Just for expressing his opinion on Kashmir saga, the parents and daughter of Bollywood filmmaker Anurag Kashyap started receiving online threats! Is it a sin for any citizen of India, guaranteed of Constitutional right of freedom of speech, if he dares to voice his/her own independent opinion on any subject! Or our limit of freedom of speech ends right at the tolerance level of Bhakts! Cross the “Lakshman Rekha” marked by the Bhakts, get ready to face the music!
Far from trying to contradict the views of the Kashyaps through furnish of sound logic and concrete arguments, the Bhakts or “nationalists” are trying to thwart all opposing views through threats that too directed at vulnerable senior citizens and children just what the parents and daughter of the filmmaker were currently facing!
And far from the abusers getting punished for issuing threats and breaking the law, instead it is Kashyap who has to delete his official Twitter account! Is it a Talibanised society! On the one hand we will shout at the top of voice flaunting India’s democracy and liberal ethos; yet at the ground level freedom of speech would be so grossly violated, the crude elements allowed to escape scotfree and enjoy a field day with the voice of Kashyaps having to backtrack and get dumb!
Are the “nationalists” aware of the basic fact that by posing such a severe assault on free speech, they are the ones who are acting as the greatest enemy of the nation and the Constitution with the image of the country getting badly tarnished in international community!
In a village named Icha Bazar in Tripura, the Muslim residents of poor vintage couldn’t celebrate Id recently or indulge in sacrifice following threats by Hindutva groups! Where has our much flaunted slogan of “Unity in Diversity” gone! Following more and more political dominance of the Hindutva forces, would more and more such trampling upon right to practice one’s own religion get witnessed in future!
Last but not the least. Under-fed, under-nourished, physically beaten up, no respite to children and pregnant ladies as well and compelled to make 1500 bricks per day through gruelling hours — this is not the picture of Pharaoh’s Egypt; but of “elite” and “mighty” India, in a state located almost in hand-shaking distance of New Delhi!
Indeed what a matter of disgrace that even in this 21st century, the much-hyped “modern” India and “developed” Haryana are boasting bonded labour camps with the detained adults and children having gone through back-breaking labour, intolerable physical torture and psychological assault! Heads of all “proud Indians” should hang their heads in shame and disgrace.
It is nice that the 80-odd bonded labourers from Bihar got rescued from that camp in Kurukshetra district recently thanks to relentless fight and initiative by NGOs, but it can be easily deduced that such medieval age slavery and inhuman ordeal is continuing in full flow in many parts of the country thanks to the callous stance of the concerned local administration.
