On dimensions of freedom

Someone pointed out an interesting mismatch in the Sinhala and English terms pertaining to what the nation celebrates today. In Sinhala, it is called Nidahas Dinaya (Freedom Day) while in English it is ‘Independence Day’ (Swaadheena Dinaya). In a sense these differences are irrelevant; after all everyone using these terms knows it’s about something that happened 63 years ago on another fourth day of February. There is little disagreement about the main items of political significance although there could be wide divergence when it comes to the dimensions of independence-freedom that the moment implied or promised.

Today, 63 years later, there seems to be a general agreement that neither term implies an absolute do-as-we-want. We can talk only about degree of freedom -independence given fairly obvious day-to-day realities of existence (as far as the individual is concerned) on account to what’s permissible and what’s not in terms of law and norm. The same can be applied to the nation in terms of bilateral and multilateral agreements as well as unwritten but equally binding mechanisms of control that flow from global power imbalances.

Political leadership

It is a time we can reflect on the dimensions of freedom in years gone by, the can and the can’t of today and based on these what is reasonable to expect in the years ahead. In short it is a moment to contextualize and engage in self-reflection.

There was a time when the entire nation was trapped in a cage called fear, a time when people wondered if the child they kissed and blessed as she knelt, worshipped and said goodbye on the way to school would be seen ever again. We’ve got out of that jail, courtesy of a political leadership that had the courage, Security Forces that had the skills and a citizenry which helped in numerous ways.

There was another time too, when the nation was caged by fear. That was a time when some people exercised the freedom of expression by slitting the mouths of those who expressed opposing opinions; a time when the right to express was a political point that was driven into the eardrums of people so they would never hear their own screams.

Hard work

We have come far from those twin-times of terror and horror. We have a long, long way to go even to reach the outer edges of freedom dimensions framed in the limits of civilized co-existence. That road had a huge rock that stopped one and all. It’s since been smashed to pieces. We can thank those who cleared the road. We can expect them to make the journey easier as per contractual agreement flowing from vote solicited and vote cast, not to mention the demands of constitutionality.

On the other hand, on account of human frailty as well as constitutional and political loophole, we would be foolish to think that there will be genuine effort in the matter of delivery.

Certain things are won by dint of hard work. The dimensions of victory can be expanded but this too requires hard work.

Freedom comes with a price that includes vigilance and the inescapable need to push and push hard at all obstacles along the way. It is healthy not to be complacent and not to be satisfied with consolation prize. This, however, requires among other things that the conscientious objector seize possession of the moral high ground.

That, ladies and gentlemen is a spot of earth no one can parachute into. The moral high ground is a land that can be accessed only by those who can claim to have been responsible in the exercise of citizenship, those who are humble to acknowledge error and those who don’t play petty politics. The moral high ground is a shaky place to be for it dislodges unceremoniously anyone who slips on any of the above criteria.

Membership fees

It is not enough to be responsible, humble and ready for a broad embrace on February 4th. February 4th is a marker, admittedly and as such a good place as any to look back and look ahead. We are at times a resilient nation, a brave one and one that is able and willing to take on any enemy. We are at times a blind nation, unable to see that not all enemies are residenced outside our shores and indeed that our detractors live among us and even within each of us.

We are good at asking what the nation has done for us, but pretty poor about recognizing that we’ve done very little by way of paying membership fees. We are good at saying we did this and that, but fight shy of saying that we also did those other things we don’t want others to know we did. We don’t often admit that we did not do this and that. We cover it all with a banner made of demands. Behind that piece of cloth, we are all of us in various degrees of nudity. We don’t often realize that this nudity makes it ridiculous, morally and practically, to laugh at our nude brethren or demand decency from them.

Freedom is not a prize we always deserve. We need to be deserving in the first instance in order to earn the right to demand it. That’s the mulakura (first step) of expanding the dimensions of freedom. Are we? Are you? Am I?

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