Law is not to gag voices: Hemant Soren

After directing Dhanbad administration to drop sedition charges against 3000 anti-CAA protesters, Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren has said the law is there not to gag voices but to instil a sense of security among the people.

In a significant decision, Soren had on Wednesday given the order to withdraw sedition charges slapped against 3000 people in Dhanbad for taking out a procession against the Citizens Amendment Act (CAA). "Law is not to intimidate the people or gag their voices, instead (it should) instil a sense of security among the people," Soren tweeted hours after issuing the instruction to the Dhanbad administration.

The district administration had lodged sedition cases against seven named accused and other unknown 3000 people for taking out a procession against the Citizens Amendment Act (CAA) in the coal city "without taking prior permission from the concerned authority", a police officer had said on Wednesday. Those charges have since been dropped, the officials said.

"Mere netritwa mein chal rahi sarkar mein kanun Janata ki awaz ko buland karne ka karya karegi (the government being run under my leadership will work to strengthen the voice of people)," Soren said in his tweet. Asserting in another tweet that action has been initiated against officials lodging sedition charges, Soren had appealed to the people saying "state is yours (and) it is our responsibility to respect law and order".

Soon after taking over the reins of Jharkhand, the Soren government in its first cabinet decision on December 29 last decided to withdraw all cases registered against tribals involved in the Pathalgarhi movement and those who took part in protests after the Chota Nagpur Tenancy Act and Santhal Pargana Tenancy Act were amended. Soren is heading the JMM-Congress-RJD coalition ministry which has succeded the BJP-led ministry in the state.