One nation, different notions of freedom

Could anything be more auspicious than this day — the day when we celebrate a feeling that is so vital to our dignified existence and progress. We celebrate living a dream for which our forefathers lived and died for more than 200 years! So precious the word freedom is. It has a smell and a taste which, I am sure, is of our forefathers' blood and sweat.

And the connotations of the word are no less precious. Different thinkers have expressed the essence of the word 'freedom' which somewhere seem intersecting each other at several points. All those intersection points are relatable to our lives. Every Indian (in fact, every human) should strive to understand the meaning of the concept in most comprehensive way possible.

We also need to retrospect why freedom was worth a century-long struggle? What change its was conceived to bring about — was it some single goal or a multitude of converging and diverging goals? And, to what extent these goals have been realized? Freedom is a continuous process and our march should go on.

'Freedom' in political thoughts

As it is central to the lives of each person and also the functioning of the state, it becomes critically important hold and cherish a crystal-clear view of the subject.

Freedom represents the libertarian view that perceives humans as a free entity who would make choices of their own. This stands contrary to the determinism approach that sees every human action to be predetermined by a set of variables operating in the surrounding. Even the human decisions that are seen to be free are caused as unique outcome of past events. Determinists hold the view that the decisions that humans take are sum total of their belief, desire and temperament. This could be reduced to the argument that even if external constraints are absent, internal constraints keep working from behind. Freedom has to serve the purpose of liberating human mind.

On one hand, we have John Stuart Mill who is considered the champion of individual liberty. He had said: "if all mankind, minus one, were of one opinion, and only one person were of the contrary opinion, mankind would no more be justified in silencing that one person, than he if he had the power, would be justified in silencing mankind."

It is important to note that John Stuart Mill perceived individual liberty as means of development of the individual person in question, and not the emotive outcomes.

At the same time, LT Hobhouse holds the view that there "is no side of a man's life which is unimportant to the society, for whatever he is, does, or thinks may affect his own well-being, which is and ought to be a matter of common concern, and may also directly or indirectly affect the thoughts, actions and character of those with whom he comes into contact."

These two different views, one emphasising individual freedom and the other bringing society into picture, require to be balanced in all human systems. The simple advocacy of individual freedom adds layers of sophistication when relation of individuals with other individuals or institutions is considered. Also, these vary from case to case, depending on the nature of interaction among entities. Indian political thoughts on freedom come in handy at this juncture.

Indian thinkers, in general, added a further layer of sophistication by viewing freedom through the crucial 'spiritual' lens.

Mahatma Gandhi — who is a global freedom icon — contemplated freedom in a beautiful fashion when he traced the origin of freedom in 'self-discipline' and linked it to the outcome of 'Sarvodaya' — of alleviating poverty, which was present at that time in monstrous form. His ideas on freedom are a powerful synthesis of individuality and society.

Gandhi had an ideological lineage of liberal traditions. His guru, Gopal Krishna Gokhale, believed in exercising freedom allowed by the Government — with rules and regulation and a sense of mutual understanding.

One major name that stands out when it comes to freedom in Indian discourse is that of MN Roy who was seen as a 'radical humanist'. Roy believed that "the roots of all the evils of the modern world could be traced to the absence of man's faith in himself'. For Roy, society was created by "man's quest of freedom". Individual human was at the centre of his notion of freedom but his freedom and belief were to shape the progress of society.

Roy found a beautiful correlation between nature's determinism and human faculty. To him, "the determinism of nature has taken the shape of rationality in the case of man."

All the major political thinkers of India — from Gandhi to Tagore, Dayanand Saraswati, Vivekanand, Nehru, Ambedkar — have made significant contribution to the notion of freedom which is still evolving. Isn't it amazing that we can have our own interpretation of freedom too?

Notions behind independence

There is a never-ending debate over who lead India to independence. Many people give Mahatma the credit for setting India free from the cages of British Empire. There are others who believe the valiance of the likes of revolutionaries including Bhagat Singh, Chandra Sekhar Azad, Ram Prasad Bismil, Khudiram Bose etc. that drove Britishers out of the country. Then there are rational ones who recognize the contribution of both kind of groups.

In essence, it was the sentiment of freedom — uniting Indians across religions, castes and regions — that earned us what always belonged to us but was eclipsed by the dark era British colonialism. It was this freedom and unity towards which Mahatma strove tirelessly for three decades. It was freedom and unity towards which revolutionaries like Bhagat Singh and Chandra Sekhar Azad had directed their actions. But in the end, it was the coming together of the Hindus, the Muslims, the Sikhs and all other religions and castes that helped independence materialize for India.

