What is Freedom? 

Freedom is to use one’s free will according to one’s rationality, wisdom, and religious and moral teachings. None of these could be excluded from the definition of one’s freedom, though more could be added to the list.

Question: Why should one have to take care of the above mentioned things? How could one be free if one has to limit one’s self within the boundaries of wisdom, logic, social norms, morality and religion?

Answer: Such things are not obstacles to one’s freedom, because they are the principal requirements of a human being. Wisdom demands to save one’s self from fire. If one does not do so, one would be called insane. Logic says, one plus one equals two. If one does not accept this fact, one’s faculty of reasoning will be questioned. Social norms and personal feeling of privacy demand one to cover one’s body. If one doesn’t do so, one will be labelled as psychotic.

Every individual has a conscience that guides him towards good moral values, regardless of his religion, nationality, race or origin. That is why moral values do not know geographical boundaries. Truth, honesty, loyalty, respect, love, honour, cooperation, mutual assistance, and other such values are universally practised and appreciated. To act according to these teachings of conscience is ‘moral’. If a person ignores the demands of morality, he will be regarded a wayward fellow.

All of this suggests that freedom also has some limits. If a person wants to go beyond these limits in the name of liberty, certainly such a person does not deserve to be called a human being, because these limits are set by humanity itself.

A woman clad in rags displaying a latest model of a certain product is considered ultra modern, and has ‘freedom’. Young VJs getting mad to the beat of metal music, blind copycats of the West, wearing jeans and drinking coffee deceive themselves by thinking they enjoy liberty. The more one is wayward and rebellious, the more he or she is idealised as a hero. What do we think of liberty, freedom and modernity?

It seems that to follow the ideals of the West is considered modernity. This is ironical. The West chants the importance of individuality and uniqueness and yet it is the West which is trying to make the whole world to go for materialistic goals. It is wrapping the entire humanity in one blanket and the alarming thing is this western blanket of equality and homogeneity is made up of waywardness and unruliness.

The definition of freedom according to the West is to give in to lust. If one does so, she is free. If there is some impediment in achieving this desire, one should resist against it. The important thing to note is that the West thinks lust is the yardstick against which one can measure freedom and liberty. This very ideology promotes an assertive attitude in society where might is right. Succumbing to this ideology is like trying to quench one’s thirst with sea water. It only increases the thirst.

The western media is attacking our foundation. It is working uproot our deep-seated values. It is changing the focus of our youth by using its attractive, enchanting allures that our un-guided youth finds impossible to resist. Our resistance lies in the identity of our self, our purpose of being created and our ultimate end. If our teachings do not offer satisfactory freedom for women, then perhaps we have a right to go against it; but starting a blame game without consulting relevant authorities is somewhat unfair. It is not only insane but dangerous.

Today everyone seems to take notice of a victim of vani or karo-kari or other women exploited by tribal practices, but none of the so-called feminists or human rights organizations seems to take care of women who are used as marketing tools in certain industries. Why does not anyone raise a question against using women in things that fall into man’s domain? One possible justification is because these activities are done by women as their free will, they are not compelled by anyone to do so. This justification is as horrid and insane as this act itself. Compulsion does not always come in the form of obvious imperatives. The lack of choice, ignorance, enticements, pressure from society, unavailability of resources and opportunities and all such things are compulsions. If you ask an ignorant vani victim who has never been out of her surroundings since her birth, which does not have any knowledge of social justice and women rights, about the punishment she undergoes, she would not be able to defend herself. They see what they are made to see. They think what they are taught to think. They feel what they are taught to feel. They do not even have the faintest idea about any other situation because whatever is presented before their eyes is considered the real thing.

This injustice is obvious enough to be felt and discussed. Another injustice of a subtle nature that is being inflicted upon the women of our society is the injustice of keeping them morally ignorant of their worth and value, and to use them for materialistic purposes only. Businessmen, economists, marketing people and advertising industry people know very well how much they depend on ignorant women. All these fields have been invented by the West. They are just like our tribal tyrants, who keep their women ignorant in order to save their land and property. Those westernised tyrants are also doing the same thing by keeping women busy making her appearance presentable or attractive.

This kind of enslavement and such bad values are invisible to our so-called human rights champions and feminists.