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WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE A LIBERAL IN INDIA?



Liberalism is built around the centrality of human beings: what is good for him or her is acceptable, what is not is not. In a liberal state the individual is the supreme and the state must work to enhance his or her potential. Therefore, the state will focus its activities on maintaining law and order, defence, physical and social infrastructure, health, education and a social safety net. In the words of Gopal Krishna Gokhle to be liberal in India is - “I want our people to be in our country what other people are in theirs. I want our men and women to be without distinction of caste and creed, to have opportunity to grow to the full height of their stature, unhampered by cramping and unnatural restrictions.”
In my belief, we Indians are a little too rigid when it comes to moving ahead with the times. In an age when there are bigger problems like pollution, population, inflation, etc. to deal with, we are still stuck on issues that prevent us from being a truly free society. One of them being the“dress-code”. Since ages haven’t we been advised what to wear and what not to? It rather seems in India, that the amount of clothes that a person puts on is directly proportional to his character. This brings to mind an incident, where a Britisher advises Swami Vivekananda to wear decent clothes to look like a gentleman. Swamiji, politely, replied, “In your culture, a tailor makes a gentleman but in our culture a, character makes gentleman.” Another important point here is to be liberal in terms of artistic expression. Not everything the\at everyone says, writes, or shows in a film is always accepted or wellreceived , but that doesn’t mean that they don’t have a right to say it and we cannot go around calling bans or burning books in a “free” society. For an instance, ‘Satanic Verses’ by Salman Rushdie is one of many such books that created an outrage in public, just for the fact that the book possessed the author’s own views about Islam.
Don’t we take great pride in calling ourselves secular citizens of a secular country? But we are one in the truest sense. Secular in layman’s sense is to be non-religious. But often we find people, in their religious lives, being swamped by the 3-Bs i.e. belief, behavior and belonging. By belief it means things like ritual performance, observing fasts, feasts, prayers etc. and by belonging it simply means identification with or membership with some groups. But to be secular means to be free from those Bs. Annie Besant had said – “a common religion is not possible in India, but a common basis for all religions and the growth of a liberal, tolerant spirit of religious matters, are possible.” But the reality remains that we are still striving for attaining our personal freedom. In India we still have Blasphemy laws. We still cannot criticize religious thoughts and beliefs because it might “offend” some cultures or communities. Why was Narendra Dabholkar assassinated while he was out on his morning walk? Because he fought superstitions. India has turned to a place where critical thinkers and voice-raisers, have to live in a constant fear of violence, arrest, molestation, or even death. India can be a free society only if every person irrespective of his argument is given the right to criticize something she or he doesn’t believe in.
Haven’t it led to number of fights due to this one word ‘culture’? celebrating your culture is fine as long as you are using it to curb others liberal way of thinking and acting. To display dominance against someone who is different or to justify the criminal acts like rape or honor-killing, culture is not a tool. For instance, (no offence) Bajrang Dal, with its slogan calling “seva suraksha sanskruti” os service safety and culture, directed violence at people celebrating Valentine’s Day in Kanpur, UP and forced them to hold their ears and do sit-ups as punishment for celebrating ‘western holiday’. isn’t it high time we change all those orthodox ideas?
Egalitarianism is a trend of thought that favors equality for all people. Egalitarian doctrine maintains that all humans are equal in fundamental worth or social status and all have the right to express. But for such a society to flourish, change is inevitable. Charles Darwin said – “it’s not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent , but the one most responsive to change.” What we need is being pro to newness without rigidity, mentality to look ahead and to explore the unknown, care about the welfare of people and to break free through the stalemate and suspicions that bind us.
Ancient India was not only rich in its heritage and culture but also in its thought and mindset. For instance – we had ‘Sanatan dharma’ that transcended the barrier of gender. In the age of the Mauryas, remarriage was allowed and in Kalidasa’s ‘Raghuvansham’ dating was not regarded as a taboo.
In a nutshell, if we are trying to make our society a paella-plate of different identities, we'll only end up with something where all ingredients lose their individual taste. To be truly liberal, we need to shun this paella-plate funda and go for the salad bowl instead, where everything does get mixed and yet they retain their unique color and taste.

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