Resist Fear, Defend Freedom: Stop SLAPPs, Stop Surveillance

Posted on 16th August, 2025 (GMT 03:45 hrs)

ABSTRACT

This video exposes how India’s democracy is under siege through SLAPPs (Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation), draconian laws like UAPA, and unchecked digital surveillance. From the DHFL scam victims fighting corporate–state collusion, to students, journalists, and whistleblowers imprisoned or silenced, the message is clear: truth-telling has been criminalized. Drawing from Tagore’s vision of a fearless India, the video demands strong anti-SLAPP protections, accountability in surveillance, and safeguards for free speech — reminding us that defending dissent is defending the Constitution itself.

“Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high…
Where knowledge is free…
Where words come out from the depth of truth…”
— Rabindranath Tagore

These words, written over a century ago, imagined an India where truth could be spoken without fear.
Today, that dream is under threat. We are living in a state of undeclared emergency.
In fact, in today’s hyper-polarized climate, Tagore himself — for daring to question any illegitimate authority and imagine a fearless nation — might well have been branded as an “anti-national” since he was an inhabitant of no-nation.

In a democracy, truth should be spoken without fear — right?
Yet in today’s India, speaking truth to power can cost you everything.

We are facing a dangerous rise in SLAPPs — Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation.
What are SLAPPs? They are massive, costly lawsuits filed not to win in court, but to intimidate, exhaust, and silence critics.
They weaponise defamation claims, legal technicalities, and endless hearings to drain your time, money, and mental health.

The DHFL scam victims—ordinary people who lost their life savings to an act of financial abuse, a true fincide (financial genocide)—dared to ask questions. They sought clarity on the resolution process and plan, the corporate takeover, and the fate of their money, without pursuing any personal vendetta, but only in search of justice.
Now, they’re being sued for crores by Mr. Ajay Piramal’s amateurish legal team, DSK Legal.
Among them are OBMA activists like Debaprasad Bandyopadhyay, Ravi Pratap Singh, Amit Kumar, and S. R. Pal.
Astonishining, even LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter (now X) were dragged into these cases — showing the intent is not justice, but suppression.

Yet, one OBMA victim refused to be silenced.
With nothing but a keyboard and the idea of justice, he continues his legitimate, non-violent fight in the digital space — proving that resistance can survive even under the heaviest pressure of India’s growing threat culture.
Some of these SLAPP cases demand as much as ₹100 crore — sums designed not for fairness, but for fear.

SLAPPs are not just personal vendettas.
They are a systemic threat to democracy.
They target journalists, whistleblowers, activists, students — anyone who dares to expose wrongdoing.

Our Constitution protects freedom of speech and expression under Article 19(1)(a) and the right to peaceful assembly under Article 19(1)(b).
These exist so citizens can question and hold the government accountable — without fear of punishment.

When laws go too far, courts have sometimes pushed back.
In 2015, the Supreme Court struck down Section 66A of the IT Act in Shreya Singhal vs. Union of India — a law that criminalised “offensive” online speech.
The Court recognised that vague, sweeping powers to arrest people for their posts were a direct attack on free expression.

But today, new tools of suppression have taken its place.

Draconian laws like UAPA — meant for terrorism — are now used to keep peaceful dissenters in jail for years without trial.
Student activists like Umar Khalid have spent over 1,700 days in jail without trial, denied bail and still awaiting the framing of charges. Sharjeel Imam has been held since early 2020 — over five years in prolonged pre-trial detention. Their only “crime”? Speaking out.
When anti-terror laws are used against peaceful citizens, democracy itself is on trial — and the state begins to resemble the very thing it claims to fight.

Even women like Bilkis Bano — who lost her three-year-old daughter and over a dozen family members in the 2002 Gujarat pogrom — now watch in horror as her convicted abusers walk free under the garlanded protection of today’s political executive, while her voice is sidelined and justice denied.
Whistleblowers like Sanjiv Bhatt, the former IPS officer who sought accountability for the same carnage, now languish in prison — proving how the system shields the powerful and punishes truth-tellers.

