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‘Once everyone follows fraternity, automatically there will be no hate speech’: SC refuses to entertain plea on ‘Brahmophobia’
Making it clear that it does not want hate speech against any community, the top court asked why anyone should seek protection against such a speech only for themselves, and not for everyone
Petitioner Mahalingam Balaji earlier told the bench, also comprising Justice Ujjal Bhuyan, that there is selective application of laws against hate speech.
The Supreme Court on Friday refused to entertain a plea that sought action against alleged hate speech targeting the Brahmin community, which the petitioner termed ‘Brahmophobia’, and said the solution lay in building fraternity.
“We don’t want hate speech against any community. It depends on education, intellectual development, tolerance, and patience. Once everyone follows fraternity, automatically there will be no hate speech,” Justice B V Nagarathna, presiding over a two-judge bench, said.
Petitioner Mahalingam Balaji earlier told the bench, also comprising Justice Ujjal Bhuyan, that there is selective application of laws against hate speech. Contending that there were coordinated campaigns against members of the Brahmin community, he said there has been a denial of “genocide” of Kashmiri pandits who were forced into an exodus from the Valley in 1990.
The court asked why anyone should seek protection against hate speech only for themselves, and not for everyone.
Underlining the need to foster fraternity to overcome hate speech, Justice Nagarathna said the petitioner should agitate his concerns before other appropriate forums.
Balaji said even the judiciary was being targeted to which the court said it is not concerned about uninformed attacks on it.
With the bench not keen to entertain his plea, Balaji sought permission to withdraw it and approach the appropriate forum. The court allowed the request.
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Among others, the plea sought directions to the Centre along with states and Union Territories to officially recognise alleged hate speech targeting the Brahmin community. Terming it “Brahmophobia”, he prayed that it should be recognised as a punishable form of caste-based discrimination. He said action should be taken against such instances in the mainstream and social media and probe should be initiated into domestic or foreign campaigns aimed at inciting caste conflict by targeting the community.
Balaji also sought directions to the Centre to set up a “truth and justice commission” to “investigate and acknowledge the 1948 Maharashtra Brahmin Genocide and the 1990 Kashmiri Pandit Genocide; and to recommend measures for rehabilitative, economic, and educational support to survivors and their descendants.”
The plea urged the court to direct inclusion of “appropriate chapters on Maharashtra Brahmin Genocide, 1984 Sikh Genocide and 1990 Kashmir Pandit Genocide”, in NCERT and State board textbooks and to remove “misleading assertions portraying Brahmins negatively”.
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