The terrorism of power

We cannot call our parliamentarians names for fear of disrespecting the institution of  the Parliament, we cannot forward mildly critical cartoons of a chief minister without being arrested. A historian cannot write a scholarly account of Sri Aurobindo's life without effectively being thrown out of the country, we cannot protest against nuclear plants in our neighbourhood without being bracketed with treasonous foreign agents, we cannot invite Salman Rushdie to a literary festival because it might offend a vote bank ( of course the same author can visit and address a full house in Delhi once the need for the vote bank has passed); the list of the basic freedoms we cannot enjoy is a long and growing one.

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