What freedom means

Dr. Omar Akhtar
"NONE are so hopelessly enslaved as those who believe they are free."--Goethe
So what do you think freedom is? Is it the freedom to walk on the streets at 11 in the night? Is it the freedom to drive your car the way you want, and bribe your way through? Is it the freedom to vote in an election, choosing between individuals too remote to understand your problems? Is it the freedom to pray on time, with no hindrance, no obstacle to your path to the mosque?
If that is your freedom, then you already have freedom. Right? Wrong. If you think you are free now, you are hopelessly enslaved. Allah's Prophet said: "Man will go to sleep during which honesty will be taken away from his heart and only its trace will remain in his heart like the trace of a dark spot; then man will go to sleep, during which honesty will decrease further still, so that its trace will resemble the trace of blister as when an ember is dropped on one's foot which would make it swell, and one would see it swollen but there would be nothing inside. People would be carrying out their trade but hardly will there be a trustworthy person. It will be said, 'in such-and-such tribe there is an honest man,' and later it will be said about some man, 'What a wise, polite and strong man he is!' Though he will not have faith equal even to a mustard seed in his heart." (Sahih Bukhari 6635, narrated by Hudhaifa).
Can you live an honest life? Can you get by one day without feeling the pinch of a 'foreign' force outside your home? Can you rest at night, not fearing the harassment, beating, maybe death, at the hands of this 'foreign' force? Can you 'select' your leaders, the leaders who have vision, ideas, and the power to give you the freedom to think the way you want to?
A friend of mine took his sister for an exam outside Kashmir. Her refrain on staying at a hotel in Delhi, 'Wow Bhaiya! There are no soldiers here! Where is the nearest camp?' Later on, when he took her out for dinner, and they came back late, she said, 'Is it custom here to stay out till late?' For most of us, they were innocent questions from a teenage girl. Teenage girl of 15, who has spent the whole of her life in Kashmir, amongst who? With what restrictions? Imposed by the military of the country of which she is purported to be a citizen.
For her, freedom will mean... Another colleague of mine is travelling shortly abroad to the Gulf. He is a staunch Muslim. Part of Muslim belief lies in the responsibility of living an honest life, and not, in anyway, encouraging dishonesty. Bribery is a method of theft from society. So my friend did not pay up for his license, degree, certificates, etc. He ended up getting frustrated with life, and finally left. He left behind his parents, who now live alone, with no one to look after them. But he had no choice. He said,' I cannot continue dying like this everyday. I cannot keep bribing for everything. What will I say to Allah?' Freedom for him will mean...
The goals of freedom are not only to change the flag to which the residents of Kashmir will salute, not only to change the anthem, or the emblem, and not only to change the name of the rulers in palaces.
The goals of freedom are more intense, more deep. Freedom is not a simple word, it is a state of being.Kashmiris want freedom not because it is their birthright. The same will apply to Punjabis, Sindhis, Marathis, and Tamils. Kashmiris do not want freedom because they were a historically independent nation. The same argument will apply to Hyderabad, Daman, Arcot, etc.
Kashmiris do not want freedom because they were promised a plebiscite. Many other promises have been forgotten, but wars have not been fought on them.
Kashmiris want freedom from the clutches of an oppressive regime that has prevented the Kashmiri nation from prospering as a nation, Muslim, non-Muslim, all alike.
During the Battle of Britain, Winston Churchill famously said, '... let this be called their finest hour...' And Londoners woke up every morning, cleared the rubble from Nazi bombings, and set about their work, refusing to be cowed down by aerial bombardment. After Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the Japanese put their heads down, got together, and, in shame, carried on their work. A few short decades later, with their sheer willpower, the Japanese had grown to become the second largest economy in the world.
After the tumultuous 90s, we found ourselves sinking deep into acceptance of a status quo. We found ourselves weakened, depressed, boxed into a corner...
Why can't Kashmiris believe that there is another way of life? That life can be different? That there is no need for having the obscenities of oppressive armed forces lurking around our houses all the time... That life can be lived honestly... That our leaders can be changed, we can have honest leaders, and they can be accountable to us... That we can prosper in this world, through an honest, concerted effort to lift ourselves up from the ashes of our conflict, without the aid of corrupt leaders... That our destiny can be taken back in our hands, and we can determine the future we want our children to see...
You are asking how? The answer is simple...
A rightwing Indian journalist, who loves to demonise Islam, Muslims and Kashmiris, commented in leading English daily recently: '...Kashmir's conflict is not about India, Pakistan or independence. It is a war between the God of (Syed Ali Shah) Geelani and the God of the secularists...'
Correct.
Except that there is nothing like Geelani's God. There is only one God, and Allah is His name. And there is no other 'God' of the secularists, for them there is only the Devil. The true conflict in Kashmir, and anywhere on this earth, is between the forces of Good, and the forces of Evil, between the followers of Allah, and those who are instruments of the Devil.
In a situation where a government in power ensures, encourages, and facilitates activities that are against the very basic tenets of Islam, where an 'elected' government claims to belong to the people, yet turns a blind eye to their daily sufferings, where those who wish to establish the rule of Allah over the people are either dead, dying, or in jail, you answer the question: Who is the hand of the Devil?
Henry Thoreau said, "Under a government which imprisons any unjustly, the true place for a just man is also a prison." And you have the answer to why we want freedom, and from whom we want freedom!