Hate speech is not freedom of expression: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley

NEW DELHI: With the Opposition criticising the government’s handling of the JNU controversy, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley cautioned against camouflaging support to seditious tendencies and asserted that hate speech cannot be allowed in the name of freedom of speech.

"Can hate speech ever be free speech? Obviously, it can’t be," Jaitley told the Opposition while intervening in the debate on ‘Situation arising out of recent incidents in institutions of higher education with reference to JNU and University of Hyderabad’ in Rajya Sabha on Thursday.

He faulted the Opposition for giving a long rope to those making seditious speeches in the JNU, while focusing more on the "vandalism" in the Patiala House Court complex. "What happened in the Patiala House Court (assault on journalists and JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar) is condemnable. But, is it that vandalism is condemnable, but sedition is free speech," Jaitley asked and loudly wondered whether the Opposition is giving credibility to ideas wishing disintegration of the country.

"The core question is are we going to give respectability to those whose primary ideology is that they want to break this country," Jaitley wondered to expose the faults in Opposition’s charge against the government over its actions over the JNU controversy.

Speaking before him, BJP’s Bhupender Yadav, too, had cautioned against the Opposition’s enthusiasm of championing freedom of expression at the expense of national interest. "We will have to be cautious whether it is freedom of speech or speech for freedom," Yadav said during the discussion.

The Finance Minister said JNU is not like foreign embassies where police cannot enter and justified police entry if the penal provisions are broken. "Police cannot be a mute spectator if in the heart of Delhi seditious slogans are raised," Jaitley asserted.

Reminding that the execution of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru was ordered through full judicial process, Jaitley deplored mainstream political parties for lending their credibility to those celebrating the martyrdom of those behind the terror attacks in the country.

In this context, Jaitley responded to criticism that the BJP was doing business with PDP, which has also declared Guru as a martyr. He said that cooperation with a mainstream political party of Kashmir was necessary to fight separatists in the border state.

"Congress has believed it and we believe it too. If we have to fight separatism, national parties will have to work with the mainstream parties of Kashmir despite our ideological differences. This is a compromise for national interests," Jaitley said.