Releasing a student from police custody and asking the college to reinstate her seat and allow her to appear for examinations because she apologised for her post, because she is young and allowed to make mistakes, because she is not a criminal, asking the college authorities whether they had called for an explanation, reminding them that it is their job to educate and correct her, and calling the police overzealous, are all the WRONG reasons for throwing out a case that was, at its core, about a citizen exercising her right to freedom of expression in a democracy.
Why, then, are we celebrating this as if it were a victory for democratic thought and for free speech?
Social media warriors are celebrating.
Liberals are clapping.
Legal experts are relieved.
News anchors are calling it a win for democracy.
It is not.
This is not a triumph of principle.
It is an exception carved out of pity, not conviction.
A gesture of leniency, not justice.
It is a defeat disguised as grace.
A concession extracted from the victim.
A systemic failure dressed up as judicial wisdom.
Stop calling this a victory.
When even defenders of liberty make peace with the language of forgiveness over the language of rights, the authoritarian state has already won.
P.S.: Not to put too fine a point on it, but Prof Khan is still an accused for expressing his views. I hope you remember him.
