Lucknow, Oct. 26 -- Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav on Monday accused the state government of suppressing voices critical of its policies, saying a government that fears questions weakens democracy.
Referring to a purported video that criticised the ruling government in Uttar Pradesh on social media, Yadav alleged that the government was so troubled by the issues raised in it that the account concerned was suspended. He claimed that anyone questioning the government could face action under the present system. "We will have to find out why the government, with the support of Meta, is not allowing people to raise their voices on social media and is preventing reports revealing the truth from being published," the SP chief said.
Yadav claimed the video in question had received 70 million (seven crore) views before the account was suspended, alleging that the content had caused considerable discomfort to the government. He further alleged that the government was attempting to create a situation in which no questions were raised about what he described as its mistakes over the past 10 years. Accusing the BJP of spending money to create and circulate negative videos on social media, the SP leader said, "If they (BJP) are doing such things, they should also be prepared to face the same." A government that fears questions undermines the democratic system, he said, questioning the meaning of democracy if citizens were not free to hold those in power accountable. Yadav asserted that questioning the government was a citizen's right and pointed out that if people in other countries could question their governments and express their views, citizens in India should also enjoy the same freedom.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.