Freedom of Speech and Expression V/S Human Rights

Freedom of Speech is defined as the basic right of every human to be able to voice out their opinions, take the stand that they want to without any fear of being oppressed. However, one always has to ask should there be boundaries drawn at some points also in favor of the highly debated case of how much of free speech should be allowed?

In the current world scenario, there are certain restrictions put by the government on the freedom of speech and expression. Anybody is allowed to have an opinion, however, the opinion that you have should not, in any way, be offensive to someone else on the basis of their caste, creed, race, culture or religion.

Censorship is one phenomena that is in support of the restrictions on freedom of speech and expression. In India, any movie that is against someone’s beliefs is censored or banned. That also results in the public asking, “What are the standards for censorship?” Because the truth is, in an era of diverse mindsets and way of functioning, there is a diverse range of opinions that can be found. If a person is telling the truth but it still offends a certain section of the society, people will be on the streets to remove the content. There is no freedom of speech anymore, everything depends on compliance to sects of people who have higher magnitude of influence in their immediate sphere of area.

Internationally, there have been too many cases where if someone uses their right to freedom of speech, either they have been silenced by removing their content of forced to be silent by threats and attacks. The Charlie Hebdo shooting that happened in Paris in 2015 was one of the cases that is a testament to the attempts that run in the world to force people to silence their opinions for calling out the extreme aspects of the human-divided world. The shootings left twelve dead and eleven others injured over a cartoon that was published in its earlier issue criticizing Prophet Muhammad. On analyzing this case, we find ourselves posed with a question, “How much freedom is allowed in having an opinion?”

The impact of the Charlie Hebdo shootings were immense in the world. Nations were left stunned, people in the west were reeling from the idea that maybe they no longer had the complete freedom to have an opinion and enjoy satire. The ‘free world’ of the West clashed heavily with the conservative values of the East.

But when we think about it, the major clash was over the freedom of speech and human rights. Why? Because the journalists working in Charlie Hebdo had compete freedom to express their opinion but so were the conservative values adhering people of the East because whatever they believe in, they choose to do so and it is their basic human right to exercise their beliefs. The major problem that needs to be addressed is that people must learn to respect human rights if they decide to exercise their right to freedom of speech and if they exercise their human rights to be able to adhere to their faith, they must respect the right others have of freedom of speech.

But no matter what we do or where we see, these two rights will always clash because there exists no mutual respect among both the parties; everyone believes what they do is right and do anything they want because they think they have a right to, however, we must realize, those who violate others rights have no right to possess rights of their own.

Iblis

Iblis. This word tends to strike terror into the hearts of many. More commonly known as the Devil, Iblis is Lucifer, the fallen angel who was once the God's favourite but fell from grace because of his disobedience.

When he waged a war against Heaven, the angels who sided with him were banished too and just for Iblis, hell as a realm was created so that he would be tormented in the fires forever.

When he became the serpent and offered Eve the fruit of knowledge, he convinced God that humans are just another fragile species and struck a bargain that he would be the one to strike terror into their heart in order to keep the line that should never be crossed.

Even today, we hear stories of how Iblis still walks amongst us, but in different disguises but always whispering in our ear to do what is wrong. Quran teaches us to be vigilant about this threat and also teaches that humans should never listen to evil but instead should follow the words of the Prophet and Allah. 

Oppression of the Minority, The Unintended Intention

As a part of the society, we have always come across terms like 'minority' and 'majority'. The most simple explanation of this is groups of people that side for something. For example, if there is a discussion on homosexuality, the minority supports it whereas the majority as still against it.

When this is applied to religion, minorities are the people belonging to a certain group that practises a certain religion but does not fall in the majority population of the country. For example, in India, people who practise Islam are minorities whereas the ones who practise Hinduism are considered to be majorities.

When any politician comes to power (in the context of India), most of them seem to manipulate certain communities to their will. This phenomena has been labelled as vote banks. From Rajiv Gandhi with the Babri Masjid case to Narendra Modi with the Godra riots case (A/N: unproven till date), each of these famous politicians have attempted to remain in power through the pleasing of certain vote banks and oppressing the other half.

This has created an environment where oppression is permanent, the only difference is who is on the other end of the short stick depending on the one currently in power. 

Enforcing Popular Culture in Society

Popular culture or simply 'pop culture', is everything that is trending. From music to art to dresses to makeup, pop culture includes the choice of the majority of the people.

But how exactly does it become the choice of the majority of the people? Since we are taught that everybody is different and opinions and choices will always vary; how can we wrap our heads around the idea that there is a majority in the world that likes the same kind of music or art or such?

