Nov, 9

International Day of Freedom

A child was asked what freedom is. His innocent reply was that it
is a situation in which he faces no checks while playing with his toys in a muddy pit.
A horse was asked what the freedom meant to him. He straightforwardly replied
that he never liked to be leg cuffed while roaming around the lush green pastures
and on hill slopes. A nightingale was asked the same question. She replied that to
her freedom meant absolute liberty to sing melodious nocturnal songs and flatter
over the multicoloured aromatic flowers. The lion talked about freedom, “Freedom
is when I find no hurdle in my way while chasing a fragile deer to tear her into
pieces and when the same question was put to man, he said, “I am free when I feel
myself free to do, think or say whatever I want without anyone stopping me”
Obama was asked what freedom meant to America and he said, “We are free when
there is no check on our brutality in Afghanistan, Iraq and other Muslim countries”.
For Taliban freedom is freedom to massacre the innocent people who have no fault
except being innocent. Freedom to Israel is that they should enjoy a free hand to
slaughter the innocent babies of Palestine and should face no opposition
whatsoever while blocking the roads leading to Masjid-i-Aqsa. So what freedom
actually is? Is it what it really means or is it what it means to every individual
according to his/her own taste?

The United States of America is celebrating the world freedom day today
the 9th November. World Freedom Day is actually a United States federal
observance declared by then-President George W. Bush to commemorate the fall of
the Berlin Wall and the end of communist rule in Central and Eastern Europe. It is
quite ironical that the country like America is talking of freedom for the world and
that too on the behest of the most notorious of its gone by presidents-G.W Bush.
Turning over the pages of history, it is America who up till now has been interfering
with the freedom and sovereignty of the developing nations. Be it South Asia or be
it Middle East, America is playing its dirty politics in the garb of liberator. Looking
into the fact of man being free we actually come to know that none is free though
everyone is supposed to be free. Today the United States is celebrating the
international day of freedom in a situation where factually no freedom exists. A
chained man has no reason to celebrate or boost of his freedom unless and until he
breaks not all those shackles that have chocked his freedom. The
French philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau asserts "Man is born free, but
everywhere he is in chains". Today almost every part of the globe is facing
servitude. Yes one thing can correctly be said that at present humans are
autonomous slaves enjoying great deal of guarded freedom. Most of the days
celebrated all over the world are recognized by the UNO; however, the international
day of freedom is not in that list because this renowned organization itself is not
free. Such prestigious organizations assert their freedom but are actually
manipulated by international powers that again too are not free though they are
enjoying their might and authority. Is America free? No not at all. America is the
slave of fear and anxiety. It is engulfed by the psyche of possibly emerging Muslim
dominant era and also is occupied by the apprehension of Palestine becoming a free
Muslim nation. Sometimes it fears India of becoming a super power and sometimes
panics for Iran of becoming a nuclear power. America is the slave of arrogance and
haughtiness. Had she been free in the real sense of the term, there would have
been no Afghan or Iraq or Palestinian like lethal conflicts. No Osama or Al-Qaida
would have surfaced if America and her allies would have emancipated themselves
from pride and prejudice both political and religious. Intolerance shown by these
apparently free and developed nations suggests their mental servitude and wisdom
bankruptcy. I firmly believe today’s democratic monarchs like the United States who
dictate terms to the world to be unfree. Free is one who has conquered fear, lust,
and anger and is thus inwardly free while today’s Noble Prized statesmen who talk
high of universal peace and freedom still serve these masters and despite their
outward power have failed to achieve freedom. Though they have conquered the
world by their might alas, they have not mastered their world within. History bears
testimony to certain facts in this behalf. Notable 20th century individuals who
exemplified real freedom include Nelson Mandela of South Africa and Gandhi of
India. Today when the world freedom day is being observed in America, let Obama
and his friends liberate themselves from the whirlpool of anger and arrogance. Let
them free their inner world that is ruled by hatred and intolerance. Let Obama, as
he has promised in his inaugural presidential speech that he will listen to all, listen
to the Palestinians as he listens to the Israelis. Let him and all those who endorse
his every action realise that Afghans are no brutes by birth they are made so just
for petty political gain. Let them accept all others as their equals. This will ensure
them their freedom and freedom for all. When we refer to the philosophical
meaning of freedom it is revealed to us that an individual or a nation is free only
when there is inner autonomy. Such a freedom can signify mastery over one's inner
world. For instance the ability to act in accordance with the dictates of reason; the
ability to act in accordance with one's own true self or values and the ability to act
in accordance with universal values of truth and falsehood. A beast is free in jungle
but without inner autonomy his freedom always proves a great peril too hard to
embark upon. Human being in no case can enjoy such a freedom as it is negative
freedom not the positive one.

If America really means what it is celebrating today that is the freedom for
all, let her be brave enough to liberate herself from the clutches of pride and
prejudice. When somebody flies high even the Himalaya looks like a sand dune to
him. Let America fly not so high that everything becomes invisible for her. Let her
give peace a chance and let her ensure freedom for all by tackling Afghanistan, Iraq
and Palestine genuinely. Let America stop poking her nose into others’ affairs and
let her not think that right is what they deem right but right is what is right by all
means. Let every nation be free and let America be free before it is rendered unfree
by the time. Let this be the message from the pentagon today when they are
celebrating the world day of freedom.

Sabir Hussain Isaar

Jiggar4@gmail.com