More security doesn’t mean fewer rights

Laws are supposed to protect our rights and security against abuses committed by other people, by organisations, and by the government itself. But one often sees the enactment of laws that actually impede honest citizens from conducting their affairs freely and exercising their right without let or hindrance. Thus, the four recently proposed laws—namely, the draft data protection law, the anti-discrimination bill, the new social media and OTT regulations, and the mass media employees bill—which the government says are meant to serve public interest will, in reality, do very little of that. This view was recently expressed at a discussion organised by a rights platform, and we believe it is fairly representative of the general public opinion.

First of all, the due process in formulating a law was not fully followed. Vital stakeholders were left out of the consultation process, and the views of the few who were involved were not incorporated. It is not as if there are no laws or regulations related to most of the subjects dealt by those bills. The problem is the lack of fair and equitable application.

We believe that, as citizens, our personal data should be protected, and that the digital space should be brought under closer scrutiny for the sake of the country's security, and that a law that makes discrimination on any grounds an offence is the order of the day. But such acts must be formed in a manner that would bring maximum benefits to the maximum people. But if the motive is to be more repressive, curb free speech and dissent, identify critics of the administration, or keep journalists under its thumb, then we have serious reservations about the proposed bills. More security does not mean fewer rights.

We should remember that government and state are not the same, but our government seems to be mixing them up. Criticism of the government cannot be an offence, much less considered anti-state. In fact, one may say that criticising government plans or policies that harm the interests of the people is the bounden duty of all citizens. Revealing the fault lines in society should be the duty of every creative person, whether a filmmaker or a cartoonist. We hope the members of parliament would consider the bills minutely before casting their votes. Theodore Roosevelt's wise saying is worth quoting here, "It is difficult to make our material condition better by the best law, but it is easy enough to ruin it by bad laws."