Dissent and democracy are often considered as synonymous in a liberal-democratic social order. It is through open debate and discussion that the diversity of perceptions are uncovered. The preamble to the Constitution of India promises liberty of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship. Clauses (a) to (c) of Article 19(1) promise:-
Freedom of speech and expression
Freedom to assemble peaceable and without arms, and,
Freedom to form associations or union
These three freedoms are vehicles through which dissent can be expressed. The right to freedom of opinion and the right to freedom of conscience by themselves include the extremely important 'right to disagree'. The right to disagree, the right to dissent and the right to take another point of view shall inherently be present in each and every citizen of the country. When we view all these together, it is more than obvious that the right to dissent is the biggest right and in my opinion, one of the most important right granted by the constitution.
Every society has its own rules and over a period of time when people stick to the age-old rules and conventions, the society degenerates. New thinkers are born when they disagree with well accepted norms of society. If everybody follows the well-trodden path, no new path will ever be created, no new explorations will be done and no new vistas will be found.
If a person does not ask questions and does not raise doubts and does not question age-old systems, no new systems would develop and the horizons of the mind will not expand. Whether it be Martin Luther King Jr., Kabir, Raja Ram Mohan Roy, Karl Marx or Mahatma Gandhi, new thoughts and practices would not have been established, if they had quietly submitted to the views of their forefathers and had not questioned the existing practices, beliefs and rituals.
To question, to challenge, and to verify are the right of every citizen under the constitution and we should use these rights to bring a change in the society. These rights should never be taken away, otherwise we will become an unquestioning moribund society, which will not be able to develop any further.
I would like to conclude by stating a poem written by Rabindranath Tagore:-
Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high;
Where knowledge is free;
Where the world has not been broken up into fragments by narrow domestic walls; Where words come out from the depth of truth;
Where tireless striving stretches its arm towards perfection;
Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way into the dreary desert sand and dead habit;
Where the mind is led forward by thee into ever-widening thought and action Into that heaven of freedom, my father, let my country awake.
-Samarth