Freedom of Expression

"Freedom of expression is the freedom to say what you want, as long as you say what they want to hear" -

Freedom of expression – One of the hallmarks of great societies of the world; one of the basic rights guaranteed by our constitution. But is it all in theory?

Take the case of Tasleema Nasreen or M.F. Hussain or students of MS University, Baroda or many others who dare to express things against the norm, but have to face wrath of some self-appointed moral police every now and then?

… Or consider countless others who do not even dare to express, because of the fear of consequences from likes of Shiv Sena or Bajrang Dal or infinite others self appointed guardians of our culture.

Yes. As a nation we have had fairly decent record on this front, if not anything great … but that is not enough. It must be made much better if we need to progress as a society. But where are we heading for ?

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`Another Random Thought

"Man's mind , once stretched by a new idea , never regains its original dimensions." - Oliver Wendell Holmes Just wondering, what is the worst non-fatal, non-demeaning thing you can do to a person? Surely, one of them is allowing him/ her to explore things so that forms his opinions and ideas about things, and then exercise control (& not just give opinions) on what he should think, what he should deem as right or wrong & what he should do . Barbaric it may sound but probably allowing him to remain ignorant may be a better option . What say?

What if this is not 'this' ?

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The Toyota Qualis and the Chvrolet Tavera stopped after a long journey. It was almost 9 in the night and it was pitch-dark. Night times in a forest are always pitch-dark. Adding to that it was a good `thirteen days since the last full moon day. Adding to this, the cloudy weather made visibility close to zero. Later in the night the forest would be engulfed in a fog making it nearly impossible to see. The only noise audible was that of silence, few random insects and that of a train going at a distance. After a long journey they all were quite weary and all they wanted was some rest so that the next day morning they can head for tiger and rhino spotting among many other species of flora and fauna in the wildlife sanctuary. Right now it was time for some parathas, maggi and booze. All fifteen of them headed for the cottage which they had booked, sat near the fire place relishing food, chit chatting about college life, universe and everything. But chit chatting wasn’t what they came ...

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