Freedom of Speech or Confused State of Mind ?

So it’s been almost a year since I penned down my thoughts and shared with you all through this blog. I think there wasn’t any topic motivating enough, which would force me to make use of this writing space. But now I do have something to write about, something to ponder, and something to conclude from the current freedom of speech and expression debate going on in the country. I am writing this as I think that this is the right time to exercise my right for freedom of speech. (FoS) J

But hey, before I start let us first understand what is FoS. Here you go, FoS is the concept of inherent human right to voice out your opinions or views or thoughts publicly without any fear of censorship or punishment. What a powerful right which constitution of India has provided us. But we all know that with great power comes great responsibility, that’s why every sensible individual likes to first think through what he wants to speak before opening his/her mouth in a public gathering. To simplify, it means tol mol ke bol.

You would have guessed what I am trying to say. The students at JNU held a cultural event where anti-India sloganeering was caught over the camera and most of them were seen paying tribute to the man involved in the attack on Indian Parliament House. We can debate on who did wrong and who was right but the point is how can one raise anti-India slogans being a citizen of India? One can voice his/her dissent over certain issues with Government of India, but how can one justify raising slogans for the destruction of India. We can also understand terror groups calling for destruction of India as they belong to other countries, but students in JNU calling for destruction of India, practically means destroying JNU itself.

 

Ok may be they do not have any subject on logical reasoning in their course curriculum, but what about slogans like Go back India? Now this is hilarious! It is not a British raj where people used to shout slogans like Go back Simon or Go back Britishers. These slogans helped sending back Simon or the British army to their own country, but how does this apply in the context of India. India is not a person or group of people who can go back to where they have come from. Also India has been always under the Himalayas and over the Indian Ocean, where the hell will it go now? Now this is not even related to logical reasoning, these are grammatically incorrect slogans.

And yes they lead to the charges of sedition. Sedition? Ok let’s again understand first what is sedition. As the Google baba says, sedition is a conduct or speech inciting people to rebel against the authority of a state or monarch. So whoever does so is liable to be arrested on the charges of sedition. One may escape by saying that few people in the mob were shouting slogans and they had nothing to do with it, but their mere presence creates a doubt about their integrity.

Anyway coming to AG’s execution, he was given a fair trial by Indian Judiciary and was eventually hanged. Yes I agree that he was hanged in complete secrecy to avoid any social disturbance and to maintain communal harmony and one might criticize the then government in handling it that way. May be that’s why RaGa went to JNU and showed solidarity towards the cause. But wait a min!!  Seems like RaGa opposed the move of his own UPA Government. In soccer, that’s called a self-goal J  . Also the JNU students who were citing the death penalty as judicial killing were seen telling media that they have full faith in Indian judiciary after being taken into custody. I believe it can’t get funnier than this.

And that is why I really don’t feel that it is an issue of freedom of speech or expression. This actually is a case of utter foolishness or a confused state of minds, which few of the students are experiencing and are forcing the same mindsets over others. They rather need to put their energies into studies and constructive criticism to improve the education system of India. JNU being one of the renowned universities of India needs to live up to its name and do the necessary amendments soon, before it’s too late.

For people who are supporting this kind of freedom of expression, I would just say ki democracy hai bhai, sabko bolne ki aazadi hai. It’s just that when it’s about India, we should learn to differentiate clearly between black and white. We cannot hide behind certain grey areas or point fingers at each other for our personal benefits. If some are unable to criticize government’s functioning, they need not stoop down to the levels of abusing the nation to create an atmosphere of imbalance in the country. You can criticize the Government, but not the country, as that would actually mean criticizing your own self. You just need to understand the difference between dissent and treason, if you don’t then stop blaming the Government !!