Man cannot be free if he doesn’t know he is in bondage. What is his will, it is the ideology of the authority. What is his home, it is the ghetto built by the authority. What is his identity, it is the fictitious character constructed by the authority.

60 years after the momentous declaration of independence, an Indian citizen might not know historical facts and dates, but is alert to this bondage and is not content with it! Poverty persists, corruption is rampant, crime is having a field day, but there are checks and balances as dictated by our constitution and  an Indian citizen is sensitized to know and implement them.

Independence from colonialism was a political coup. It didn’t and cannot entail the freedom of the masses from the epidemic of social evils. The battle for equality which ensued after independence is the fight for freedom. Understanding freedom is to know, to feel, to abhor the golden cage around us, the golden prison around us, the islands we are forced to become, the ghetto we are forced into and severing such oppressive establishments is to be free. The Indian citizen is in earnest, will not equivocate, will not excuse, will not retreat a single inch, and will fight to be heard!

I am discriminated against, I know it and I also know I can object! I know my rights and my duties, and this conception of freedom is its underlying gist! The resolution of my predicament might be delayed by corrupt officials, redtapist beaureucrats, financial constraints and scores of other disorders in our nation. But such deficiencies doesn’t mean I or you have misconstrued, hijacked, distorted or lost the meaning of freedom. It would become true if if we fail to exercise our freedom of  the press, freedom of religion, freedom of education, freedom of egalitarianism and most important freedom of person.

I can quote many instances to deflate this nihilistic allegation that we have forgotten the meaning of freedom. Raj Thackeray’s politic rhetoric, “A bihari who tries to humiliate a Marathi will get a tight slap for breakfast, lunch and dinner.” His despicable comments provoked the intellectual community, the civil rights activists, the media, the average Indian to lambaste him in scathing counterattacks. India thrives on its diversity, and shall not as Thaceray and his minions want become a ghetto of racial purification. His opponents understand this concept of freedom, they enjoy it, fight for it, and are prepared to extend it to everyone whether they are rich or poor, whether they agree or disagree, no matter what their race or the colour of their skin.