'Don't ban what we don't like to hear'

So there's a petition that was circulated a while back, to take legal action against the lawyers who defended the rapists in the Nirbhaya case. I would like to explain why I have NOT signed it - and why I am unwilling to.

1. Although I cannot by any measure understand or condone their words, our fight is for the freedom of speech and the freedom of expression. I cannot really put myself behind a motion that suggests that just because I don't like what the other person says, he needs to stop saying it. Yes, there is a serious problem with what they are saying, but banning them from saying it is just as regressive as banning the film from playing... And the problem is deeper, way deeper, than their words.

2. We do have a (flawed) legal system - and whatever weird system we have, it totally undermines it to suggest that defending a criminal makes you a criminal, or having despicable thoughts makes you a criminal. It undermines the process we're (so far) relying on to hand out justice to people who are offenders. The lawyers have (and this is the frustrating part) done nothing wrote. They have SAID something we don't like, but they have DONE nothing wrong.

3. Their words are so far from uncommon. I have heard suggestions like this almost every week since I moved to Delhi (Jamshedpur is precious that way, though I have heard it there as well) - to basically undermine women's basic human rights with the idea of "protecting them" and "preserving our culture". To my mind this is difficult to accept and digest. To the minds of those who say this stuff, it is a thought process that serves them somehow - it brings them something (something more than power, I mean, which is a surface level thing I'm guessing). Taking action against two people who have said this stuff solves absolutely nothing.

4. Taking action against people who have participated in a documentary for what they have said totally and utterly undermines the freedom of the arts and makes it all the more unlikely that we will have more documentaries like this, more spaces of expression for difficult truths.

So, there. This was burning inside of me for the last two nights, and I thought I'd post it. I think it merits some explanation on my part because I AM very triggered by the documentary and it has affected me quite deeply. And at the same time, I don't want to react out of anger and rage. I want to react out of a willingness and space inside me to change.

Manasi Saxena - Is an aspiring writer and musician. She is also a PhD student in Jawaharlal Nehru University