Sedition, repression and the Constitution

Rohan J Alva's book tracing the history of sedition reads like a potboiler, with unexpected twists and turns

A Constitution to Keep: Sedition and Free Speech in Modern India

Author: Rohan J Alva

Publisher: Harper Collins

Pages: 370

Price: Rs 699

“Every member of the public who censures the ruler for the time being exercises in his own person the right which belongs to the whole of which he forms a part.  He is finding fault with his servant….To those who hold this view fully and carry it out to all its consequences there can be no such offence of sedition.”

In other words, in a true democracy there can be no question of punishing people who air their grievances against the government. Sir