Spirit of freedom

As India celebrates its 71st Independence Day, we reflect on the freedoms we cherish, the freedoms we need to protect, and the freedoms we still need to fight for.

Sophie Choudry

Sophie Choudry, actress, singer and former VJ
Politically, Independence means self-rule and for India it signifies freedom from oppression. However, it also means freedom of thought, expression and the freedom to make one’s own life choices. We are blessed to live in a country as beautiful and diverse as India. However, more and more it seems that differences are not being celebrated. Women, minorities, LGBT community do not feel safe to live life as they choose. As a woman, for me more than anything, women must be made to feel safe and equal if we are to be truly independent. As Nelson Mandela had said, “To be free is not merely to cast off one’s chains but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.”

Nida Mahmood

Nida Mahmood, fashion designer
Freedom is a huge word, it is not a simple word. It depends on how we use it. Freedom means freedom from anger, for example there is so much road-rage in Delhi. I think freedom means to give way to kindness and compassion instead of being angry at people. Freedom could mean freedom from all the filth we see around us. These things, I feel are important. India has been free for all these years but are we really free? We are not using the freedom we have. We are still fighting amongst ourselves, we are still fighting over religion. It is sad to see that we still being told what to eat and what not to eat, what to wear and what not to wear. This is not real freedom. We need to break free from the shackles that we have created for ourselves to be truly free.

Anand Nilkanthan

Anand Nilkanthan, author
India is yet to achieve a lot of things like — dignity of labour, freedom of thought and scientific temper. We talk about these things but we lack them in the true sense. We have the largest number of bonded labour in our country, which is a modern form of slavery. For them independence means nothing. Recently people died in hospitals due to lack of oxygen; for them there is no freedom to even breathe. The ground reality for so many people has not changed. It is only the upper and upper middle class that has made it big in the past 70 years. So many people don’t have proper housing conditions. The only freedom we have is of diversity and judiciary. But now we don’t know if that will remain. Media houses too are acting like mouthpieces of left, right and centre. Ours is a hard-earned freedom that we are taking for granted.

Alankrita Shrivastava

Alankrita Shrivastava, filmmaker
Seventy years have passed since we gained independence and yet we do not enjoy freedom of thought and expression. Also, after the Gorakhpur tragedy, I think as a country, we could have done much better in the health care sector. I think, it’s a great time to introspect as a nation because I think as citizens we are not actively participating in creating the India that we want.   

Shama Sikander, actress
Freedom to me means to be me and be allowed to be who I am and live the way I want. But it has become very difficult to be yourself in present times. We have a history of people living together in harmony but politics has taken a toll on that peace. I think as people, we need to come together to take an oath to be compassionate towards each other. We should understand that if people are different from us, there is nothing wrong or unacceptable about it. They are just different. I wish we achieve these goals in coming future.