Social-Mental Freedom and Economic Independence Yet To Come

India celebrates its Independence Day on 15^th August every year. On this day its peoples remember the long and gallant struggle for independence and pay homage to the martyrs who dedicated their life fighting for independence. Let it be Mahatma Gandhi or whether it be Shaheed Bhagat Singh; heroes ranging from a variety of backgrounds and professing different ideologies are remembered and reminisced for their great and unselfish contributions to a noble cause: that of gaining independence for India. But one question we must consider at this point- Are we really free? Is India really independent? Or the sacrifices of the freedom-fighters have been in vain.

Different people would choose different ways to answer this particular question. One might answer this question in positive saying that yes, India is free and independent. Another person may not agree. It’s a matter of debate that India has got true freedom or not but one thing one must agree upon is that India is a politically sovereign nation. But political independence isn’t everything, is it. Social, economic and cultural freedom and independence are much important too. Let me just tell you about my personal opinions on this issue.

First of all I would point out that freedom and independence, though often used synonymously, are in fact two different things. Independence, as defined by Wikipedia is “a condition of a nation, country, or state in which its residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over the territory.” So we come to know that independence is when a country/nation is somewhat self-sufficient and is sovereign. On the other hand freedom is really a very complex and much more philosophical concept than independence. Freedom and Liberty are two closely related thoughts though some differences exist between the two. Freedom and Liberty have been described by various thinkers and philosophers in numerous manners and mean differently in diverse contexts. A common definition of liberty, as given by Wikipedia, is “the ability of individuals to have agency (control over their own actions)” So liberty is something like breaking free of unnecessary bondages; it is a state of being free of subjugation; a condition where everyone can walk with dignity and everyone has got equal rights. Freedom, liberty and independence are three closely-knitted notions yet there exists difference between them. Also, when we refer to freedom or liberty we mostly mean it implying on individuals and society rather than nations. Independence is a term which we use for individuals and societies as well as society. We many a times speak of a society as free, then we mostly mean how much freedom that society offers to its constituent individual members.

India as a nation is independent, as it is sovereign, exercises its own government in its territory and so on. There can be no disagreement on this as I have stated earlier. But India as a free society hasn’t got good records to boast of. Also individual independence often goes unaddressed in India. Still as a society, India’s individual lacks many basic freedoms. The most notable of these freedoms are social and mental freedom. The type of independence that the Indian individual lacks is economic. Poverty is perhaps the bitterest reflection of economic dependence in our society. Malnutrition, disease, illiteracy, corruption and homelessness are the results that follow and further intensify social and mental slavery among people. Violence against women, crime, pressure from family to marry a certain person or to follow a certain profession and other such common happenings exemplify the lack of social freedom in our society.

But perhaps the most dangerous and hazardous type of slavery that lingers us is mental slavery. This type of slavery comprises of superstition, irrationalism and the inability to think. It means blindly following anything like a flock of sheep and not thinking of where it would lead to. It includes lack of curiosity and it consists of ignorance. Unfortunately many Indians, ranging from old people to the young youth has fallen for this type of slavery. If we don’t break free of the shackles of mental slavery we might eventually succumb to something like Nazi Germany or Francoist Spain: strong outside, but weak internally; a nation which is independent but its people aren’t free. One thing we need to do is to step out of darkness to light. It hurts at first but you soon get used to it and the world becomes brighter.