{"id":2360,"date":"2015-02-18T11:22:23","date_gmt":"2015-02-18T11:22:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/india\/?p=2360"},"modified":"2021-12-01T12:37:38","modified_gmt":"2021-12-01T12:37:38","slug":"priya-pillai-denounces-government-gag-offer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/india\/en\/press\/2360\/priya-pillai-denounces-government-gag-offer\/","title":{"rendered":"Priya Pillai denounces Government \u201cgag\u201d offer"},"content":{"rendered":"

New Delhi|\u00a0February 18, 2015|\u00a0Greenpeace campaigner Priya Pillai\u00a0today termed the government\u2019s \u2019gag\u2019 offer a\u00a0\u00a0taint on the democratic rights of citizens. The government offered that Pillai would be free to travel if she submits an undertaking that she will not make submissions in foreign countries.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cI will not accept any such gag offer. I was exercising my fundamental right and this is not just about me but the right of every citizen of the country,\u201d said Priya Pillai, Senior Campaigner of Greenpeace India, who attended the hearing in the Delhi High Court today. \u201cIf I accept that the government has a right to dictate what I can and can\u2019t say, then India and all Indians would lose something priceless \u2013 our absolute right to free speech. I cannot and will not accept that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe government\u2019s so-called case against me is dangerous and dishonest. It says that by informing British MPs about a British-registered company\u2019s activities in Singrauli I am somehow acting against India\u2019s national interest. But our laws, Indian laws, are being flouted in Mahan, to the detriment of thousands of Indians, all to benefit a coal mining project. How is raising awareness of this anti-national? I am a proud Indian, and I will not be silenced,\u201d said Pillai.<\/p>\n

Ms Indira Jaising, Senior Advocate, who represented Priya in the court said, \u201cI am appalled that the interest of the government of the day are conflated with the interests of the nation. I consider it a denial of a basic right to freedom of speech. I will never advice my client to agree to ASG\u2019s suggestion that if she signs and submits an undertaking that she will not go and make such submissions she is free to travel. It is not censorship, its pre- censorship\u201d<\/p>\n

Pillai and Greenpeace India have been supporting tribal villages in the Singrauli district of Madhya Pradesh opposed to the Mahan coal mine, which threatens a large forest area that many thousands depend on for their livelihoods. Prior to its de-allocation by the Supreme Court in the \u201ccoalgate\u201d verdict, the Mahan coal block was allocated jointly to London-registered Essar and Indian firm Hindalco. The growing fight to stop the mine is believed to be the reason Pillai was singled out by the government as she was headed to the UK to brief British MPs on the issue.<\/p>\n

Pillai was not allowed to board her flight to London on\u00a0January 11, allegedly because her name figured on a \u2018lookout circular\u2019 issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs. Pillai\u2019s passport was stamped with the word \u2018Offload\u2019. She was scheduled to address UK parliamentarians concerned about the activities in India of UK-registered Essar Energy.<\/p>\n

The government had blocked Greenpeace India\u2019s access to money from Greenpeace International, which was dismissed by the Delhi High Court on January 20. In its ruling, the\u00a0\u00a0Court observed that this action was without justification or due process and ordered that the funds be released.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n \t\t\t

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Donate today or consider remembering Greenpeace in your Will.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t \n Get Involved\n <\/a>\n \t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/section>\n\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

New Delhi|\u00a0February 18, 2015|\u00a0Greenpeace campaigner Priya Pillai\u00a0today termed the government\u2019s \u2019gag\u2019 offer a\u00a0\u00a0taint on the democratic rights of citizens. The government offered that Pillai would be free to travel if…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":46,"featured_media":1504,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"p4_og_title":"","p4_og_description":"","p4_og_image":"","p4_og_image_id":"","p4_seo_canonical_url":"","p4_campaign_name":"","p4_local_project":"","p4_basket_name":"","p4_department":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[22],"p4-page-type":[14],"class_list":["post-2360","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-environment","tag-forest","p4-page-type-press"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/india\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2360","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/india\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/india\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/india\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/46"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/india\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2360"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/india\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2360\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12347,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/india\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2360\/revisions\/12347"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/india\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1504"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/india\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2360"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/india\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2360"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/india\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2360"},{"taxonomy":"p4-page-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/india\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/p4-page-type?post=2360"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}