Our nation today is in a state of undeclared Emergency under a regime that is intolerant to any critics and criticism.
In any democracy, supreme power is vested in the people and exercised by them directly or indirectly, where the rule of law and freedom of speech is paramount. It is very worrying that in our once peaceful and tolerant Nation, both have been under constant attack and like law and order with a soaring crime rate have gone for a toss under this BJP Government. We should heed the advice of the late George Washington, first President of the United States who said ‘If the freedom of speech is taken away, then dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep to the slaughter’.
Memories linger of that 1975 Emergency under the Congress with Prime Minister Indira Gandhi at the helm. I recollect that as a 15-year old student I barged into a Congress meeting which was being held at Club Nacional in Panaji. Without any resistance they allowed me to speak and in those seven minutes blasted the Congress for imposing that State of Emergency. The audience silently without any interruption listened. Imagine today raising one’s voice at a BJP meeting, the Karyakartas would create a ruckus pushing the voice of dissent to the wall and the witch hunt for daring to speak constructively for the common good would continue for a long time to come.
Over the years the famous late Martin Luther King Jnr, who achieved so much for so many, has invigorated me and given me a reason to persevere and redouble my efforts with these prophetic and inspiring words, ‘A man dies when he refuses to stand up for what is right. A man dies when he refuses to stand up for justice. A man dies when he refuses to take a stand for that which is true. Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter. Never, never be afraid to do what’s right’.
