This is in context of the JNU incident of February to March 2016 where sedition charges were levied against the students of JNU:
(New Delhi) “Look at current situation in the country. We are a country of over 100 crores; we have more than 22 languages, people come from different kinds of background. We have every religion in the world in this country. Everybody dresses differently. In a country like this when somebody dissents from what the state thinks, you can’t call that person anti-national. I have a right to dissent; that’s the basis of democracy. The minute I say something that you do not like, you can criticize me, but you cannot imprison me, and you can’t call me anti-national.
Are you saying that there shouldn’t be any questioning in the Universities? That is the time to experiment and question all kinds of thoughts. We are living in a very troubled time. You can’t impose prohibition on a thought process or a way of living or on what you eat.
It is not only disappointing but dangerous that the Lawyers, Police and Politicians who are sworn to uphold the Constitution don’t understand what rule of law means. Also, everyone is entitled to a fair trial, and is innocent until proven guilty, but sometimes it just turns into a lynch mob justice.
There was a protest by a very powerful community in one of the states where they burned buses, homes, and allegedly raped women. They killed an army officer but we don’t call them anti-national. We have to understand the word sedition and usage of word anti-national. It has political connotations and we don’t understand this in our country.”