Mr. Vaiko’s conviction for sedition and the sentence imposed by Tamil Nadu Sessions Judge - Some reflections
1. The offence of ‘Sedition’ as defined under section 124A of the IPC, has been receiving attention periodically. Earlier some very illustrious personalities like Bal Gangadhar Tilak and Mahatma Gandhi were prosecuted and the latter was even convicted of the offence. But then, there is a major difference between then and now. Then, the inhabitants of India were under the authority of British Crown. Now we have our own elected representatives. All Indian citizens have a duty to respect the Indian government, however much they dislike the executive, legislative or even judicial actions of the Indian polity. It is really unfortunate that an accomplished Parliamentarian like Vaiko lost sight of this Fundamental Duty (in a liberal sense of the term!) 2. Mr. Vaiko has been a very passionate supporter of Tamil Eelam and LTTE. It was rumoured at one-point that LTTE wanted to bring about a change in the leadership of DMK (Dravida Munnetra Kazhakam, a dominant party in Tamil Nadu).