brutal truth is that there is no absolute freedom of speech in India.
The First Amendment to the Constitution in 1951 took away those rights. Since then, governments, parties and regimes of all hues have pushed the barriers consistently by targeting critics whom point out uncomfortable facts. In the past, support for freedom of expression and the ability to criticise was not based on ideology.
At least not to the extent it does today. In contemporary times, that basic tenet that we must support the freedom of expression of people we dislike has collapsed. And governments are taking advantage of that in a clinically ruthless manner. Let’s look at some events in the recent past to see what exactly is happening across India.
- In March 2025, a digital journalist Dilawar Hussain Muzumder was arrested under stringent sections of the SC/STAct by the Assam Police for questioning the managing director of a cooperative bank over an alleged scam. The MD is a tribal. The chief minister is Himanta Bishwa Sharma and the ruling party is BJP.
- In March 2025, two female journalists Pogadadanda Revathi and Thanvi Yadav were arrested and slapped with “organised crime” charges by Telangana Police for quoting a a resident who strongly criticised the chef minister. The chief minister is Revanth Reddy and the state is ruled by the Congress.
- In 2023, a You Tuber from Bihar Manish Kashyap was arrested by Tamil Nadu Police for posting a video citing. A daily newspapers’ story that migrants from Bihar were being attacked in the state. He spent months in jail. The chief minister is M. K Stalin and the ruling party is a DMK led alliance of which the Congress and the CPI(M) are members.
- In 2024, a Republic TV journalist Santa Pan was arrested by WestBengal police for covering the atrocities against Hindu women in Sandeshkhali. The chief minister is Mamata Bannerjee and the ruling party is Trinamool Congress.
- In May 2023, the Times Now TV network featured a series of reports that related to allegedly extravagant expenditures to refurbish the residence of Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal. Soon after, a reporter from the network Bhavna Arora was arrested by the Punjab Police on stringent SC/ST charges while she was on an assignment in the state. The chief minister is Bhagwant Mann and the ruling party is Aam Aadmi Party.
- In 2023, the offices of the media network Asianet were raided by Kerala Police because of a series of stories that criticised the government. The chief minister is Pinnari Vijayan and the ruling party is a CPI(M) led alliance.
- In 2020, a theatre personality Ketaki Chitale shared a Facebook post that was critical of Sharad Pawar. She was arrested by the Maharashtra Police and spent about 40 days in jail for no rhyme or reason. The chief minister was Uddhav Thackeray and the ruling party was an alliance led by undivided ShivSena with Congress and NCP support. The same year, prominent anchor Arnab Goswami too was arrested by Maharashtra Police.
- In 2022, a journalist Loknath Dalei “exposed” alleged corruption in the police in the Balasore district of Odisha. The man was arrested, brutally beaten up and chained to a hospital bed on trumped up charges. The chief minister was Naveen Pattnaik and the ruling party was BJD.
- A Kerala based journalist Siddique Kappan was arrested by the Uttar Pradesh police while trying to cover the infamous Hathras gang rape incident and spent more than two years in jail. The chief minister is Yogi Adityanath and the ruling party is the BJP.
The authors could just go on and on with similar incidents from all across India. What the discerning reader might have noticed is that the arrests show how ALL political parties are intolerant of criticism and how ALL try to push the boundaries of authoritarianism. What is distressing for the authors is the growing number of such incidents as the proliferation of media and social media make it increasingly difficult for ruling regimes to hide their misdeeds.
What is even more distressing for the authors is that protests and outrages over such arbitrary arrests meant to intimidate and silence critics has been shamefully selective. Liberals in India have done the right thing by strongly protesting the arrest of Ali Khan Mahbudabad, the arrest of Dilawar Hussain and many others. Sadly, they have miserably failed the test of true liberalism by refusing to protest or at best issuing bland statements when people who are not liked by the Left-Liberal ecosystem are arrested. That gives ample ammunition to the “right wing” to justify other arrests.
The authors have noted with deep regret the fact that even distinguished bodies like the Editor’s Guild of India have failed to defend the freedom of expression of ALL-no matter what their ideological or political leanings. Freedom of expression can never be selective. It is time Indian liberals learnt this lesson.
