By Sruthi Sree, Chennai

Mangaluru, Aug 15: India celebrates its 71st Independence Day this year on August 15 and every citizen cheered for the everlasting glory of democratic India. But if we look deep into the Indian society or its culture, we will realize that India is not yet independent. Even in this developmental era of 21st century the Indian mind-set still remains stuck to traditional customs and conventions, which are eventually disrupting the humanity in people.

Today, India is being haunted by major issues, such as honour killing and moral policing. Even though the topics seem to be controversial there are some links that connect both together. Honour killing could be defined as the illegal way of killing a person by a family member, if she/he is founded to dishonour the family name and usually it’s the girl who is the victim of this cruel practice.

Indian Constitution has guaranteed human rights to its citizens which includes right to marry anyone of their choice. In that case, honour killing is against the Indian law, but still there is no strict action taken to abolish this practice which is reflected in the insecurity of the citizens in this country. There are many cases recorded on honour killing especially in the northern part of India.

Reciprocally, the issue prevailing in South India is moral policing, especially in the Mangaluru. Recently, an issue of moral policing took place in Mangaluru, where a boy was harassed and attacked by a group of Bajrang Dal members, for talking to a girl in public. Who decides what is morally right and wrong?

It seems that India, which takes pride in its 'Unity in Diversity', is taking a beating when religion plays a critical role in dividing and destroying national solidarity. It is sad that even the educated people feel proud to play the religious card when it suits them. We must realize that this mind setwould someday destroy our unification process for which our democracy is known worldwide.

In earlier times we built boundaries using wooden sticks but now it’s religion that separates people. The government should propose a well defined law against these illegal practices or activities so that people could enjoy the freedom that the constitution guarantees them. Humanity should come out of the vicious circle of religion.

There are many incidents which have taken place in India before 1992. It began after demolition of Babri Masjid. The selfish governing leaders of the country got everything done to meet their personal needs and wants. The Blue Star operation was formed by Indira Gandhi and she instructed them to kill several people inside Amritsar complex. It was the first freedom impeachment which took place in India. According to the president of Dakshina Kannada PUCL unit, Patrick Bernardine D’Sa (known as P B D’Sa) who is a human rights activist in Mangaluru, "Education is the backbone of the society and it is considered as a tool to change the world. Without education we never get our freedom. In India we have one unavoidable right that is freedom of speech and expression. But it’s gone. As a human being we have a right to express our thoughts and opinions without fearing anyone. But it has been misused, since many years. Recently the press also have lost their right to freedom of speech and expression. Press is considered as the fourth estate of the constitution.”

But what happened to Kanhaiya Kumar (a student from Delhi University) who was arrested under defamation case because he opined his point of view on Kasab. The consequences were horrible, it was exactly the breaching of freedom of speech and expression. Democratic way of life in India is totally in a wrong scenario. There are many other examples also. In the year of 2016 two names were used by many critiques and writers. Kalburgi and Perumal Murugan. Kalburgi was an activist and an orator, who used to conduct speeches for upholding the nation and eliminating the atrocities against the citizen. But what happened to him? We should think about the current scenario of the nation’s authenticity. Democracy is gone forever without freedom and opposition parties. In India education is the unavoidable right of every one. With the use of education we can raise our voice against illegal activities and education is always considered as the voice for the voiceless.

Last year, in the year 2016 the name of a PhD scholar Rohith Vemula made sensational news. He was a student of Hyderabad University. The real turn out of events remains a mystery. In this case officials from the university had various illegal hidden agendas. Although India is a democratic country, no one has the right to openly express their thoughts and opinions. After winning independence for us from the brutal British governance Gandhi won us freedom. But at present we seem to have lost it all.

"Girls can’t walk unaccompanied on the road. Our freedom of travelling is restricted by someone," said a student from Srinivas college, Mangaluru. "I am scared of walking alone on the road. We can never predict what will happen next. I do not want to become another Nirbhaya or Soumya. As a girl I want to tell you that our freedom has not yet come. If we really want to enjoy real freedom everyone should be made aware about the importance of freedom and its aspects."

Thrippaghoottur gram panchayat member Chandri V K commented, "As a leader I should be responsible to take care of my area I am responsible to spread awareness on protection of girls and their freedom. So we should first provide education among children, they are the future of the nation." An official from the Centre for Integrated Learning, Mangaluru added, "Our freedom has vanished, now it’s not a democratic country at all it’s a demon country, even though we are not ready to accept this truth, we should."

"When the word freedom comes to our mind, we remember Gandhiji as the prime person involved in the freedom struggle. He won freedom for Indians, but people started looting their freedom for personal satisfaction," said a retired professor Suresh from Mangaluru.

In terms of the Constitution and legality we are an independent India. Independence does not mean timely elections and political governance but independence from evils like poverty, illiteracy and oppression.

(The writer is a student pursuing her graduation in journalism and mass communication from Nitte University)