Let's preserve our hard-earned freedom

Former POTUS Ronald Reagan once said "Freedom is a fragile thing and is never more than one generation away from extinction". The value of freedoms could be gauged only when we lose them. As long as we possess it or have it, we tend to misuse it by at least misinterpreting it. Actor Kangana Ranaut should understand it better as she has already suffered a taste of vengeful politics that eroded her freedom and rights in the past. The world is fast changing. It's changing for the worse. The change is more visible in the polarisation of the populations around hardening stands and ideas.

The last year has seen the greatest erosion of the most basic human freedoms known to man such as: the right to gather with one's family; the right to travel freely around ones country; the right to assemble; the right to protest; the right to attend funerals and weddings. Maintaining a free society requires vigilance, participation and a willingness to question everything. Powerful people endorsing authoritarian policies, in the name of larger public good is not new. Grabs for power are often crouched in language such as "the greater good", with the removal of rights being "necessary" for reasons of safety.

Then there are identities. Several new identities are being thrown up in the political churn. When such new identities clash with the old ones, a settled life gets disturbed. Established norms, convention and belief systems get challenged and there is a clash between the old order and the new. What would be the outcome of 'the new' is not known. If, as individuals, we wish to continue to live as free people, we have a duty both to ourselves and those generations that follow, to be active participants in democracy and ensure that those who have been elected to represent the wishes of the people, are held to account.

The only constant to be monitored is freedom. That should be the only consideration for us. Freedom is a constant struggle, in part because many of us have never lived without freedom and therefore do not appreciate its importance and fragility, for others they trust those in positions of power to make the right decisions on their behalf, while others are simply too busy to devote the time required to understand if the erosion of their freedoms is a grab for power or "necessary" for the greater good. It is not just about one Kangana in this country. Even the reactionary forces that respond to her should know that they too are not rendering any great service to the nation or the people.

Viewing every issue from the political prism of religion or allowing prejudices to dominate in interpreting any development brings no good tidings. Such arguments only muddy rather than clarify the situation. Truth is elusive in a complicated world. Let us not allow either the fringe of the majority or an opposite chunk of the minority to dominate the discourse. Freedom is often taken away a little at a time, with momentary concessions endeavouring to illustrate the good intentions of those in politics. Freedom is hard won and easily lost. Let's not be lost in the rhetorics.