Freedom is never free

Exactly 104 years ago yesterday, the fiery and popular freedom fighter Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak had thundered in a British ruled court in India; “Self-rule is my birthright and I shall have it”. Since Tilak had actually uttered this sentence in Marathi language, his actual word ‘Swaraj’ can be interpreted as ‘Freedom’ also.

 

Today, India is a free country, ruled as per the laws of a Constitutional Democracy; with freedom of thoughts, speech and expression; insofar as the State and Central governments will allow it from time to time. There have been abuses of the State towards the people’s right to have freedom in the past; but even under adverse circumstances, the enduring spirit if freedom has survived and grown stronger and larger.

 

But Freedom is never guaranteed, never permanently assured and never free. While thousands of Indian freedom fighters laid down their lives before 1947 to achieve freedom in our continent, thousands more are sacrificing their lives even today to maintain this freedom that we enjoy.

 

 

Seventy-three years after achieving home-rule (Swarajya), our Nation is still under attack from various forces that want to dominate and crush the freedom that we enjoy. The Islamic jihadists want to spread wanton destruction of humans, land, and property to achieve their crude objective of taking countries and societies back to the barbaric ages. On the second front, Communists / Maoists / Naxalites are fighting the State of India, to foist upon us their broken-down, redundant and globally rejected philosophy of socialism – communism. On the third front, sections of the people of India are being influenced by the Catholic church with their missionaries coming over from foreign shores with their open agenda of ‘harvesting of souls’. India is under attack; and it is the duty as well as responsibility of each citizen to protect our mother-land and keep fighting to preserve our freedom.

 

The feeling of Nationalism is good and it feels inspiring, but it won’t be worth much unless it is grounded in knowledge and factual information. We must show courage and spiritual resolve and always defend this freedom that our heroes have won with their blood and their lives. The greatest risk to our freedom lies in our refusal to fight, and to surrender to our enemies for a few moments of peace. If we continue if appease the forces of evil, if we continue to back-of and accommodate them, eventually we will have to face their final demand; unconditional surrender. Let us not reach that time and moment; where we and our country are weakened spiritually, morally and culturally; and have to surrender unconditionally to the forces that mean to harm us. We have to fight, to shed blood and to sacrifice everything to ensure our freedom, for that is our God gifted, undeniable Right.

 

Let us pledge to die on our feet to protect our freedom than to live on our knees to have some kind of peace with those who wish us harm. There are some things in life worth dying for; and countless heroes of our freedom struggle have proved again and again that; to die for freedom is worth lots more than to live in chains of slavery.

 

You and I must have the courage to say to our enemies that there is a price that they will have to pay if they advance beyond a certain point, and that this price will be a heavy burden on them to carry for a long time.

 

Honor our heroes, say thank you to their families, be pillars of strength to those our heroes have left behind. Our heroes sacrificed their lives so that we can live in peace and breathe in freedom; let us spend a few daily moments of our time in helping each other to be united and strong, and vibrant and powerful.

 

Jai Hind, Vande Mataram!