Shoma asks: Should a Democracy Control the Right to Protest | Arghya Sengupta & Saurabh Kirpal

Shoma asks: Should a Democracy Control the Right to Protest | Arghya Sengupta & Saurabh Kirpal

23 August 2026

| Ignition

You have the right to speak. You have the right to protest. But do you have the power to use either?

What happens when the law meant to protect citizens starts working against them? Is protest a fundamental right—or a privilege granted by the State? Is citizenship simply the right to vote—or the right to question power? Can a democracy really be called “free” when citizens begin to censor themselves?

In a searching conversation, constitutional lawyers Saurabh Kirpal and Arghya Sengupta unpack the fault lines between citizen and State—from the right to dissent and protest, to colonial-era laws, the courts, digital censorship, judicial appointments and the looming battle over delimitation and federalism, examining the relationship between the citizen and the State—and the ideas that define a living democracy.

A provocative conversation about what our Constitution promises, what the State permits—and what citizens must fight to retain.

With Shoma Chaudhury

At IGNITION

Presented by Shiv Nadar Foundation.

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