Enmity and the Enemy: Public Order and Free Speech Regulation within Post-Colonial India

The multicultural environment of India poses unique challenges to free speech and public order in both a colonial and post-colonial context. Framed within the controversy of sedition charges against Arundhati Roy, this paper will pay particular attention to 153A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) which has shifted from a paternalistic colonial hate speech law to a nationalist tool for restricting speech through sedition. On the whole, this paper will provide an intimate look into the historical and cultural conditions that have bridged blasphemy, hate speech, and sedition under the pretense of maintaining cultural harmony within India.