‘On the Day of Independence, Am I Free?’

I have the freedom to move freely throughout the territory of India. But why do I not feel safe enough even while moving around Delhi after dark?

(Photo: Erum Gour/The Quint)

I am a modern independent woman – I have a job, money in the bank, a roof over my head, food in the fridge and some clothes and shoes. I also have a long list of educational qualifications, which were needed to become ‘independent’. I was born in Independent India and the Indian Constitution grants me the ‘Right to Freedom’. So, am I free?

In 2012, I had to submit a paper for my MPhil – it was on the Gujarat riots, and my father was worried for my safety. Bit of an overreaction. Having said that, we have the freedom of speech and expression and yet, books by Indian authors are banned, artists receive death threats for choosing to do certain kind of cinema; movie halls are vandalised; standup comedians are harassed online – all because self-appointed vanguards of our culture and history are offended. Forget famous people, you and I could put up a Facebook post, expressing our opinion on something. The next thing we know, our inboxes are filled with hate. If you are a woman, they are filled with rape threats.

My country gives me the freedom to assemble peacefully without arms and yet, I read stories of police brutality against unarmed students who are just marching from point A to B, holding placards and shouting slogans to express solidarity with a common issue.

“The State can impose reasonable restrictions in the interest of public order and the sovereignty and integrity of India,”says the Constitution. But are water cannons and tear gas the only way to go about this?

I have the freedom to move freely throughout the territory of India. But why do I not feel safe enough even while moving around Delhi after dark?

Now I live in London, but believe me, it’s not all hunky dory. If we have branded Delhi as the ‘rape capital’, then London can be called the stabbing capital.

But please let’s not derive succour from the fact that our ex-coloniser is unsafe so it’s okay for us to be too. I should not have to justify India’s safety to the whites or even to myself.

“Shyama, you have the freedom to practise any profession or to carry on any occupation, trade or business,” says the Constitution. That’s great. Thankfully, I have fairly normal parents who understood that mathematics wasn’t my forte, that dissection made me queasy and they wouldn’t be adding another engineer or doctor to the family.

I spent years studying literature and now I work with a printing company as a sales professional. But in my country, one student commits suicide every hour. Maybe that student wanted to become a chef instead of one among the numerous engineers we manufacture annually. This goes out to the parents – why so worried about a conventional career path for your kids? Who cares about Sharma ji’s opinion about your child’s future? If your son wants to become a dancer and your daughter wants to become a wrestler, then let them.

I won’t even go into the argument around the freedom to choose whom to love. We should be sick and tired of tendering the dated logic that India is the land of the Kamasutra and same-sex relations are part of our sexual makeup. The Supreme Court should just do the right thing and make history already.

It’s simple – freedom means the ability to choose, to feel safe with our choices, to not live in fear. It does not mean disrespecting our culture or certain beliefs that we all come with just to prove a point.

For example, I am pro-marriage but if someone I know is an advocate for live-in relationships, that’s their prerogative, just as ‘when’ and ‘whom’ to get married to is mine.

At the end of the day, freedom is being accountable for our actions, but also the feeling that the State and its lawmakers are there for our protection. Our country needs to work more rigorously towards making us feel that comfortable.