Freedom where it counts
CHENNAI: As much as a democracy is the sum of all its people, so is freedom the aggregation of all the rights they enjoy. Yet, 75 years into independence, our country doesn’t seem to fare well on so many parameters considered paramount for freedom. As citizens express what they seek in this country of liberty, here’s the reality they have to make do with.
Swetha V Pillai, content creator
Freedom from patriarchy
Freedom is the ability to break the patriarchy. To be able to stand by myself as a woman with an identity of my own is very difficult in our country. Sure, we have come a long way from where we were but there is much more to be changed. For example, people now may be more accepting of those who do not wish to adopt their husband’s name after marriage but the default is to have your father’s name instead. There is no other alternative. I will know that I am a free human in this country when I can independently make decisions for who I am as a woman.
Irfan Ahmed* (Name changed on request), product manager
Freedom to live without the fear of being killed
Just a few days ago, at less than 1 km from the Parliament of India, members and a few ex-members of the ruling party organised and participated in a rally where they explicitly called for the genocide of Muslims. While the Delhi police have registered complaints against ‘unknown’ persons, the faces of the participants are observable in the recorded videos of the hate rally. However, the police detained people who went to protest against this hate rally. This shouldn’t become the norm. I don’t want wrongdoers to go unpunished. I don’t want them to be accepted or even worse, celebrated. I would like to see them arrested, tried in court, and punished. This will give me and the 20 crore Indians the freedom to be alive, and be alive without the fear of being lynched on the street.
Evidence Kathir, human rights activist
Civil rights
When we talk about liberty, dignity and the right to equality are tied to this. The Constitution lays it down in many ways freedom of speech, right to livelihood, and protection against bonded labour, untouchability and discrimination. Am I ensured my rights? Be it access to justice or education, shelter, security, gender equality or job opportunities. Ours continues to be a country without these civil rights.
Vignesh Chandrashekaran, entrepreneur
Freedom of press
From a common man’s point of view, the press does enjoy a lot of freedom in India. Of course, there’s a lot of (political and corporate) influence but there’s freedom nevertheless. But, is the press making good use of this freedom? You see people put up videos on YouTube with a tantalising title and having you watch something. These days, news is going the same way too in a lot of organisations. Maybe this is a reason the government steps in with restrictions?
Revanthi Manjubalu, TNPSC aspirant
Feminism and gender equality
The condition of women in a nation is the real measure of its progress.’ Recently, social media users were enraged when the video of a girl from Lucknow slapping a cab driver surfaced, and trended the hashtag #arrestLucknowgirl and went on to question the tenets of feminism, simply because the person who was observed as the wrongdoer was a woman. However, the incident had nothing to do with feminism or the existence of feminists. It was shocking how a part of the country came together to dis feminism and equality in line with this incident. It was a showcase of our feeble state of understanding of feminism. Equality is a very important indicator of freedom and we are far behind in it. Womanhood can feel euphoric only when independence from patriarchy is achieved.
Asha Jhabakh, homemaker
Voting rights
India is entering its 75th year of independence and we have the choice to choose our government. That to me is a very important indicator of freedom and independence. However, where we as citizens stand in exercising this right is questionable. There are people who feel that their votes don’t matter and are on the fence when they have to cast a ballot. Going forward, voting should turn into a collective movement wherein the entire country comes out in full strength to vote. This not only indicates freedom but also becomes an important point to ensure that other indicators are in line.
D Ganesan, educator and sparrow conservationist
Accessible, quality education
Education is the most important factor. And this doesn’t just mean the education we get from schools and colleges; it’s also things we learn from practical work and experience. While there are countries that do better than us in this aspect, we are not bad in this regard. That too South India fares better than the North, I would say.
Subramaniam, retired stockbroker
Freedom of press
Be it newspapers or social media, people are able to voice their opinions boldly. While a lot of organisations do have biased news, there is room for independent opinion. I’d give it 8 out of 10, taking away two points for the repercussions people face from time to time. But, compared to other countries, I think we do better.
