Freedom of Expression

Freedom of expression has no geographical limitation and it carries with it the right of a citizen to exchange thought with others in India was a landmark Supreme Court judgement. Freedom of expression is not only important for individual dignity but also it caters to accountability in a politically democratic country like ours. The right lets an individual to express his/her views and opinions freely without any hesitation. 

Yet at times we encounter situations where we felt infringement on our fundamental right. Not only societies, groups or individuals try to curb our voice but also government and elected representatives leaves no stone upturn in order to suppress our rightful stand. 

If you are a boy and on to it a student than your life would have been regulated by two monstrous individuals. One a girl who happens to be your girlfriend and the other the cruel college in which you try your best to study. It’s hard for a boy to understand that why he can’t be right before his girl? Why his every move needs a scrutiny? And, why he can’t use his freedom of expression? 

On the other hand his college admin strive their best in functioning in a more or less barbaric way curtailing all little freedom of expression he enjoys. He can’t use social networking, video sharing and a plethora of sites because out of 1 crore sites in the virtual world except his college site all others are being blocked for no realistic reason in support. 

Even, being a boy you can’t express your feelings to someone you like from the opposite sex again because someone damned came up with Majnu bhagao Gang which happens to be a direct attack on an individual right to expression. Also, it’s hard to digest the fact that people in Thailand, a country smaller than Madya Pradesh (I may be wrong in statistics) boasts of enjoying all sorts of freedom of expression. People can wear any type and size of dresses without any restrictions. How good it would have been for boys living there :D

I happen to bounce back on few of the latest regulations which even the government is considering for checking the fundamental right of expression. The authorities in India are considering making it a criminal offence to insult Mahatma Gandhi after a new biography sparked fresh speculation about his sexual preferences. Also, the government has sought to control the free flow of information on the internet, especially on the social network websites.

So, may be my post confront the college, girlfriend (Please note: I’m single) and government thoughts who may come up with strict laws against the post.

Kashmir: The Troubled Frontier

Yesterday, I read a news article about the ongoing debate whether the Kashmir is an integral part of India or not. A noted novelist had made a comment saying Kashmir was never a part of India and now it’s the right time for Indian government to liberate it. This post contains mine observation regarding the mention topic.

Britishers brought in with them a centralized form of governance. They united all big and small princely states under one umbrella; in simple language they unified the great Indian Subcontinent. But, Britishers unlike Mughals never invaded India with a motive of being a part of it; instead they only wanted to loot its immense wealth. They can be compared with modern day Taliban. Only difference was that the Britishers were an organized army of robbers.

So, after World War 2 when the world power scenario changed and it became difficult (almost impossible) to rule India, Britishers came up with a new ideology. They could have transformed the power as was vested in the hands of Britishers. But, they went ahead with a new idea of handing over the power to group of people from each community or religion. It was not just the Britishers but also the Allied forces who never wanted to leave the great Indian Subcontinent. They knew that this land had all the elements to become world power again, which could be a trouble for them in future. As a matter of fact, they still control the politics of some countries of the region like Afghanistan and Pakistan. So, they coined the theory of partitioning the country on religious lines. It was left over to rulers of princely states whether to remain with free India or go with the new state of Pakistan.

Sardar Vallabhai Patel with his group of loyal administrators did a commendable job by making most of the princely states to remain with free India either by using political pressure or by force. But, the Maharaja of Kashmir was an ambitious and very arrogant man. He neither wanted to be a part of free India or the new state of Pakistan. In-fact, he wanted to divide India further by making Kashmir a third country to be formed beside Pakistan. But, soon he realized his mistake when the Mujahedeen backed by the Pakistani army attacked the princely state of Kashmir. He realized that it was better to be a part of a secular India rather than to be a part of a country like Pakistan which was formed on religious grounds. He signed the annexation papers and formally the state of Kashmir became an integral part of the Union of India. Later on, acting like a fatherly figure India gave few chunks of Kashmir to Pakistan in order to calm it down. As it is said, the greediness never goes away, so was the case here; Pakistan from the very moment of its formation wanted Kashmir to be an integral part of it. When it became clear that India has a better military then that of the Pakistan, they went ahead with the new setup. And that was building, supporting and providing logistics for cross border terrorism into the territory of India.

Two points should be made very clear: Firstly, as hyped, if the Kashmir is set free as an Independent country, sooner or later the state of Pakistan back by the China would attack it and would enslave them. In that case only one country, the Union of India, can come to their rescue. Secondly, Kashmir will have to depend on India for its resources and daily needs. They will have to import it from the Indian government. In both the scenario, India can never be detached from Kashmir.

In recent media reports I heard some of the Huriyat leaders crying about the double standard of Indian government for the Kashmir. Indian Government never treated Kashmir as an integral part of India and seen it as an outsider, they said. But, they kept mum on the special privileges and autonomy which only the state of Kashmir gets. They cry about the army Special Power Act but never for once they condemned the militancy. Also, the people who think that partition is only way for a permanent solution of the Kashmir problem must for once look at the state of Pakistan.

Lastly, Kashmir was, is and will always be an integral part of the Union of India.

Image Source: Google
Read more about KASHMIR and INDIA at: Wikipedia