So essentially, it was the mass mobilization that set the tone for Independence. The idea of a new self-rule that had emerged was propagated among the masses, inviting them to become a part of freedom movement. It must have been a humongous task to bring varied sections together especially as education level was abysmally low in India. The stratified masses who had been facing varied sorts of injustices under the colonial rule began relating their aspirations to the new self-rule — quite often the interests and aspirations of one faction conflicted that of others. Nevertheless, these factions were glued together with untiring efforts of freedom fighters. The common quest was freedom from oppression but the answers were different for each class.

The nature and scale of oppression by state varied across vertical and horizontal spectrum. There were classes that suffered more oppression and there were classes that suffered less oppression. Peasants were one among the worst affected classes. In the freedom movement they saw end to their agonies.

The difference in notions of freedom was reflected when Mahatma Gandhi-led Non-Cooperation and Khilafat movement was set in motion. The idea of Swaraj or self-rule had a varied interpretation among different sections of society. This could be explained as peasants, traders, women, plantation workers — all had their own set of agonies and the panacea was just one — the promise of Swaraj.

For the peasants in north India, Swaraj was perceived as something that would put an end to the exploitative Begar system and herald an era where they would no more have to pay exorbitantly high rates to talukdars. The new rule, they conceived, would provide them protection from eviction and ensure land rights for them.

For the plantation workers in different parts of the country, Swaraj translated into a regime where there would be no restriction on them for heading back to their homes from the plantation sites. Gandhi's call for Swaraj was a green signal for them to defy restrictive laws to leave for their homes.

Women, apart from their invaluable contribution to the general cause of freedom, had been fighting against the widespread domestic violence, negative impact of liquor, high taxation etc. The urban people had different perception about Swaraj than the rural; the essence was same though — freedom. Then then there were tribals who unequivocally contributed their part to the united pool in light of their own view of freedom.

It is no doubt that many of these aspirations are fulfilled or are in the process of being fulfilled. But, for the matter of fact, most of these contributions and aspirations have been left undocumented in course of history — let alone the fulfilment. India's march to independence had two important aspects — glory on the one hand, and the said aspirations on the other. While the glory prevailed when the history was written (and is remembered), the aspirations lost connect from the freedom movement.

Freedom in the present age

When it is talked of national freedom, it is a matter of retrospection up to what extent have we been able to uphold the underlying principles of diversity and unity. It is very important to understand that these are the principles that had paved the way for our independence. And these are the principles that will determine the quality of freedom that our nation continues to enjoy. As we continue to grow older as an independent nation, we must hold our unity and diversity intact. Together we have tided across the unsurmountable odds in the past. And only by being together we can get across the towering challenges we are facing at the present moment — unity and diversity are the spirit of our nation.

At the 75th year of independence, it is time not just to admit and cherish this unity, but to also speak out loud — in words and actions — so as to offset any unfavorable attempts to discredit the same. To help us through our way, we have our fabric of society that is intricately woven as such by time to nullify the attempts of negative elements.

On one hand, we have centuries-old of unfreedom still existing in our country in the form of unalleviated poverty, widespread illiteracy, suppression in the name of gender, religion, caste, region and many more. The list is not static. New additions are made each day.

On the other hand, we have been witnessing university students raising their voices for freedom. The sight of farmers standing firm at the borders of national capital is not a thing of past yet. We have seen people unite in solidarity when some of our daughters, sisters, mothers are assaulted and raped. We have also seen most marginalized sections stand upfront against legislations that they perceive is contrary to their interests. As long as the fight is on, freedom will keep flourishing.

Our forefathers had long ago paved the way for freedom. They have given us the tools and we need to progress with the help of that. Apart from the traditional forms of unfreedom, we have newer forms to tackle as well.

Spiritual freedom lays the foundation of all other forms of freedom. We live in the age of choices today where we have a vast multitude of options in each walk of life. But does that necessarily mean we have enough freedom to choose? Constraints to freedom are not just external. Fear and doubt may be instilled within us through the use of propaganda and advertisements. If our behavior towards the society is governed by the deliberate actions of some other identity, how can we claim to be free?

Conclusion

Freedom is the basic human instinct which defines the identity of people and allows them to progress on the path of development. Freedom can have different meaning for different individuals and groups. Also, the freedom of one individual interacts with other individuals or institutions. This social network of different freedom rights necessitates the need for restrictions and some degree of authoritative control.

India has been thriving under this limited freedom guaranteed to its people by the Constitution — fighting for it wherever there is a breach of it and recognizing and advocating newer forms of this ever-evolving precious tenet. It is also true that a large section of Indian society can still not be said to adequately free; there exists a gradient along parameters like economic and social standing of groups and individuals. Freedom is not a single-stroke phenomenon. It is a continuously evolving principle.

People need to be free to desire, think, decide and act against internal and external constraints. Only free individuals could develop to their full potential — ensuring a free and prosperous nation and society.

Views expressed are personal