India moves to replace British colonial-era sedition law with its own version

By ASHOK SHARMA
Associated Press

NEW DELHI (AP) — India’s government has proposed legislation that seeks to replace a British colonial-era sedition law with its own version. Britain’s rulers in India imposed a law against sedition — actions aimed at encouraging people to be or act against a government — in 1860 to repress freedom fighters. India won independence from the British colonialists in 1947 but continued to use the law. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s critics have accused his government of using sedition charges to label dissenting citizens as disloyal toward the country. A conviction carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment. an Indian legal expert says the government’s proposed revisions aren’t much of an actual change.