Freedom, perhaps the world’s most celebrated word. In the name of freedom, revolutions have occurred, nations have been built, and many sacrifices have been made. Every year somewhere in the world, a country celebrates its independence with honour and zeal. Yet amid all these celebrations, one question still haunts me: is the world truly free? Are we celebrating the freedom of nations or the freedom of human beings?

Recently, we witnessed a major protest in India where Sonam Wangchuk, an engineer, educator, and climate activist, had to sit on a hunger strike only to make the government realise its accountability towards its public. He sat on a 26-day hunger strike; the question is why it took so long for the government to respond. I see him only as a human being who was just asking for his rights and holding the government accountable. The people of an independent state only want to be heard and respected. Is that too much to ask from an independent state?

This incident has created chaos in my mind: why must a citizen risk his life to make the state listen? A hunger strike is not only a protest but an act of desperation. When a person chooses hunger, he is using his own body as a final instrument to force the state to listen to him. Freedom can be achieved if the state gives priority to its public’s demands and if people are heard without doing any protests or risking their lives. 

We have always equated independence with freedom, but is it so? A country may become independent, have its government, its president, its flag, but inside the borders of this state, there will still be people who do not have freedom. The people will continue to live in fear, hunger, and injustice because these issues are not solved by........

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