YOUR ONLY DUTY IS TO PROTECT YOUR RIGHTS

2010 January 1, the first day of a fresh decade, if we go by English calendar. In 1990, I was ignorant about the universe. In 2 and triple zero, I hardly know anything to welcome a decade with a novel plan, Veeshma’s pratigyna (promise) and commitment, fragile only after the accomplishment. But this time, I am aware about happenings of this world. I have many words to promise, many things to aspire and many novelties to achieve.

There are many things, ahead to start with but those are much personal to share with. Let’s talk about something common. I have not achieved the wisdom of Vivekananda or Ramkrishna to think and talk about the universe in this age but let’s confine ourselves to India that is Bharat only (I will not say like the statutes of this country, excluding J& K because it don’t see any logic to exclude it when this part of the territory, is with us for more than 6 decades).  

It is superb to initiate aman ki asha (by TOI and Pakistan’s Jang Group). But it is heart rendering to see India, among the world's 25 most populous countries, which have the most restrictions on religion and India is next only to Iraq when it comes to social hostility and religious discrimination perpetrated by individuals and groups, according to the Pew Forum's study. How false these studies may be, but there may be some truth in it. We may dispute about the rankings but we are not out of the blame list.

We are not what we think of ourselves but we are what, others very often flirt with us. I agree India’s free and pluralistic society has always been seen differently by different person and badly by jealous one and I am ready to defend it. But our standard which is before us: the Constitution proves us far from it and I can’t say now how near we are...

A country yet to be constituted. Yah! I mean to reconstitute and not necessarily differently…. Not in the way the fundamentalist want but in the line of the Constitution, which our forefather has given us. I have not elected them to the Constituent assembly, its true and no doubt about it but still I aspire for that India, which those visionary had envisioned.

Yes the time has come to constitute that India where JUSTICE, LIBERTY, EQUALITY and FRATERNITY will be ensured. The country which will not discriminate. The country which will not divide. The country which will protect and guarantee security from external aggression and internal disturbances.

Let’s aspire for a country, in the first day of this decade, where even Varun Gandhi will not be punished for speaking non-sense. The country where it will hardly matter if I say something and that is politically erroneous. I believe in Tilak’s words ‘liberty of speech give birth to a nation and nourish it’. The country where Bal Thackeray will not advice “Confine yourself to cricket”….Liberty of speech, as Gandhiji will tell you, is unassailed even when the speech hurts.

Let my country people not be ruled in an authoritarian and despotic manner. Let all have the right to say what we feel. Why a political leader be suspended to have a difference of opinion on the past records of the history? We must not forget the “democratic” word, which we had given to ourselves is not merely a political democracy but something above than that i.e. a democratic way of life and here Raj Thackeray has the same right as I have.

Let the freedoms of all kind starting from Article 14 to 21, 22 and so on; every freedoms be ensured. Let the citizen of this country promise to ensure this. Yes! We believe in duty not right but we have to remember the wordings of Lord Krishna (the authority), in Mahabharata: YOUR ONLY DUTY IS TO PROTECT YOUR RIGHTS.