by admin | May 25, 2021 | Opinions
Advocate Shamim Ahsan
By S Shamim Ahsan
Freedom, as a concept, has been the cause, reason and subject of all the revolts and revolutions. It has also served as the base for creation of Civil Society. The Rule of Law was conceived to be implemented for defining and respecting the instances and areas of Freedom so as to reject and nullify the demerits and defects of chaotic circumstances created by the Class that proclaimed itself to be Sovereign.
The emergence of Civil Society (being the result of Social Contract Theory as argued by the Thinkers of Sociology) also owes it’s origin to the basic idea of Freedom of individuals that was resolved to be protected under the contract for Rule.
The Society with a system of governance as such came into existence, after the clashes concerning the right to freedom of individual. The Society and System defined the extent and areas of rights to avoid chaos. Freedom, therefore, as a right, subject and concept in an organised Civil Society, stands endorsed as a principle that serves as the foundation for system to function in consonance with the Laws of nature.
Human rights Charter or Fundamental rights as envisaged and guaranteed in our Constitution are the instances to record that the individual freedom has been and is the prime concern for the Rule of Law in a Civil or Political Society.
A logical question therefore arises as to whether the Freedom as a right is an absolute right of an individual particularly in the circumstances when he is the member as citizen of an organised Civil Society with a Political set-up called Government ??
The answer to such question shall certainly be in negative for the simple reason that rights, if not restricted, shall result into harm and chaos that was experienced before the emergence of Civil Society. Human nature can not be left uncontrolled or unrestricted to revert back to the uncivilised stage. Application of restrictions to the Rights in form of Duties is the remedy that promotes the idea of coexistence. Our rights are the duties of others. Rights and Duties go hand in hand. Freedom can never be assured if not respected by others as a duty to respect it.
A famous quote by Aristotle, the father of Politics ,that ” Man is a Social Animal and he can not live in isolation” refers to the human nature of being part of an organised system where his freedom and right thereof are not encroached.
The concept of Freedom stands explained in unequivocal terms and in explicit manner by Rousseau ( Advocate of Social Contract Theory) when he argues that ” man is born free but everywhere in chain”. This very phrase certifies the Freedom to be a subject that can never let an individual to be free to harm the other free individuals. The fundamental idea and foundation of an organised Society, therefore, bind an individual in a chain so that he is able to exercise his right of Freedom in an organised manner with other individuals.
The restricted freedom is called Liberty. We do not have freedom but liberty to exercise our rights with a provision and reservation to be duty bound to respect the rights and liberties of others. We can never have the Freedom to harm others. The journey of our freedom ends at the point where others have their area of freedom.
The political set up in civil society might speak a hostile language for we asserting our rights and liberty but one should rest assured that the rule of law shall never allow such hostile language to be translated in hostile terms detrimental to the concept of Liberty.
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Interviews
Ruskin Bond
By Sugandha Rawal,
New Delhi : Ruskin Bond feels lucky to live in India. The celebrated author says there is more freedom for writers in India despite various conflicts and occasional turmoil.
“If you think of the world in the present circumstances, how borders change and conflicts are constantly erupting in the world, it is not a peaceful universe as it was before,” Bond told IANS in an email interview when asked about his relationship with the country.
“I find it very lucky to be an Indian and living in India. That is the one reason I am never attracted to going abroad or settling in any other country because in spite of various conflicts and occasional turmoil, compared to other countries, you would find more freedom and topics for a writer in India,” added the author of British descent.
Bond, who was associated with Landmark’s Child Reading to Child initiative for the fourth time this year, continued: “Suppose you were a writer in China and you go and sit to write on Great Wall of China, somebody would come in and take you away…go down the list of various countries, you will find that living in Europe is very dull.”
“If you live in America, you need a gun and I am not very fast with a gun, so I think I would walk out very quickly. So, I think it’s much better here if you compare it to other lands.”
Born in Kasauli in what is now Himachal Pradesh, Bond grew up in Dehradun, New Delhi and Shimla. He then spent four years in London as a young man, only to return to India in 1955. He has been staying at Ivy Cottage in Landour since 1981.
Starting his journey as a writer with his first book at the age of 17, Bond has spent 68 years giving words to his thoughts, creating a collection of over a hundred novellas, short stories, non-fiction and poetry books.
Looking back, Bond said: “I was a bookworm in school and in those days it was easy to get books. Bigger cities had book shops. Also, I had a very lonely childhood so I had turned to books at an early age and they were a great help and by the time I had finished school I had decided that this is what I want to do.”
And he feels he “didn’t do badly”.
“I started wanting to become a well-known writer and today I have lots of readers. It took a long time but it came about. So if you do have a dream, something you want to do very much in your life it will come about if you persist.
“If you keep that vision in mind and the desire within you, you have to work towards it, you just can’t sit back and expect everything to come to you. You have to work towards it as for some people it might come very quickly and for some it may take a lifetime.”
But success can’t come at the cost of quality.
“I see that a lot of people are rushing through. They just want to see their name on the book. The other day, there was a book launch and was self-published by an author and the writer had simple grammatical errors, even the sentences hadn’t been rightly put together. Nobody would ever enjoy reading that book. There was no fluency. So the language is all important to begin with,” said the 84-year-old.
He has spent many years spreading happiness with his stories, and garnered appreciation from all quarters. He is determined to not let age slow him down.
“There will always be books as long as I am mentally capable of it,” said the author, who has been bestowed the Sahitya Akademi Award for English Writing, as well as the Padma Bhushan and the Padma Shri, the country’s third and fourth highest civilian awards.
“I am done and nearly finished with a book on trees, flowers and plants. It’s not a scientific book. I will do another and finish a story of me being a goal keeper. A lot of people think I am a good writer and praise me, but no one praises me for being a goal keeper and in this book I am going to praise myself as a goal keeper. And then what else, I would see how it goes.”
(Sugandha Rawal can be contacted at sugandha.r@ians.in)
—IANS
