What follows below is a Facebook conversation primarily between Kulwinder Singh ji and myself. It will give some idea of how the idea of radical free speech actually works. Except for correcting misspellings and deleting our profile pictures and meaningless Facebook artifacts, this is exactly as it appears in Facebook. Since it is clearly marked with the Public icon, I see no reason it cannot be reproduced here.
Kulwinder Singh this is not necessarily true...
Inderjeet Kaur Perhaps not true for you.
Kulwinder Singh perhaps not true for many..
Inderjeet Kaur True only for those who believe in radical
free speech and act on that belief. Only a few.
Kulwinder Singh there are some ignorant Muslims here in
UK .. asking us to defend their right to say stuff (like some weird stuff) ...
will you defend that ?
Inderjeet Kaur Yes. As long as it is not a direct threat
of physical violence or legal fraud.
Kulwinder Singh speech to implement Sharia law in UK ..
would you defend that ?
Inderjeet Kaur I believe that all ideas, however, bizarre
can be expressed. Free speech especially protects unpopular or dangerous
speech. If I disagree with something, I am free to counter it...it's
governmental censorship I oppose.
Inderjeet Kaur Yes, they have a right to express their
ideas. Of course, I have an equal right to oppose them
Kulwinder Singh nah.. you said .. you will defend to the
death their right to say that .. so you will defend their right to say ...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=psZBaJU_Cvo
Inderjeet Kaur If you shut them up, all morality aside,
you only drive them underground where you can't see what they're up to. You
can't stop them.
Kulwinder Singh we know what they saying ..they said it
before.. can we shut them up now ?
Inderjeet Kaur Shutting them up will not stop them. As I
said, it will only drive them underground. This way you can see clearly what
they are up to and devise a strategy to counter it.
Kulwinder Singh ^ G that was not your point though
Inderjeet Kaur I obviously disagree very strongly with
their beliefs and what they are trying to do. That doesn't change my stand on
their right to express their views.
Kulwinder Singh it was a simple statement ,"I will
DEFEND to the death your right to say it"
Inderjeet Kaur My point is that I support the right of
people to express their opinions, even when I violently disagree with them.
Kulwinder Singh so you would support their right for
speech (Hate speech)
Kulwinder Singh Last week .. UK has deported someone who
was doing the same thing (Hate speech) .. you think UK did the right thing ?
Inderjeet Kaur Yes, I would put myself in the line of
fire to defend their freedom of speech. I do not defend any imaginary right
they may believe themselves to have to commit violence. I support free speech,
not free violence.
Kulwinder Singh what about free speech that promote
violence ?
Inderjeet Kaur I am not in a position to judge what the
UK did in that case. In any case, a visitor to a country does not enjoy the
saME RIGHTS AS A CITIZEN OR PERMANENT RESIDENCE.
Inderjeet Kaur Any controversial TALK MAY promote
violence in some people's minds.
Kulwinder Singh He was not a visitor !
Inderjeet Kaur I myself have shouted "Khalistan Zindabad!" more than once.
Inderjeet Kaur It's hard to comment on a case where I
don't know the facts.
Kulwinder Singh So ?
Inderjeet Kaur I hope lots of people read this exchange.
It says a lot. In fact, I may do a c/p into my blog...although no one reads my
blog.
Prabu Venkat · Friends with Suranjana Roy Bhattacharya
khoon
ka badla khoon.. i don't think there were Muslims involved. that man is still
raking millions, apologies for intruding, but I must admit, here i find people
debating a topic after deciding upon the conclusion.
Inderjeet Kaur My conclusion is stated at the very
beginning. I believe in free speech...except direct threats of physical violence and demonstrable, legal fraud. This means I OPPOSE GOVERNMENTAL
CENSORSHIP AT ALL LEVELS.
Inderjeet Kaur Prabu ji, feel free to join in, no
apologies necessary. This is a public discussion and a good example of what
"the free exchange of ideas" means.
Inderjeet Kaur I realise that India, where every little
real or imagined slight sets off communal rioting and murder, is not ready for
this type of free expression. I don't live in India nor do I care to. Right
now, this will work only in the Western, industrialised world which has a history and tradition of
free speech. The freest has been in the USA, and that is what I use as my
model. The USA has done a lot of things wrong, very wrong, but this one thing
they have done right, IMNSHO.
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Sorry about the word verification thingy, but I was getting way too many spurious comments, some obscene, some just in bad taste.