This is not justice.
This is lawfare — law as a weapon.
It has already cost lives.
Father Stan Swamy died in custody after months of neglect under UAPA.
Professor G.N. Saibaba suffered years of incarceration despite severe disability.
They, and others, were victims of a surveillance regime that included Pegasus spyware, borrowed from the genocidal state of Israel and deployed by the Indian government to monitor dissent.

And India’s digital privacy laws are dangerously weak.
The new Digital Personal Data Protection Act hands the government — through corporate intermediaries — sweeping powers to access personal data on vague grounds like “public order,” with almost no independent oversight.
Your phone, your messages, your online life could be monitored — and weaponised — if you challenge authority.

The DHFL case victims aren’t just fighting court battles — they’re resisting in a climate of surveillance, gag orders, and relentless harassment.

We demand:

• A strong Anti-SLAPP law to stop legal bullying.
• SLAPPs to be recognised as a civil wrong — with penalties, damages, and public retractions for abusers.
• Early dismissal of frivolous or retaliatory cases.
• Independent oversight on digital surveillance.
• Protection for journalists, whistleblowers, and public-interest speakers from both legal and digital harassment.

If you believe truth should not be punished…
If you believe dissent is the lifeblood of democracy…
If you believe your voice matters —

Stand with us.
Sign the petition link in this video’s description.
Share it widely. This video itself might get banned.
o Help turn private suffering into active non-violent public resistance.

Because today, they may silence one truth-teller.
Tomorrow, it could be you.

We are not anti-nationals, we are not urban naxals, we are the defenders of the Indian Constitution. We are non-partisan political animals aiming towards a decentralized, participatory partyless democracy.  

Like, comment, share, and subscribe to keep this conversation alive — every click helps protect the freedom we’re fighting for

Sign now. Defend free speech. Protect data privacy. Resist the state-corporate surveillance machinery.

SIGN HERE: https://chng.it/9RwFbKMMFp

One of the victims of Ajay Piramal’s (he is a secondary kin of Mukesh Ambani )SLAPPs wrote the following in response to our queries. Other SLAPPed individuals have chosen to remain silent. Below is the partial screenshot of his written interview on WA chat.. We have deliberately erased his name to protect him from further SLAPP action.

1. Do you still feel hopeful about getting your money back from DHFL? Why or why not?

Hope is fading with each passing day. Initially, I believed the authorities would step in and ensure that investors — especially small depositors and retirees — would get their rightful dues. But after years of legal hurdles, delayed resolutions, and unfair settlements, it’s hard to remain hopeful. The resolution process under the IBC (Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code) seemed promising, but what we got was a fraction of what we had invested.

2. What have the last five years been like for you as a DHFL victim? What struggles have you faced?

These five years have been mentally, emotionally, and financially draining. Many of us depended on the interest from DHFL deposits for daily living. Some have had to dip into retirement savings, take loans, or even sell assets. The uncertainty, court delays, and lack of clear communication have only added to the pain. It feels like we’ve been abandoned — first by the company, then by the system meant to protect us.

3. What does it feel like to be the target of a lawsuit by Mr. Piramal’s legal firm?
It’s deeply shocking and insulting. We are the victims — people who trusted a registered financial institution. Being targeted legally for demanding our own money feels like a slap in the face. Instead of empathy or resolution, we’re being intimidated. It sends a dangerous message: if you speak up, you’ll be punished.

4. Do you trust the politicians or the courts in India to give justice in the DHFL case?

Trust is fragile now. Politicians have made statements, but action has been minimal. Courts have done some work, but justice delayed is justice denied. The system seems to work faster for large corporations and promoters, while the common man is left to suffer for years. We keep hearing about reforms and investor protection, but this case has shown us how vulnerable we truly are.

5. Do you think people need to come together and start a big movement to get justice for DHFL victims? What kind of action do you think is needed?

Yes, absolutely. Individual voices are being ignored or silenced. We need a large, united movement of depositors, investors, retirees, and their families to demand justice — peacefully but firmly. We should raise our voices in the media, file collective legal actions, seek support from honest politicians, and approach international human rights forums if needed. A public inquiry into how this fraud happened and who allowed it to be brushed under the carpet is essential.

SEE ALSO:

I. On Tagore:

II. On Legal Intimidation by (non-)existent PCHFL’s legal team vs. the DHFL Victims

III. On Mass Censorship of Free Speech in Contemporary India