An essay
On
“HOW FREE ARE YOU?”
Submitted by:
Shazia Zafar Ahmad
Email ID: [email protected]
Institute: K J Somaiya Institute of Management Studies & Research
Freedom is not an apple that one can hold in one’s hand, freedom is essentially a realization, an ability to perform a set of actions.
2+2=5
I have been put a question, as to how free are we ? Before I embark further into this enquiry, let me put it for the sake of record, that I stand against those who believe in the maxim, that ‘restriction is freedom’. As I understand the subject, let me point out one simple thing, that one must understand freedom not in some abstract term, I always wish to project freedom in the realms of the concrete world, the world inhabited by you and me, I and the Other. Secondly freedom is to be understood with respect to an individual and his/her surroundings, the immediate environment. This means that freedom has to be particularized and not generalized. Freedom has to be understood with reference to the individual and his world, and not the world inhabited by the extraterrestrial.
Now as to the question as to how free are we, all I can say that we are not exactly slaves. We live in a country that though constitutionally is committed to “freedom, equality and justice”[2], but the insensitivity of the state needs no comments. The past 63 odd years with democracy has been a nightmarish experience. The emergency[3], the countless communal riots, the honor killings, suicide of farmers, displacement of the poor due to various multi-purpose projects, in the name of development,[4]by passing of labour laws by MNC’S in the name of free trade[5],the silencing of the dissent[6], the matter of routine killings of innocent people in the North East and in the Maoist infested areas, all these point an accusing finger at the state, that it has failed miserably. India is not exactly a Fascist country but a semi-Fascist one. Forget individuals like you and me, the Indian state is so brutal, that it can massacre groups, nations and communities, before the blinking of your eyes. The country in which we live, freedom is like a luxurious commodity that, only the rich, the bourgeois can afford. The life of an ordinary individual is worth a trifling. Thought the constitution provides us with a set of rights[7], but the remedy is so expensive that practically 90% of the population is excluded from the ambit of it.[8]
These are we facts, and resting my case on them, I am not prepared to say that I am free. I am free only because the state has so far, not perceived any danger emitting from me. The moment the state finds me as a danger, the fire of my youth will burn and extinguish itself in the gallows of our country. I am free only when I say that 2+2=4, the moment I have the courage to say that 2+2=5, I’ll be beaten to death. If this is what one calls freedom, then I rest my case. I shall not argue before a jury who is deaf and dumb. Whether you like it or not India is a country of colossal injustices, a site of brutality and state sponsored violence. The motto of the state is that to stop violence, one must get more violent. I have often asked a question, as to who is more brutal, our former colonial masters or the present government? Answering this question is like choosing between a rifle or a pistol, when you are facing a firing squad and the commander asks you, which one my madam, which one?
Is Gandhi listening? Is this his Ram Rajya?
[1] What I mean here is that you must not take Albert Camus’s idea when he says that, I shall oppose the absurdity of this world by my freedom, my passion and my revolt. Here Camus is falling into the error of providing us with a metaphysical formula, with which he expects us to live and die happily. (See. The Myth of Sisyphus)
[2] See the, Preamble to the Constitution of India, 1950. The very language used inspires hope and a strange belief that if not today then in some future everything will be fine.
[3] During this period the Supreme Court delevered a terrible verdit in ADM Jabalpur V. Shiv Kant Shukla, AIR SC 19 (CITATION NEEDED SEE BAKSHI), which categorically stated tha a citizen in this counrty has no right to life under article 21, when the country is under Emergency.
[4] See. The algebra of infinite Justice- Arundhati Roy, for figures and facts that will stunt all your senses.
[5] In a news item that appeared in The Times of India, the Chief Minister of Delhi, herself admitted the fact that the workers who were engaged in the various project related to the common wealth games, were paid below the minimum wages prescribed by the government under the Minimum Wages Act.
[6] See Bilal Ahmed Kaloo v. union of India, (citation needed see the Criminal law- Pillai), in this case a Kashmiri was arrested by the police for speaking about the abuse of human rights by the security forces in Kashmir. One could also recall the case of Binayak Sen and Arudhati Roy both of them have been booked under the notorious sedition laws, that even as per the Report of the Law Commission Of India needs to be amended. One could also recall here the cases of dissent writer Taslima Nasreen who was refused asylum by the government, just to placate a rightist muslim leadership and the case of M.F Husssain who was not allowed to return back to his country because of the RSS, VHP and BJP’s hatred campaing unleashed on him. In these cases the government as expected failed to uphold the values of free speech on which our constitution is supposed to rest.
[7] See. Part-3, articles 14 to 32 of the Indian Constitution that has been referred to as the Corner stone of our Constitution.
[8] I have always thought that the Districts Courts or may be a special constitutional Bench established at every Districts should also have powers to look into matters concerning violation of Fundamental Rights, this would bring a large chunk of the population hitherto excluded from the umbrella of Part-3 since the remedy here would be much cheaper, but for this to happen we will have to amend the constitution.