-

 Fighting for Freedom Every Day

Shalu Nigam

15 August 2023




Politically, India gained independence on 15th August 1947, however, for those on the margins, freedom is not a one-time event, They are struggling hard and fighting for every inch of space and for freedom on a daily basis at every possible space - public or private. 

Freedom implies a different sense to different people. For the elite and the privileged, freedom may be a one-day celebration. However, for a woman or a child in a violent relationship, a poor trapped in the vicious circle of poverty, a bonded laborer enslaved by the chains of bondage, or a young girl stuck in a trafficking channel, freedom may be desperately seeking liberation every moment. And there are a million men, women, and children who are entrapped in a similar situation. 

The freedom struggle in India has seen a lot of bloodshed and sacrifice by millions. However, several scholars have noted that once India attained independence, it is the powerful and elite Indians who replaced their colonial masters. The situation of the poor and marginalized, therefore, remained the same. 

Those on the margins, therefore, are still struggling every moment of their lives to attain freedom or Azadi - freedom from starvation, freedom from poverty, freedom from illiteracy and ignorance, freedom to study, freedom from patriarchy, freedom from everyday violence and fear of violence, freedom from casteism, freedom from fascism, freedom from majoritarianism, freedom from capitalism, freedom to dream and aspire, freedom to enjoy life. 









Location: HG6W+58 Ral, Uttar Pradesh, India

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Dowry is a serious economic violence

-
Image
  The monetization of the `sacred’ bond is creating chaos: It happens only in India Shalu Nigam   From the Book  Dowry is a Serious Economic Violence: Rethinking Dowry Violence Law in India “Women are not for burning; women are human beings.” (A slogan raised in post-colonial India against the dreadful practice of the dowry in post-independent India.)   Karl Marx and Frederick Engels, in their famous thesis titled ‘ The Manifesto of the Communist Party’ in 1848, wrote,   “ The bourgeoisie has torn away from the family its sentimental veil, and has reduced the family relation into a mere money relation”.   Likewise, in the patriarchal context of North India, the institution of marriage, though deemed `sacred’ is considerably reduced to a commercial relationship where money is prioritized over sentiments. The barbaric practice of dowry has been institutionalized and entrenched gradually, with religion playing a vital role in stubbornly determining the norms of sexual
Read more

Combating Everyday Gender Stereotypes in the Courtrooms

-
Image
  Combating Everyday Gender Stereotypes in the Courtrooms The Supreme Court of India recently published a Handbook on  Combating Gender Stereotypes [2] , which highlights how gender-unjust terms are used in pleadings, orders, and judgements to reiterate common stereotypes about women and end up denying them justice. It suggests using alternate terms. This piece argues that to ensure gender justice, what is required is not only countering and challenging the stereotypes in the day-to-day language deployed in courtrooms but also changing the patriarchal mindset. The war against women started in the minds. Patriarchy manifested itself in the form of sexism, misogyny, toxic masculinity, ghettoizing, and labelling, women, and therefore, it is essential to consciously examine the ways subjectivities operate on a daily basis, dismantling the sexist biases, shattering prejudices, countering myths and misogyny, developing an empathetic approach to judging, and more importantly, rethinking the c
Read more
-
Image
  Judith Butler (2020) described some lives as `ungrievable’ which cannot be mourned for because they never lived and remained uncounted. Perhaps, women who are dying due to dowry violence in homes are such ungrievable, uncounted lives – the lives that no one wants to protect, no one wants to mourn, and no one wants to remember.   For more see this book https://www.amazon.in/Dowry-Serious-Economic-Violence-Rethinking/dp/B0C5KLDF3P
Read more