Petition supporting Freedom of Speech and Expression
We, the following concerned citizens, express our dismay that Artists,
Writers, Filmmakers, Historians and many others who pursue their
creative and academic talents are time and again being harassed,
intimidated and subjected to motivated campaigns of censorship by a
moral brigade of extra-constitutional activists. In the recent times,
it was Artist Dr Subodh Kerkar’s turn to find himself on the rough end
of the stick of such activists.
We wish to voice our strong protest and condemnation of such
persistent assaults on the principles of freedom of speech and free
expression, values that are deeply ingrained in the Indian
Constitution.
We urge the State to acknowledge the declaration in Article 19 of the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UNDHR), adopted by the UN
General Assembly, on 10 December 1948, which states:
Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this
right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to
seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and
regardless of frontiers.
We believe that a true democratic society must give a pride of place
to liberal values and must protect the citizens’ rights to free speech
and expression. We therefore urge the State to strongly uphold and
enforce the above underlying principles of free speech and expression
and to take necessary suitable action in accordance to the laws of the
land against those who are slaughtering the Constitutional rights of
our fellow citizens.
We appeal to the others who believe in these universally reinforcing
liberal principles to support and endorse this petition.
yours sincerely,
Alfred de Tavares, Sweden
Dr Anand Virgincar, U.K.
Anil Rodrigues, Goa
Augusto Pinto, Goa
Aniruddha Sen Gupta, Goa
Cecil Pinto, Goa
Deepak Singh, Goa
Dinesh Pai, Goa
Floriano Lobo, Goa
Freddy Agnelo Fernandes, U.A.E
Hilary Fernandes, Goa
Kalidas Sawkar, Goa
Kevin Saldanha, Canada
Manoj Patil, Goa
Marie De Souza, Goa
Marshall Mendonza, India
Mervyn Lobo, Canada
Milroy Goes, Goa
Parag Chauhan, Goa
Robin Francis D' Souza, Goa
Sadashiv Shirsat, Goa
Samir Kelekar, India
Sandeep Heble, Goa
Sanjeev Sardesai, Goa
Dr Santosh Helekar, U.S.A
Shekhar Dhume, Goa
Shrikant Barve, Goa
Venantius Pinto, U.S.A
Vivek Menezes, Goa
Vidhyadhar Gadgil, Goa
The petition has been published as Letter of the Day in Today's
edition of Herald(24th Sep)