According to me, this is what basically is the enforcing of popular culture in the society. Enforcing popular culture is when somebody is coerced or pushed into liking something that they naturally wouldn't like just because 'everybody' likes it. There is a specific term used for this, i.e. "Jumping on the bandwagon."

In my previous blog, I talked about acceptance and how humans crave for it from the day that they start having consciousness. Every human has a pathological need to be loved and accepted for what they are and when they do not get it, they fake who they are to receive that love. This is what coerces them into pop culture.

Because let's be honest, hearing Bob Dylan sing only a sentence of Tambourine Man is something everybody would choose over hearing the same word on the same beat over and over again, but are too scared to say it out loud.

Hence, this is how popular culture is slowly creeping into most of the facets of the society and enforcing itself upon various generations. 

Acceptance in Society

From a very young age, we are taught one thing. "Human beings are social animals." This is very true. From the age of the hunters to the age of technology and development today, what we can see is settlements and communities and societies.

But if you think about it, what exactly is a society? The definition varies from person to person because society is a large umbrella term that not only includes people, it includes customs, culture and traditions as well. As a member of a certain society, you and me, we are expected to conduct ourselves in certain ways.

During the time of ancient civilisations, man reached for innovation because of an era of peace and need. When new developments were made, we had enough courage to try it out before putting up a label or a judgement. When exactly did all of it go wrong?

In today's time, it is clear that the major thing that any society lacks, whether it's a western liberal society or an eastern, more orthodox society, most of the humans lack acceptance. They refuse to accept new ideas and change. Simply because they do not know about it yet. Now, this goes both ways because the acceptance lacks not only on the outside, but on the inside as well. We are too scared to accept our own beliefs and thoughts which creates a vicious cycle of emotions such as envy, greed and leads to the lack of courage.

Acceptance is the key to have a progressive society. As humans, it is out first and foremost duty to accept and adapt to circumstances.
Taking note on the direction that the society is going on in right now, I pray that we find the courage to finally accept, both within and without. 

Epic Stories

Every culture has its own treasure trove of stories. As somebody who has always been thirsty for the knowledge of stories, I have managed to research many stories on my own ranging from different religions to civilisations.

I am intrigued majorly by Greek and Roman mythology along with the stories of Nordic and Egyptian myths. However, with the introduction of a subject called Intercultural Communication,  I have rediscovered the epic stories from my own culture which I have read and re-read from a very young age.

These stories include the formation of Kathmandu as a valley, the instatement of Kal Bhairav as the valley's protector, the stories of the living Goddess of Nepal along with other epic stories such as the Ramayana and the Mahabharata.

The first story that I mention, i.e. the formation of Kathmandu as a valley is a story every young child living in Kathmandu is taught from a young age. It was said that Kathmandu Valley was once a large lake with hills all around it and a beautiful, divine lotus grew in the middle of the lake. One day, Manjushri, the great Bodhisattva was travelling through the land when he saw the lotus in the middle of the lake and noticed the divine light it emitted. So with his burning sword, he cut a gorge through the hills of Chovar and drained the water. Where the lotus settled, the great Swayambhunath Stupa was created and the valley was fit for habitation.

These kinds of stories make me realise how powerful stories really are. The belief that stories hold is something that is passed down from generations to generations which is an act which is beautiful in itself.

Just imagine, these are the stories our ancestors listened to. These are the stories we are listening to. And these are the stories that our future generations will listen to. So it is safe to say that stories really shape the culture and practice of any society.

Ethnocentrism

Through the course of life, we learn a lot of things. But few have really stumbled across the term, 'ethnocentrism' and what it truly refers to.

The basic definition of ethnocentrism can be given as the belief that people of certain religion, culture, caste or creed have, that their culture and beliefs is greater and far more superior than anybody else's.

How wrong is this belief? A lot, I say.

Why?

Because the greatest philosophy that life teaches us regardless of our religion is that everybody on this Earth is equal. Nobody is big or small just because they follow a certain way of life.

The major reason why such beliefs are propagated is because of both, the believers and the ones who come under its influence. I say this because if there are no people who believe that a certain culture is superior then no culture will actually be superior. This, however, is not the case when it comes to laws and governance, like what we see in Israel and Palestine.

It is because of ethnocentrism that I believe wars happen. World War II is a major example. If Hitler didn't believe and propagate the belief that Jews are inferior, the Holocaust would never exist as a blot in human history.

Ethnocentrism will always exist on some level, no matter how much advanced and liberal we become because it is human nature to protect that what is close to us. So I believe to eradicate this issue from the society, one needs to learn how to open themselves to new experiences and how to receive and filter criticisms. If this happens, truly, the world will be a much more peaceful place.