‘You Cannot Criminalise Dissent’: AISA’s Anjali on Why Neha Bora Won’t Sign the Peace Bond | Exclusive

AISA's Anjali (left) and Neha Bora (Right)

As AISA leader Neha Bora refused to sign a peace bond before a Special Executive Magistrate (SEM) at Mandir Marg police station on Saturday, her colleague Anjali, one of the most visible faces of the youth-led protests against the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, explained why the organisation had chosen defiance over compliance.

"In a democracy, we have the right to register our dissent under Article 19(1)(a) and Article 19(1)(b) of the Constitution, which gives us freedom to express our thoughts freely, which gives us freedom to assemble peacefully. And precisely why you cannot criminalise dissent in a democratic nation," Anjali told Times Now Digital.

Bora's refusal came even though the Delhi High Court had dismissed her challenge to the Delhi Police notice. A peace bond is a written undertaking to keep public order. It is a preventive measure, so no offence needs to have been committed for police to seek one.

The protests, in Delhi and other cities, target Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and the SIR, the Election Commission's large-scale re-verification of voter lists.

Leaders of the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), facing similar notices, have signed the bond. Asked…

Original source: https://www.timesnownews.com/delhi