We are living in constant fear of State: Kapil Sibal

Talking about the "use of religion as a weapon", Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal said that even though it was happening all over the world, "India is an excessive example of the use of religion"

Former Congress leader and senior lawyer Kapil Sibal has alleged that people have been living in fear of investigating agencies, the State, and the police.

Talking about the "use of religion as a weapon", the Rajya Sabha MP on Friday said that even though it was happening all over the world, "India is an excessive example of the use of religion."

"It's happening all over the world. It was complete intolerance what happened in Leicester. We all know what happened there. So it's being exported now.

"The real problem is, in India today those who are part of the hate speech are the collaborators of a particular ideology, the police are not willing to do anything," Mr. Sibal said. The former Cabinet minister was speaking at the launch of his book, Reflections: In Rhyme and Rhythm, published by Rupa Publications.

He added that those who give hate speeches are not prosecuted and hence, are "emboldened to give another speech of the nature."

"Whole populations are afraid and they get mentally ghettoised. What do they do? So they are afraid. We are living in constant fear. We fear the ED, we fear the CBI, we fear the State, we fear the policemen, we fear everybody. We don't have any trust in anybody anymore," the politician-turned-poet said.

The 74-year-old senior advocate also criticised the judiciary, alleging that the poor man cannot come to the court as he has "no money to pay the lawyers."