I heard the song “Azadi” for the first time when Kanhaiya Kumar, then JNUSU President chanted it in 2016. The spirits in the words are likely to reveal the truth of today.
I have nothing to do with Kanhaiya’s Sir intention of chanting the song. But it seems like the freedom of speech & expression is been violated for a large number of people. This includes journalists, student activists, protestors who are no more free to express their view if it’s against the government. It’s just not with a single party but every party seems to be practising the same.
Few really good examples were seen in the month of December – February after the introduction of Citizenship Amendment Bill which later was turned into an Act. Mass protests were seen throughout the country against the Act. Few famous locations came to be known for these protests like Shaheen Bagh, India Gate, Jantar Mantar and many more.
During this whole scenario, many controversies and conflicts came into being. The JNU and Jamia violence, Protestors being suppressed. Many famous personalities were detained for expressing their views and criticising the act. A few days ago, JNU and Jamia students were charged with UAPA for organising anti-CAA protests. Questions were raised against the Delhi Police but they remained unanswered.
The spirit of democracy breaks when the media is not able to criticise the government, the citizens are not able to express their views and fundamental rights have been revoked. Then again many people like Kunal Kamra are been punished for raising their voice for the good. Lack of interaction with the media simply reduces the accountancy of the government to the people. Even international bodies like UN, UNHRC and the international media kept on criticising the Act. Again and again one question is being left unanswered, that what about Article 14, Article 15, Article 21(b)?
What is the reason for charging students like Umar Khalid, Safoora Zargar? Why were FIRs launched against Ramchandra Guha and Aparna Sen for letter to PM Modi on mob lynching? Reason behind IPS Sadaf Jafar arrest and violation of privacy.
Lastly, a few days back in Mumbai when Arnab Goswami, Editor-in-Chief, R.Bharat was attacked, that was an attack on the liberty of the press. I proved the point here that all governments follow the same practises. Already in the press freedom index, India slipped to 142nd position which clearly indicates that yeah, press here is very much independent (sarcasm). The current happenings here leave a very unadorned question: Is liberty oxymoron in India?