Being tolerant of others’ views doesn’t mean hate speech should be tolerated: Justice Chandrachud

India

pti-PTI

Gandhinagar, Aug 06:
Being
accepting
and
tolerant
of
others’
opinions
does
not
mean
one
should
also
accept
hate
speech,
Supreme
Court
judge
Justice
D
Y
Chandrachud
said
here
on
Saturday.
In
his
convocation
address
at
Gujarat
National
Law
University
(GNLU),
he
urged
the
graduating
students
to
be
guided
by
their
“own
conscience
and
equitable
reason”.

In
the
world
of
social
media
“with
limited
attention
span,”
it
helps
to
remember
that
“a
lot
of
work
we
do
will
only
have
long-term
impact
and
we
should
not
be
worried
about
the
everyday
distraction,”
he
said
in
the
speech,
delivered
through
video
link.

“The
words
famously
attributed
to
Voltaire,
‘I
disapprove
of
what
you
say,
but
I
will
defend
to
death
your
right
to
say
it,’ must
be
incorporated
into
our
being.
Making
mistakes,
being
accepting
and
tolerant
to
the
opinions
of
others
by
no
means
translates
to
blind
conformity,
and
it
does
not
mean
not
standing
up
against
hate
speech,”
the
judge
said.

As
the
students
step
into
the
outer
world
amid
“the
increasing
noise
and
confusion
of
political,
social
and
moral
clashes
of
majority,”
they
must
be
guided
by
the
path
of
their
“own
conscience
and
equitable
reasons,”
he
said
at
the
11th
convocation
of
the
GNLU.
He
also
quoted
writer
Seth
Godin’s
analogy
of
the
current
and
the
wind.

“On
the
river,
it
is
the
current
that
will
move
the
canoe
far
more
than
the
wind
will.
But
the
wind
distracts
us….The
current
is
our
persistent
systems
of
class
and
race
and
gender,
and
powerful
industry
economy.
And
if
I
may
add,
in
our
context,
caste
as
well,”
Justice
Chandrachud
said,
quoting
the
author.

The
current
can
be
overcome,
but
it
takes
“focussed
effort,”
the
judge
said.
“On
the
other
hand,
the
wind
is
the
breaking
news
of
the
moment,
the
latest
social
media
sensation.
And
the
thin
layer
of
hype
that
surrounds
us.
It
might
be
a
useful
distraction,
but
our
real
work
lies
in
overcoming
the
current
or
changing
it,”
he
added.
“It
helps
to
see
it
first
and
to
ignore
the
wind
where
we
can.
This
quotation
is
especially
relevant
to
remember
in
today’s
world
with
polarising
opinions
and
conflicting
actions,”
the
judge
added.