False Freedom

Independence Day always tends to stir the Indian inside inside everyone. Apart from cricket matches, this is probably the most invigorating of occasions when we are delighted to say we are proud to be Indians. Republic Day comes in third place I guess, but that's not the point. Apart from these historic dates(days in case of cricket matches), there is hardly any evidence of "Proud to be Indian" slogans being showcased to the rest of the world.

There must be people who are out there who don't agree with me, but you don't have to. It's my point of view and I'm entitled to it. If you agree with me, welcome to the club! If you don't we can have a nice debate on the topic and discuss each other's point of view. But then you and I won't be Indians. We in India don't allow anyone to speak their mind as long as it does not support our point of view. If anyone does get the chance to speak their mind and it's against our beliefs, we try and make sure that it was his last chance and that he never speaks anything else ever again. This is how it is.

Someone paints something which some other people find offensive, so instead of just shielding their eyes and moving on they tear down the whole thing and threaten the artist in question and create a furore over it.

Someone writes something on how they feel about God and religion, some other people don't like what they read and so instead of turning the pages to something else they declare it unholy and blasphemy and threaten the author and create a furore over it.

Someone expresses his views on a subject concerning thousands of people's lives and some other people don't like him saying those things so they just go ahead and threaten the person and create a furore over it.

Someone decides not to take it anymore and do something about the stuff going on that shouldn't be, some other people don't like it at all and threaten him but don't create a furore over it because they decide to get rid of the "problem".

There are millions of other examples and most of us can identify with the ones mentioned above too. Generally the "someone" in question is just trying to express their point of view and don't intend any harm to anyone. The "some other people" refers to the mob that thinks they hold the right to decide right and wrong and punish those who are wrong. Also these are people who are in a position of some kind of control, power or authority. Furthermore, these people are the ones who are almost always wrong, but since we are talking subjectively about right and wrong, these people are the ones who almost always employ dirty tactics and ensure fairplay only in their favour.

Freedom to express oneself is the most important fundamental right. Without it, there is no individual. But that very right is supressed to the extent of choosing between 'what you think is right but can't say' and 'saying what you think is right but then can't live'.

This is the only reason why I admire America. In America, you can say what you want to say and get away with it. You can seriously criticise the leader of the country on national television(in India you can just make jokes about them, in some cases not even that!) and even get support. You can make movies about the problems your country is facing in which you mock the people who are supposedly running the country and expect the movie to open to packed theatres without any delays due to the film being under review by the censor board or due to any unwanted disturbances by "some other people".

We call ourselves a Democracy - for the people, by the people, of the people.
It holds true but the definition of people is screwed. It only refers to the "some others". You vote for a person thinking that he can do something(that is a rarity) or just because he is the lesser of two evils. Anyway, he wins! But before you celebrate, he goes over to the opposite side because that's where the power is concentrated. You can do nothing about it now.

We call ourselves Secular - not related to or pertaining to any religion in particular, i.e. to say all religions are treated as equal.
Far from it! Please don't even get me started on this topic. Refer to earlier posts.

We call ourselves Socialist - everything is divided equally among the people, the community as a whole.
Again the definition of people is being screwed. What community as a whole?! The whole country is being divided into communities that are being taught to fear and hate each other.

We call ourselves Sovereign - an autonomous judiciary that is not controlled by outside forces.
Might have been the silver lining because of the Supreme Court but the dark cloud of the rest of the system blots it out. Justice is like a flight delayed because the wheels are missing so it can't take off.

I could qoute the rest of the preamble for a laugh but this is enough I think. Took out most of my frustration, if not all.

To all those who want to remind me about the brighter side of things, I want to say No Thanks. Sure we are a developing country and we're moving forward and the economy is growing and blah blah blah etc etc etc, but what is the use if a person can't simply speak his mind about what he wants to?

Here's a little something for your birthday. I call it 'A nation at the feet of its people'.

Happy 60th Mother India!! One hell of a birthday greeting ain't it? ;)