Edmund Burke famously said, "All that's necessary for the forces of evil to win in the world is for enough good men to do nothing."
As the sordid drama in the name of free speech is played to capture the mind space of India, one good Indian, a soldier, cried in front of millions of viewers, ruing why he didn't die defending the national flag like his colleagues, living instead to see a day when the same Tricolour was appeared to be respected only by the armed forces.
One good Indian, a TV journalist, decided to anchor his show to defend our national flag, while his father was on the operating table undergoing a complex heart operation. He thought it was his moral prerogative not to be with his father but to fight for the country and the value system we need to espouse.
It is high time the vast majority good Indians who love this country and are not ashamed to call themselves patriots and nationalists speak up for our country and a value system we want.
We emphatically condemn those elements in Patiala House who beat up students, and feel that appropriate punishment must be meted out. But at the same time, we also believe that the anti-nationals, who in the name of free speech raise slogans against the country, eulogise terrorists who kill innocents or attack our sovereignty, and celebrate the death of our jawans at the hands of Maoists or militants, should be strongly dealt with.
What does every Indian want? We want our country to progress and be strong. We want to have a better standard of living for us and our family. We want to have a peaceful coexistence with our countrymen, be they Hindus or Muslims or Christians or Sikhs or Buddhists or Jains. Is it possible or has it ever been achieved by any society or country without its citizens contributing and having a value system? Now what citizen contribution or value system we are talking about?
Let us talk about freedom of expression as a value system. Does the freedom of expression as our fundamental right or a value system (for society to progress) allow us to call for the disintegration of the country? To celebrate the death of our defenders at the hands our enemies? Or debate hoisting the national flag as an impingement of our rights?
Wikipedia defines a national flag as "a flag that symbolises a country". Show us one country in the world where people object to hoisting the national flag as an impingement on their freedom of expression.
Show us one country in the world where those who get free education courtesy of taxpayers talk about destroying the country and get away with it.
Show us one country in the world where this is called freedom of speech.
Show us one country where the death and funeral of a national icon who devoted his life to the country and gave us the security of nuclear and missile protection gets relegated to the inside pages, while a terrorist's funerals gets the front page, as if he is a national hero. This is not freedom of expression, this is abuse of freedom of expression. This shows how distorted our thought process and value system have become.
The people who are championing free speech and such a value system are not the real crusaders or protectors of free speech. They are shallow, ungrateful, pseudo-intellectuals who from the comforts of their air-conditioned drawing rooms or studios argue about hoisting flags as an impingement on freedom. They support our enemies while our jawans are working in the most inhospitable conditions and doing supreme sacrifice to protect us, our country and our flag. These people should realise that without our jawans, this country will not exist and there will be no freedom of expression to enjoy at all. Unfortunately, not only do they not want this country to progress, they want it to disintegrate.
Our neighbour China has scripted the most astounding upliftment of its people in human history in the shortest period of time. Their philosophy as articulated by one of their leaders was: "It does not matter the colour of the cat as long as it catches the rat."
Our thought process, our value system should not be influenced by rigid leftist or rightist or centrist ideologies but by what is good for our country, our people and us.
Every good Indian must speak up when distorted value systems are imposed upon us and our aspirations are hijacked. It is now time to do so.
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As the sordid drama in the name of free speech is played to capture the mind space of India, one good Indian, a soldier, cried in front of millions of viewers, ruing why he didn't die defending the national flag like his colleagues, living instead to see a day when the same Tricolour was appeared to be respected only by the armed forces.
One good Indian, a TV journalist, decided to anchor his show to defend our national flag, while his father was on the operating table undergoing a complex heart operation. He thought it was his moral prerogative not to be with his father but to fight for the country and the value system we need to espouse.
Does the freedom of expression as our fundamental right or a value system allow us to call for the disintegration of the country?
It is high time the vast majority good Indians who love this country and are not ashamed to call themselves patriots and nationalists speak up for our country and a value system we want.
We emphatically condemn those elements in Patiala House who beat up students, and feel that appropriate punishment must be meted out. But at the same time, we also believe that the anti-nationals, who in the name of free speech raise slogans against the country, eulogise terrorists who kill innocents or attack our sovereignty, and celebrate the death of our jawans at the hands of Maoists or militants, should be strongly dealt with.
What does every Indian want? We want our country to progress and be strong. We want to have a better standard of living for us and our family. We want to have a peaceful coexistence with our countrymen, be they Hindus or Muslims or Christians or Sikhs or Buddhists or Jains. Is it possible or has it ever been achieved by any society or country without its citizens contributing and having a value system? Now what citizen contribution or value system we are talking about?
Let us talk about freedom of expression as a value system. Does the freedom of expression as our fundamental right or a value system (for society to progress) allow us to call for the disintegration of the country? To celebrate the death of our defenders at the hands our enemies? Or debate hoisting the national flag as an impingement of our rights?
Wikipedia defines a national flag as "a flag that symbolises a country". Show us one country in the world where people object to hoisting the national flag as an impingement on their freedom of expression.
The people who are championing free speech and such a value system are not the real crusaders or protectors of free speech. They are shallow, ungrateful, pseudo-intellectuals...
Show us one country in the world where those who get free education courtesy of taxpayers talk about destroying the country and get away with it.
Show us one country in the world where this is called freedom of speech.
Show us one country where the death and funeral of a national icon who devoted his life to the country and gave us the security of nuclear and missile protection gets relegated to the inside pages, while a terrorist's funerals gets the front page, as if he is a national hero. This is not freedom of expression, this is abuse of freedom of expression. This shows how distorted our thought process and value system have become.
The people who are championing free speech and such a value system are not the real crusaders or protectors of free speech. They are shallow, ungrateful, pseudo-intellectuals who from the comforts of their air-conditioned drawing rooms or studios argue about hoisting flags as an impingement on freedom. They support our enemies while our jawans are working in the most inhospitable conditions and doing supreme sacrifice to protect us, our country and our flag. These people should realise that without our jawans, this country will not exist and there will be no freedom of expression to enjoy at all. Unfortunately, not only do they not want this country to progress, they want it to disintegrate.
Every good Indian must speak up when distorted value systems are imposed upon us and our aspirations are hijacked. It is now time to do so.
Our neighbour China has scripted the most astounding upliftment of its people in human history in the shortest period of time. Their philosophy as articulated by one of their leaders was: "It does not matter the colour of the cat as long as it catches the rat."
Our thought process, our value system should not be influenced by rigid leftist or rightist or centrist ideologies but by what is good for our country, our people and us.
Every good Indian must speak up when distorted value systems are imposed upon us and our aspirations are hijacked. It is now time to do so.
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