Amid Kunal Kamra row, Ashwini Vaishnaw points out 'reasonable restrictions' under freedom of expression

Reacting to the Opposition's attack against the ruling BJP over alleged curtailment of freedom of expression, Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Saturday pointed out that under India's Constitution the fundamental right is not absolute but has reasonable restrictions.

The Minister's reactions comes as the Opposition is doubling down its criticism against the ruling BJP after the Maharashtra government's action against stand-up comedian Kunal Kamra for his alleged controversial remarks about Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.

"Those who are showing the copy of Constitution should open it and read it. It is clearly written in it that how one should exercise the rights of freedom of expression and freedom of speech," Vaishnaw said while speaking at TV9 Bharatvarsh Global Summit.

The Minister said that reasonable restrictions on the freedom of expression was incorporated in the Constitution through the first amendment when Jawaharlal Nehru was the Prime Minister.

"They should know the reasonable restrictions on those rights in our Constitution. Those reasonable restrictions were included in the Constitution during Nehru's time through the first amendment," he said. The Minister said that there are different sensibilities in India and the Western countries when it comes to the scope of freedom of expression and opinion.

"In the West, burning the flag is considered as freedom of expression. In our country, do we accept the burning of flag. No one will approve it. In the West nudity is a norm. No one there consider it bad. In our society do we approve those things? We will not accept it," he said.

The Minister called India as a geo cultural country and said that a cultural framework has been uniting the people of different parts of India for thousands of years."Our country is not geo political country ours is geo cultural country. Our country united the people in that cultural framework for thousands of years... We should not compare our culture with the that of the West. We should do things keeping in mind our culture, history, heritage," he said.

The Minister said that India is witnessing "politics of performance" under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's rule.

"This nation had seen the rule of the Congress for 60 years. In 60 years, four decades had passed where there was no economic growth, no opportunities for the youth. Now the nation has been seeing the new era of PM Modi. Politics of performance has been set before the people," he said.

"In the politics of performance, there are many opportunities being created for the youth , and the people are rewarding that politics of performance. In every corner of India, people are recognizing the work of Prime Minister Modi. They are acknowledging positive changes in their lives. And that is converting as their blessings (for the BJP) during the election time," he added.

Except for the headline, the story has not been edited by DNA staff and is published from ANI.