New Delhi: Secretary of State John Kerry had a clear message for India when he spoke at IIT Delhi. He said, "We have to respect rights of all our citizens irrespective of creed and allow them to protest in peace without fear that they will be jailed".
This comes in the backdrop of the sedition case that was filed against Amnesty International in Bengaluru for holding an event where Kashmiri separatists were invited.
The main allegation was that anti India slogans were raised at this event.
The Narendra Modi Government also faced a lot of criticism for the sedition case filed against JNU students for raising anti india slogans at an event on campus.
Massive protests were organized by JNU students to protest against the arrest of students.
The Indian government did not seem perturbed by Kerry's statement. Foreign ministry sources say the US Secretary of State made no mention of problems being faced by Amnesty or any US based NGO in India in the bilateral talks with Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj.
He also said that India would check NGO's only if they flout rules and all decisions can be challenged before court. Therefore, the government doesn't see it as a warning or subtle message.
Even though the government may choose to play down Kerry’s message, its importance cannot be missed. The secretary of state spoke about free speech in front of a large group of students and student bodies across the country have been involved in protests both in favour or against the government.
Keeping his student audience in mind, it seems John Kerry chose his words carefully.
The US Secretary of States other important message was about polarization. He said,”Polarizaton anywhere is not good. It leads to intolerance and frustration with governance”. While he was speaking in the context of US elections there was a message for India as well. We have seen attempts at polarization ahead of national and assembly elections.
Kerry began his address by joking about the heavy waterlogging in Delhi. His arrival at IIT was delayed by atleast half an hour because of the rains. What's worse is that he was stuck in Delhi traffic for over an hour on Monday near the Chankayapuri area, when he was traveling to his hotel from the airport.
However, the Indian govt claims India’s ties are better than ever before. Foreign Ministry sources say, these minor incidents don’t take away from the fact that he almost spent half a day for the Indo-US strategic dialogue.
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