Opinion: From Twitter To Road Blocks, Is India Crossing Into Dictatorship?

India witnessed another attack on freedom of speech when several Twitter accounts which include those belonging to Kisan Ekta Morcha and the Caravan are now blocked in India after the Union government sent a legal notice to Twitter.

The Twitter accounts that have been obstructed include Kisan Ekta Morcha, The Caravan India, Manik Goyal, Tractor2twitr, jatt_junction and more. It appears Twitter has gotten a legal notification to hinder a few Twitter accounts having a place with farmers associations, activists, and media bunches that were tweeting on composers’ fights against the homestead bill.

As per India Today, government authorities said that Twitter had been approached to hinder more than 250 records or tweets that were utilizing a particular hashtag. The MEITY (IT Ministry) has impeded around 250 Tweets and Twitter accounts that were utilizing the #ModiPlanningFarmerGenocide hashtag and making counterfeit, intimidatory, and provocative Tweets on Saturday, January 30, authorities said. India Today learns, there are around 120 records and 230 tweets. Sources said that the public authority hailed these tweets and records to forestall the heightening of peace gave the on-going farmer agitation.

Indian Farmers have been protesting since three controversial farm bills were passed without much debate in Parliament. President of India Ram Nath Kovind gave his assent for the bills despite intensifying protests across the nation by farmers and opposition political parties.

Earlier, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting announced that they are going to censor the OTT content which is apparently below the belt or in simple words the sexual content.

A gazette notification signed by the President of India, the central government has brought digital audio-visual content, including films and web shows, news and current affairs on online platforms under the ambit of the ministry of information and broadcasting.

Now, the question arises: is Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party-led government wanting to control the country from every aspect? Is India heading towards dictatorship? Well, from attacking Bollywood actors for baseless reasons, the arrest of journalists, and filing FIR against those who oppose the government seems that we will enter into dictatorship very soon. The point of dissent is ending in the largest democracy in the world.

Freedom of expression is restricted to only one section of the public which is those who contribute to the current narrative of the government.

Last year, the protest against CAA- NRC, revocation of article 370 or 14(a) (without taking people in Kashmir in favour), and connectivity shutdown in Kashmir are some of the examples. The whole nation is filled with rage against the few policies of the government. It seems like the Modi-led government is in no mood to back off on these issues. It seems like the government is not considering public opinion anymore.

Nowadays, how it works is that if you speak against the government policies, you get a tag of anti-national or Pakistani either by supporters of BJP or members of the government as well.

From Democracy To Dictatorship

The basic difference between a democracy and a dictatorship comes down to means and ends. Democracy is about means, not ends. If we all agreed on the ends (such as should we make Hindi compulsory throughout the nation?), there’d be no need for democracy.

But of course, we don’t agree, which is why we resolve our differences through a common process. The process includes a Constitution, a system of government based on the rule of law, and an independent judiciary.

A dictatorship, by contrast, is only about ending. Those ends are the goals of the dictator- at a minimum, accumulating and preserving personal power. To achieve those ends, a dictator will use any means necessary.

The Fourth Pillar Of ‘Democracy’

Now, a lot of people may be thinking: what media is doing in all this? Well, a section of the media, especially electronic media, becomes participants in politics rather than observers and reporters. There is a shift in the views of media personalities. The media has allowed itself to be pushed down this slippery slope. There are many issues when we see a sense of deep joy and comfort with the ruling government. The question everyone but the ruling regime.

Media or Journalism is called the fourth pillar of democracy. The entire audience depends on the media for all the happenings of nations. But interestingly, today, there is a deep desire, even among the moderate sections of the media, to make their peace with the powerful people by terming it as a “balanced” act.

Hence, no one is talking about other important matters and they get ignored because of influential persons. Recently, the electronic media ran clips of farmers fighting with police personnel but didn’t show the section of protesters who were conducting peaceful agitation.

From calling them Khalistani to Chinese influenced or Pakistani, they have done it all and it seems that this pattern is not going to change anytime soon. Last year’s Maharashtra’s political conflict is another example, taking the power in a state at midnight questions the intentions of the government but also somehow disrespect the national constitution. The nationwide protest against the CAA, NRC, and NPR shows the anger of the public towards the union government.

Modi’s norm-breaking is unsettling, to be sure, but the more fundamental offence is that he continuously sacrifices means to build party power.