India, Aug. 2 -- "Citizens are not expected to say only those things which are liked by the rulers. Seventy-five years into our Republic, we can't be in a situation where a poem or a stand-up comic scares us," former Supreme Court judge Justice Abhay S Oka said on Saturday, warning that democracy cannot survive unless criticism of governments and peaceful protests are protected.

Delivering the inaugural Advocate Haroon Solkar Memorial Lecture on the theme "Articles 19(1)(a) & 21 - Followed or Forgotten?", Oka said governments had increasingly failed to respect the constitutional guarantee of freedom of speech and expression and lamented that dissenters were often prosecuted for expressing views contrary to those in power.

"Rarely do we ...