The Taste with Vir | Supreme Court vs Sudarshan TV: Free speech isn’t setting fire to a communally complex nation – opinion

When the Supreme Court first stopped the telecast of a Sudarshan TV programme which purported to show how Muslims were “infiltrating” government services, various people who might loosely be termed supporters of the government took to social media to express support for Sudarshan TV on grounds of freedom of speech. Significantly, the government itself said nothing. When the Supreme Court complained about offensive content on news TV in general, the government did not attempt to deny that such content existed. Instead it pushed the court to look at social media instead where the content was even more offensive. Now, the government has finally taken a stand. In what may be a disappointment to those of its supporters who were sympathetic to Sudarshan TV’s case, the government went to the Supreme Court on Wednesday (23 September) and said what should have been obvious…