Recalling John Locke's thought experiment of 'Locked Room', imagine a person is sitting in a room with a friend. Unknown to him is that the room is locked. Unaware of his confinement, he continues the conversation freely. But what if he realises that the room is locked, would he prefer to still stay? Locke opined that the person in the room is free as he wants to stay and converse. Therefore, this is freedom, as the person can act according to his will. Other theorists questioned Locke's perception and defined real freedom as the availability of possibilities rather than mere satisfaction. The world is teemed with locked rooms, spaces where, as in Orwell's words, the individuals are free to be drunkards, idlers, cowards, backbiters, fornicators, but not free to think for themselves. The Indian Occupied region of Jammu and Kashmir is analogous to a locked room, where the populace is aware of the locks on their thoughts, speech, expression and assembly.

Kashmir is a place where most........

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