By Ananya S Guha

It  seems the   concept of  freedom fighters is reshaped and redesigned. Anyone shouting against another is a freedom fighter.Anyone raising the slogan of  Bharat Mata is a freedom fighter, pitchforking this idea into a new analogy of love and martyrdom. Anyone dissenting is questioned about his or  her loyalties to a  mother head  or god head. The  freedom movement is forgotten, the grand tradition  of  diversity in a country, the confluence of races and history is forgotten. We are truly amnesic ( sic!). Of course condemn we must the  Uri attack. Condemn we must Pakistan abetted terrorism. But we cannot condemn spaces of debate. We cannot condemn feelings of  a  person, for  those  dead in Kashmir including children. 

 Mr Speakers Sirs, all those who  speak about culture, please can you define  it. All those who confound it with religion, can you say what religion, religiosity and spirituality are? Are not the vast oceans of this  Nation fed   with innumerable tributaries  and repositories of  culture and religion? Then where is one Culture? Is it like one pay, one pension? The keys to the conscience of a Nation are now dangled by many from vapid politicians to jingoists  and rabid media persons. ” Cry The Beloved Country”. Unfortunately enough are  not crying. The dead are not forgotten, nor forgiven. Even today Mother Teresa is indicted for being the worst kind of proselytizer.

  Diplomatic prudence in  our politicians has gone from bad  to worse. The name of Ram is mentioned at the slightest pretext. We  don’t think  about insecurities of  other minorities. History is hoodwinked into my story, my race embedded in a pristine culture of  mythology and sullied history. Secularists are sick. The others are robust  health trending luminaries. History is  distorted, and  the  past given a  new break into a new  life of self righteous. In this situation, what students  will study, is a complete mystery, how they will be brainwashed is  the greatest apprehension. Shouting down  people who disagree with you or arrest them  is the latest maelstrom taking place. In an  ethos of  fear, the finest points of  culture or intellectual headiness can only take a back seat.

 God save the country.

 Post Script: It  is great that Dylan has won the  Nobel. At least the debate goes beyond stereo types and cultural posturing.Questions will continue blowing in  the wind.

About the Author: Ananya S Guha lives and writes from Shillong in North East India.