Mahesh Ramani, marketing communications and L&D specialist
Our Forgotten Indigenous Tribes
All our politicians have given a raw deal to our tribals—the original settlers of our lands. Be it the Irulas in Tamil Nadu, the Gonds in Central India, or tribes of the North Eastern states; they are yet to receive their basic rights. A recent article highlighted how Irulas live without basic amenities less than 80 km from Chennai. Even something as basic as clean drinking water or electricity is a challenge. Perhaps, true freedom can only be achieved once they are integrated within our society as regular people, and not some exotic specimen.
Shalin Maria Lawrence, author and activist
Freedom to live without fear
Where the mind is without fear, and the head is held high.” I was 13 when I was introduced to these lines of Tagore; since then, for me, freedom was ‘fearlessness and dignity’. But, as a Dalit woman, I have to fear for my life and dignity from the time I was conceived. I cannot criticise the systematic oppression happening to me; I cannot dissent. As a religious minority, I fear; as a free thinking individual, I fear; as a writer, I fear; as a citizen, I fear the state. So, I think the country doesn’t fare well in this regard.
Hari Ramanathan, audio visual professional
Wholesome education
The education system in our country often fails to recognise and encourage the curiosity of a child. I saw an interview where the speakers were talking about how children enter the school system with the most profound, uninhibited questions about nature, politics etc., but tend to lose this by the end of their education. I think freedom means moulding a better education system that allows the young minds of our country to express and explore their curiosity without restrictions.
Deepan, advocate
Freedom of expression
Every living being has the right to share this world. But, we have to look at who is oppressing this right. Be it constantly suppressing free speech or what we eat or even how we talk. I love to speak in the Chennai slang. But it’s looked at as something inferior. But freedom is being able to express — without hesitation or hurting anyone (in body or mind) what we want to. This is how I see it. And we are far from reaching that freedom.
Yuvan Aves, naturalist
Proactive & informed public
Proactive engagement with matters of community and environment, being concerned and informed are essential elements/facilitators of a free society and. Passivity, lack of social/environmental concern, being stuck in privileged comfort zones are the signs of the absence of freedom. India doesn’t do too well in this aspect. But, recent active youth participation in various spheres of political decision-making augurs well.
Jaya, General Manager at Sahodaran NGO
LGBTQIA+ rights
When people of the LGBTQIA+ community get all their rights is when we will have attained true freedom. Even though there are laws and court rulings in favour of the community, till today, there is no understanding or acceptance for them among the public. This has to change. If Central and State governments were to follow the recommendations given recently by Justice Anand, I think there’s room for people to move towards acceptance.
Freedom to live without fear
The US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has named India under “Countries of Particular Concern”, tagging it as one of the worst violators of religious freedoms in 2020.
Voting rights
International organisation Freedom House, in its annual assessment report, gave India a score of 34/40 for its Political Rights. While it did well in terms of people being and to form a party and strength of the opposition, it didn’t fare well in terms of representation & safeguard against corruption.
Freedom of press
The 2021 World Press Freedom Index by Reporters Without Borders ranks India at 142 out of 180 countries. India’s previous rank, in 2016, had been 133.
Freedom from patriarchy
World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report 2021 puts India in the 140th rank among 156 countries. It had ranked 112 among 153 counties in 2020.
Wholesome education
Worldwide Educating for the Future Index 2019 put India in the 35th place. The index ranks countries based on their abilities to equip students with skill-based education.
Accessible, quality education
The Wave-1 of the ASER (2020) survey by the non-profit Pratham, reported that a mere 18.3 per cent children in rural areas enrolled in government schools have accessed video recordings, and 8.1 per cent have attended live online classes. This increases slightly for children in private schools (28.7 and 17.7 per cent)
Civil rights
The international organisation Freedom House, in its annual assessment report, gave India a score of 37 out of 60 for its Civil Liberties.
Proactive and informed public
Freedom House gives the country 2 out of 4 points for freedom of assembly and freedom of work for NGOs.
Freedom of expression
In the past 1.5 years, people have been arrested or have had cases registered against them for social media posts on environment, politicians, mob lynching, RSS violence, pandemic and more.
LGBTQIA+ rights
A study by independent researchers Lyric & Asher Fergusson that ranks the safest, least and most homophobic countries in the world places India as the 82nd best travel destination worldwide for LGBTQIA+ travellers.