The habitual reduction of complex social issues to legal ones, in fact, lies at the heart of our desire to lead an unexamined collective life. AdvertisingOn January 26, the great Assamese singer Bhupen Hazarika was conferred India’s highest civilian award, the Bharat Ratna. Filing a police case and making arrests have, sadly, if unwittingly, become methods through which genuine public debate is forestalled. However, they leave untouched a fundamental problem: It is dangerous to invite the law to define ideals of national life. That task is best left to open public debate.

Source: Indian Express February 06, 2019 18:31 UTC