Hamna Tharayil
Just before the Independence day, Sri Prashant Bhushan was held by the supreme court for finding him guilty, quoting his two tweets a “serious contempt of court”. India, world’s largest democratic country with a fully furnished constitution clearly states that all citizens have the right to freedom of speech and expression(article 19).
Prashant Bhushan’s tweets are facts. Not a hate speech nor a terrorizing comment. But the audacity of the court to scan a tweet and not the actual issues happening around cannot be appreciated. This is the very same court that kept silence when the whole country was protesting against CAA. This is the very same court that failed to take an action against all the people who showed the nerve to spread hate through their speech . Most of them being the BJP leaders, the ruling party. Its very clear that the Delhi riots began with Kapil Mishra’s hate speech. Yet, he is free. The same freedom of speech is not applicable when others does. How absurd?
We might have gained independence from the British, but not from the group of fascist mongers. Lets not ignore it anymore. Our government directly and indirectly is aiming for a single goal. A ‘Hindu Rashtra’. A saffronised community. The very famous malayalam movie, Kalapani quotes “There will be a day when every Indian will realise India has only one religion, and that’s patriotism.” But when? Here a person’s patriotism is measured by taking his religion into consideration.
With a collapsed economy, unemployment at its peak, increased violence against the minority communities, the whole of Kashmir under darkness; cut from communication, Dalits still struggling for existence, educational institutions vandalized by the police, students and teachers arrested for raising their opinions,a broken judiciary, and a government and prime minister that claims we have reached our heights, what have we gained over these years? Again, lets not ignore it, like always. Its a beginning. A beginning of a lifelong suppression. Our ignorance is their strength. Our silence is their power. We do not want our citizens wandering to other lands as migrants. We do not want our people to get killed and lynched for the food they eat and the religion they follow. When the world is moving forward, lets not go back centuries. And yet, if you feel like this does not concern you, ask yourself, “how much Independent are you”? -India 2020.
