The Arunachal Times 15/08/13 Itanagar Freedom is meaningless when no one is Aazad By Gopal Rai. When I was passing out from Rajiv Gandhi University (RGU), I asked a Deori friend of mine coming from Assam to study in RGU how did he feel staying two years in Arunachal Pradesh? Happily he replied, “I really enjoyed being here. I like Arunachalee contrary to what was told to me by my relatives when I told them I took admission in Rajiv Gandhi University, Arunachal Pradesh. People here are simple and straight forward sans cunn-ingness and deceit-fulness. I enjoyed eve-ry freedom here and loved being here.” Time changed! Today, somewhere inside our hearts, many of us find we cannot enjoy the real freedom. Many feel, the state is not as safe as it used to be, though many may claim. Inside our hearts we, somehow, believe and accept that the place is becoming insecure for us irrespective of caste, community or region. Recently, while buying chana-matar-badam from a chanawala at Nahralagun roadside, I asked him, “Bhaiyya kitna kama liya,” he looked upset and replied, “Kahan sir, abhi abhi ek ladka aaya thaa, haath mein beer bottle thaa aur pura nasha mein thaa, usne mera jeb check kiya aur sab kamaya hua paisa le gaya aur saath mein ek bada sa chana ka packet bhi le gaya”. Surprised by his answer I asked why he didn’t protest. He was afraid of protesting. The man was scared of being beaten up by that drunken guy. How free he feels, only he knows! Journalism in Arunachal Pradesh is clear example of how freedom is curved, pressed and twisted by few people for their self interest. Journalists work hard risking their lives in mirroring the reality. But everywhere freedom of press is chained. Hard wor-king media persons are threatened and humiliated at every drop of a hat. Not only this, they are warned and intimidated and threatened of being killed or tortured. Do they really enjoy the freedom of press and freedom of expre-ssion? Answer is crystal clear. Concerned parents are always worried about their children’s well being. If they are late by any means particularly at night, many horrible imaginations start coming to their minds. Their children being in trouble, beaten or killed are few scariest imagi-nations that haunt these parents. Their minds are not free. If in an emergency one has to go to any place during night time, one has to think time and again before stepping out from home. No one feels secured or safe to move out during such an emergency. Where is one’s freedom? Law abiding citiz-en don’t feel free to drive along the main highway. They are afraid of being hit or smashed by law bre-akers of traffic rules. Sometimes their minds are preoccu-pied of being killed or being fined if someth-ing goes wrong. Are they really free? You know the answer better. Only few days back I read a joke about a school going child saying to his mother, “School sey darr nahi lagta hai Maa, Mid Day Meal sey lagta hai”. Joke apart, somewhere between the lines one realises how scared school going children and their parents are regarding their lives. Parents are not free from fear of losing their children. Freedom is confused here. Rapes and murders were unheard of in the land of rising sun till few years back. Time has changed. Rape, murder and other criminal activities make headlines in most of the state’s local dailies. Womenfolk cannot move freely at night hour which makes mockery of Gandhiji’s vision, “The day a woman can walk freely at midnight on the roads, that day we can say that India achieved independence”. They are not free from the clutches of greedy and lecherous eyes. Does freedom hold any meaning for these women? In many parts shopkeepers cannot keep their shops open till late night. They start shutting their shutters as soon as the sun hides beyond the western horizon. How free and secured they feel is still a mystery. And finally, where is the actual freedom when a rickshaw puller has to pull another fellow being for earning livelihood even after India achieved freedom many years back? Freedom is meaningless for him. However, having said all these, all is not dark and depressing. There are freedoms that we enjoy everyday. We must be optimistic. Let everyone enjoys the things they love doing it without obstructing another person’s freedom. Let each of us feel secured, safe and free. Let there be an environment where each of us can enjoy the happiness of being free and pleasure of freedom or else what is this freedom if no one is aazad in reality.
Posted on: Thu, 15 Aug 2013 05:42:32 +0000
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