[Reader-list] UP IPS man seeks action against Geelani, Roy

[Aditya Raj Kaul]

*UP IPS man seeks action against Geelani, Roy*
October 27, 2010   12:33:29 AM

Link -
http://www.dailypioneer.com/292444/UP-IPS-man-seeks-action-against-Geelani-Roy.html

*Biswajeet Banerjee | Lucknow*

A serving IPS officer of Uttar Pradesh cadre has written a letter to Delhi
Police Commissioner, urging him to lodge FIRs against Syed Ali Shah Geelani,
Arundhati Roy and SAR Geelani, for making seditious speeches.

The 1992 batch IPS officer, Amitabh Thakur, wrote, “ As per reports, many
speakers, including Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Arundhati Roy and SAR Geelani,
had openly used seditious language and had conducted themselves in a manner
that would easily amount to conspiracy to commit offences punishable by
Section 121 which is about waging war, or attempting to wage war, or
abetting waging of war, against the Indian Government.”

The IPS officer said while Article 19 gave citizens the right to freedom of
speech, Article 19(2) made it clear that “ nothing in sub clause (a) of
clause (1) shall prevent the state from imposing lawful restrictions in the
interests of the sovereignty and integrity of India, the security of the
state, friendly relations with foreign States, public order, decency or
morality or in relation to contempt of court, defamation or incitement to an
offence.

“Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Arundhati Roy or SAR Geelani or anyone else might
have all the rights as a human being to have certain opinions and views and
also to firmly believe in them but when it comes to expressing the views in
public domain, each one of us have to adhere to the law of the land,” Thakur
said.

“And when the matter is related with the basic integrity and unity of the
nation, the seriousness of the matter increases manifold,” he said. “This is
important because any laxity or relaxation on this account would always act
as a motivating factor and precedence to others to take law in their own
hands,” Thakur, who is on study leave and doing MBA from IIM (L), said.

“The situation becomes more serious when persons committing the crime are
considered as respected members of society and claim to be intellectuals and
thinkers in their own way. The crime being committed has been done in the
most deliberate and intentional manner, very well knowing what exactly they
were doing,” he added. “Possibly they had a feeling and a thought that their
crime would be overlooked and they could play with the law of the land in
the way they want it to be. This, in fact, is the most dangerous part of the
entire episode,” the IPS officer told The Pioneer.