Our Freedoms: Essays and Stories from India's Best Writers

by Nilanjana Roy

I asked a student who is now behind bars on charges of terrorism for his speech during the citizenship protest, a speech that spoke of pluralism and humanity, ‘Why do you do what you do?’ He answered, ‘Do we have a choice?’ Given a choice this student activist would yet again risk his comfortable life for the cause of freedom and justice. Each day in India is a slide into majoritarianism; each day in the country is an attack on our personal liberty. Each day in this country is an attack on the believers of love targeted through vile allegations of love jihad. Each day is an assault on our mental health as our news channels conduct a medieval witch hunt against women they hate. But fight we must. To quote Martin Luther King, ‘I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word.’