‘Life outside is a bigger cage than the jail I was in’
Ican’t point to the time when I first became aware of the politics around me. I come from the category of ‘have nots’. and one keeps counting disparities from one’s childhood. It could be the time when I wore half pants and aspired to be like those who wore trousers. Or maybe when I saw people going to the salon, treated like kings on a throne while I got my hair cut under a tree. Or maybe, it was when I was in my mother’s womb, and what she ate was determined by her socioeconomic status in society. My political consciousness was determined before I was born.
People ask me whether life inside jail has made me understand what freedom truly means. But I have found that life outside is a bigger cage than the jail cell I left behind. Our idea of freedom as Indians is driven from the Constitution. At the heart of it is the Preamble that lists the guiding principles of sovereignty, equality, justice and fraternity by which the state must be run. Our struggle is a fight for freedom within the state. These are simple demands of equality in job opportunities, in gender, right to education, of justice given to all and not forcefully taken from one and put in the hands of another, freedom from discrimination and affirmative action to bring those who have historically been discriminated against at the same level as others.
Social hierarchies are perhaps the greatest bane of our society. This hierarchy where identity is based on the work one does is driven by the Manusmriti. Manuvaad is the belief that one’s past karmas influence the nature of one’s rebirth. It is this bizarre idea that some people are born to rule while others are born into servitude. This is the one we are battling.
What we see today is a clash of ideologies—one between Hindustan and Sanghsthan. The political interpretation of religion remains the most problematic challenge faced by the nation today. It can be conquered only by information, wisdom and knowledge. This fight is inherent to everyone today.
“OUR STRUGGLE IS NOT A FIGHT FOR FREEDOM FROM THE STATE, BUT FOR FREEDOM WITHIN IT”