Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud on Saturday said that a society which does not encourage its citizens to critically think, question the powers that be, and engage in non-conformist democratic discourse will fail to progress because it will fail to create dissenters.
“Dissents emerge not from thin air but from a democratic culture of fierce debates… Abolition of slavery, annihilation of caste, emancipation of gender minorities, and religious harmony were all once dissenting opinions,” Chief Justice Chandrachud said while speaking on the topic of “Democracy, Debate and Dissent” at an event commemorating Justice Keshav Chandra Dhulia, the father of Supreme Court judge, Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia.
Social harmony in a democracy should not be achieved by flushing out dissent, the Chief Justice said at the event organised at Dehradun in Uttarakhand.
