As India reaches its 72nd Republic Day, let’s take a look at where our democracy stands through the lens of its press freedom. A democracy is only as free as its press. Kashmir has been at the forefront of Indian politics and the suppression of its press freedom comes as another blow to the ideas of democracy, freedom, and free speech.
Can India truly be called a democracy 71 years after Baba Saheb’s constitution came to life? Are we truly the land of freedom that Gandhi and Sardar Patel envisioned and fought for?
A while back they read to us
The censorship of Press Act, 1799
In our Journalism class
A move that gave the government complete authority
To censor any and every news before publishing
And I breathed – Thank God democracy
And now Kashmir has been put under another lock
I’ve been apolitical for as long as I could afford
But how do you expect silence anymore
The freedom of speech and expression that I made my gospel
You snatch it from my countrymen
To “prevent any threat to the integrity of Indian democracy”
You don’t secure that by striking at its fourth pillar
The Indian Constitution – the longest and best ever written
Oh, how you’ve mocked it
Found the loopholes that didn’t exist
And twisted them
Is reporting a protest an act of sedition?
Calling out the void in bill treason?
How do you make policies for the press?
Without its consideration
Our press freedom ranks 140th out of 180
Heck, non-democratic nations have it better than us
Our democratic index has been the lowest ever
And no leaving this country if I don’t like it is not the way out
It is because I love it more than myself
That I choose to speak up
I see my democracy being torn away pillar by pillar
And I remember Martin Luthor King Junior –
“If you never take a stand, you might live longer
But you’ll be dead a long while back”
But no my nation is alive
It’s young and wise
Suppressed for centuries by foreign rule
But also bred stronger
To throw out its own oppressors
Kashmir, we see you
We hear you
Now more than ever
We’re in this together
A threat to democracy anywhere
Is a threat to democracy everywhere
And this isn’t about which side you’re on
This is about what you believe in
Respect and adore the journalist
Who’ll risk his everything and more
For the truth
Because he believes in something
Greater than himself
He loves his nation more
Than you could understand
We’re with you
Each one of you
We see your efforts
And we respect you for it
Kashmir, it’s not your fight alone
We’re in this together
Let the rest of us also be the India
You’ve been hoping for.