Perturbed over Seeman’s unequivocal stand on the rights of the Muslims in Tamil Nadu and the country to assert their fundamental rights, taking advantage of the nil possibility of people taking to the streets for protests, Tamil Nadu government has foisted yet another case of treason and sedition under sections 153 (A) 1 (a) and Section 124 (A) of the IPC for a speech he made at a meet in Coimbatore in February 2020. Human Rights activist Dr Paul Newman strongly protests the false case registered at the Kuniyamathur police station and asserts that it is symptomatic of the insecurity of failing governments.

SEEMAN IS NOT NEW TO SEDITION CHARGES under Sections 124 (A) and 153 (A) IPC. He has faced this in the past and given the intolerance of governments towards dissent, it is unlikely that this is the last time. He has been acquitted earlier of the same charges and for sure he will come out of this too. The timing of the slamming of the case is startling. He gave a speech on 22 February, nearly two and a half months back. FIR Number 0537, dated 8 May at Police Station Kuniamuthur has been registered in Coimbatore containing a summary of his speech.

Seeman does not mince words and he forthrightly condemned the CAA as unconstitutional. He said that it is ironic that a professedly peace-loving country needs draconian laws! The bone of contention in the present case is his speech at Coimbatore in February, where he reminded the listeners that India is a Union of states and the Union government of whichever party, cannot bring arbitrary laws and impose it on the people just because the ruling party has a brute majority in parliament. He reportedly said, “India did not exist as we know it today. It is a federation of linguistic minorities and no one is superior to the other.”

Who is defaming whom? Is Seeman’s approach defamatory or that of the government which is berating freedom of speech and attempting to crush dissent?

Since the last four months, Seeman has spoken in more than 50 anti-CAA rallies.  He emotionally appealed to the leaders of the ruling party not to divide the country,

In his speech at Coimbatore, Seeman had declared that he will prove his citizenship and show his papers only after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Indian Home Minister Amit Shah and other leaders have shown their papers to the citizens of this country. What is anti-national or treacherous about asking fascists to show their papers?

Recently, with most parties towing the government moves because of the lockdown conditions in the country and the state, Seeman and his party volunteers continued their tirade against the state government, being highly critical of the government moves, especially the opening of liquor shops in the state of Tamil Nadu and the country amidst the Covid-19 pandemic conditions.

Tamil Nadu has a chequered history of rejecting communal approaches and it is no surprise that when Chief Coordinator of NTK, Senthamizan Seeman spoke at one meeting after another, he was welcomed across the state by the common man, secular forces and intellectuals. This has sent the Edappadi K. Palaniswami government of Tamil Nadu with support from the BJP into a tizzy.

Even the allies of the ruling party like the JDU have rejected the CAA. It is not just Seeman who has spoken against the CAA. Mamata Banerjee, Pinarayi Vijayan, Ashok Gehlot and a host of national leaders have strongly condemned the divisiveness that the CAA would bring into our polity.

While the world was celebrating World Human Rights Day on 10 December 2019, conscientious Indians were contesting the contentious and divisive Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). Since then, human rights activists, intellectuals and minorities -Muslims and others, Dalits and women have protested with full gusto and vigour in their attempt to save the situation from getting worse.

From Kashmir to Kanyakumari and Tamil Nadu in particular, Naam Tamilar Katchi and other parties have hit hard at the attempt at dividing people and opposed CAA, denouncing the communal and casteist politics of the entrenched political parties.

Sedition charges are a tool to silence the sane voices and deny them their Right to Freedom of Speech. In Tamil Nadu and around, there is a growing tendency to use this archaic British-period law to suppress dissent. In August 2014, authorities in Kerala charged seven young men, including students, with sedition after a complaint that they had refused to stand up during the national anthem in a cinema. In October 2015, folk singer S Kovan was held in Tamil Nadu for two songs criticizing the state government for allegedly profiting from state-owned liquor shops at the expense of the poor. In 2012-13, the government charged 9,000 innocent fisherfolk in Kanyakumari for protesting against the Koodankulam Nuclear plant!

“Is the government afraid of Seeman’s popularity and charisma amongst Tamil youth?

Who is defaming whom? Is Seeman’s approach defamatory or that of the government which is berating freedom of speech and attempting to crush dissent? With his unblemished record of peaceful protests, this staunch believer in human rights, through his passionate speeches, is determined to stand up for the legitimate rights of the people. It will not be wrong to ask, “Is the government afraid of his popularity and charisma amongst Tamil youth?

#HumanRights activist Dr Paul Newman strongly protests the false case against #Seeman and asserts that it is symptomatic of the insecurity of failing governments, including the one in #TamilNadu#NaamTamilarKatchihttps://t.co/aLrDrheGPZ

— The World Sikh News (@WorldSikhNews1) May 11, 2020

It is ironical that Seeman is branded as an anti-national and those who are dividing the country are nation builders! Notwithstanding the sickening brutality of the Tamil Nadu government to foist sedition cases when patients of Covid-19 are on the rise in the state and the response of the government is inadequate, there is no doubt that truth will prevail -sooner than later.

Dr. Paul Newman is a Professor from Bangalore specialising in conflicts, right to self-determination, refugee studies and human rights issues. He was one of the four public speakers at the Permanent People’s Tribunal on Sri Lanka at Dublin. He attends the UN Human Rights Council at Geneva championing the cause of Nations fighting for Self Determination. In August 2018 he addressed the 1st Yazidi Genocide Conference.