Freedom

A trip to Washington DC and Philadelphia brought home to me how important Freedom and Liberty are to a person. I was born in independent India, and I have seen and read a lot about the freedom struggle and sacrifices made by numerous people from all walks of life, for achieving freedom and independence from a foreign rule. The struggle, loss of life, immense sacrifice and total devotion and dedication of all those people made it possible for us to be free of the British Raj. The picture on the left is of "Freedom" and it is placed on top of the rotunda of The Capitol-in Washington DC.

The American Independence which they declared in 1776, about 232 years ago, is still appreciated, celebrated and revered as if it happened only yesterday. It is not taken for granted. Almost all the speeches of past Presidents and Leaders speak of freedom and equality. The "I have a dream "speech of Martin Luther King Junior is still fresh in the memory of people, maybe because the dream has just been fulfilled with Mr. Obama becoming the first African American President of USA. Washington D C has walls and panels where whole speeches of Jefferson and Lincoln, speaking of freedom and slavery have been etched in stone.

However freedom is not the freedom of a nation alone. It is to do with human beings too. Freedom means an absence of interference with the sovereignty of an individual by use of coercion or aggression. The people worst hit by the violation of personal freedom were natives of Africa who were sold as slaves, the Jews who were persecuted by Hitler and his Nazi regime in Germany, and the Scheduled Caste people of India.

Seeing the history of the African people and how they were hounded out and brought to western countries to serve as slaves, is a very sad story. One can only imagine those times - the barrier of language, the pain of being uprooted from one's land and people, and not knowing if one would ever go back and meet those loved ones, is really painful. I have seen a movie "Amistaad", which very forcefully brought out the struggle of one such person, who is brought to USA and his struggle to achieve freedom. A movie, which was a delight to watch, and strongly recommended by me.

There were some free and reasonable thinkers in USA, who in the 19th century made sure that slavery was abolished and due dignity was returned to these people, although centuries had elapsed since the first slaves were brought in .

What happened to the Jews in Germany in the mid 20th century, was despicable. The Holocaust Museum in Washington DC was a real eye opener. I have always tried to close my eyes and ears to tales of this horror and go about my life, as if it didn't matter. However, a visit to this museum with the thought that I may have to endure this horror and pain only for a few hours, opened my eyes once and for all. Can we really turn our thoughts away and be oblivious to the pain, misery and sorrow inflicted by some philosophy on a whole lot of people? People who had to suffer absolute torture only because they were born Jews.

Looking at the pictures of little children with hope in their eyes, full of happiness and joy, going trustingly into horrifying gas chambers, made me feel abject sorrow and despair. What was their fault? The visit to the museum filled my heart with a lot of remorse and sorrow. How some human beings can do so much damage, cause so much pain, distress and misery to some other human beings? Were they really human? World War II ended this sad, horrible and shameful period of that century, and left a lesson for all of us to learn.

These thoughts took me further to my own land, my India, where we are independent. Are we really? What about those people who belong to the Scheduled Caste? Does a thought need to be given to them? Who are they, why did they become what they are, why are they not treated as equals? There are divergent thoughts about who they are, but the truth is that they are not treated like human beings. They face a lot of discrimination, a lot of hostility, and are stigmatised for having been born in a particular caste. Caste system is unique to India and the Hindus in particular. People are categorised into four varnas which are Brahmin, Kshatriya, Vaishya and Shudra. The people who belong to the Scheduled Caste are out of the caste system and are called ati -shudra, also referred to as untouchable. They were considered so polluted that no one would touch them. If the shadow of an untouchable fell on a higher caste person then that person would have to take a bath to remove the defiling. They were not allowed to read or even hear the Scriptures. They could not enter temples, or even draw water from the well or pond in the village. They had separate wells and could not touch water from the ponds in the village. They had to live outside the periphery of the village. They were treated worse than animals. Can anyone imagine the plight of such people? How did they live -devoid of dignity? How they were treated and how they managed to survive through these travails is another very long story.

Suffice to remember the story of Eklavya, who belonging to the ati shudra caste was not allowed to learn, but being interested in archery , erected the statue of Dronacharya, the teacher of the Pandavas, and practiced archery on his own in front of the statue. When Dronacharya came to know of this, he felt that Eklavya could be a threat to the position of Arjun, who was considered the best in archery, so Dronacharya asked Eklavya for guru dakshina or fees for his being treated as a guru. In guru dakshina he asked Eklavya to cut off his thumb.

It was only after the arrival of the British in India that people of these castes got an opportunity to get the benefit of education. Due to the prevalent untouchablity practised, these students had to sit outside the class. Inspite of discrimination a lot of children through sheer determination could get educated and become living examples for others to follow. What I am talking about did not happen in the too distant past. These practices continue to this day in a number of villages. Untouchability was abolished in the Constitution of India. However the concept of the Varna vyavastha has its roots in the Hindu religion. Can the concept be eradicated by legislation? Can the mind set of people who blindly follow dogmas, rituals, and superstitions be changed? Until and unless every person understands what being a human being means and appreciates that every other human being has equal right to live and breathe fresh air, partake of the same water, and be treated with dignity and respect, exploitation and persecution in the name of religion will continue.

A war has to be fought on the humanitarian level to ensure that there is no discrimination based on caste, no exploitation because of a person having been born in a particular caste. It is a known fact that every body is born equal and free but it is society which binds us in chains and also creates inequality. Injustice and exploitation needs to be condemned and done away with.

Until and unless every person is treated with dignity, respect and equality, there can be no freedom in the true sense.