When I stepped into the plane aisle at King Khalid Aiport, escaping Saudi Arabia for the last time in my life (hopefully!), I felt exhilarated, euphoric; wanted to raise my arms up in the air, thump my fists and celebrate, much like a goal scorer. I was just happy to fly away from the most restricted country in the world, where the list of ‘Do Nots’ exceed the list of ‘Dos’. Coming from the largest democracy of the world, i.e. India, I feel offended very quickly if I am instructed to follow absurd rules laid down by monarchy. As they say, you understand the true value of something when it is taken away from you and this particular trip made me realise the value of personal freedom and liberty very quickly! And that got me thinking, why is personal freedom important?
Let’s divide personal freedom into three
parts, the first being moral freedom,
i.e. having the liberty of doing what fits into your moral compass. As citizens
of any country, we want to choose what is right for us and what is not. For
example is it morally wrong for a single lady to walk on the street in a burkha?
Is it wrong for a lady to speak to or walk with a person who's not her
husband/family member. Most people would argue that freedom of movement is a
fundamental right. Apparently not in Saudi! As a single man, if you are not
allowed to walk into a park because it's reserved for families it can be a real
put off, especially if you like open spaces.
Second being religious freedom, which is the freedom of following any religion
or faith or no religion at all. Religion is a deeply personal choice and cannot
be enforced through beef bans/moral cow police in India. Similarly it cannot be
enforced in Saudi Arabia by banning other religions, closing down shops and establishments
five times a day for prayers or through death sentences for atheists!
The third is legal freedom, which is having the right of fair trial, right of
being heard or right to fair legislation. If you are driving in the fear that
jumping a traffic signal might land you in jail or with a hefty fine or
breaking any law could make you lose your head or worse lose your body parts,
you would argue that there is no freedom at all!
So how do Saudi's survive, you ask? Like
Goa is a paradise for India, Bahrain is an Arabian paradise with bounty of
booty, booze and a massive party circuit. Next time if you go to a party in
Bahrain and find a lot of chicks by the name 'Abdulrehman' don't be surprised,
it's just an odd nickname its hookers have adopted. Bahrain is flooded with
Saudis every weekend where they party like there is no tomorrow. And although
it's a known fact that Saudis' let go of their veil there, they prefer it this
way, since whatever happens is outside their country. The universal three sins
of life of Sharab, Shabab and Kebab applies here as well (surprising, considering
that they are so religious and pray five times a day).
In every country, its citizens today
value their freedom to live, speak, believe, pray, preach, express as per their
own will and it can be suffocating if these rights have been trimmed or taken
away. Let's get into a bit of theory on what exactly is liberty or freedom?
Freedom is a state of being capable
of making decisions without external control. Liberty, on the other hand, would
include the right to life, right of speech, freedom of press, right to express,
freedom of association and freedom of belief. According to the Concise
Oxford Dictionary of Politics, liberalism is "the belief that it is the
aim of politics to preserve individual rights and to maximize freedom of
choice.
Point is that in a lot of countries,
especially those led by monarchs, these rights have been curtailed heavily or
not provided to the people. These include Saudi Arabia, North Korea, and Kuwait
amongst many others. The citizens in such countries do not have these liberties
which democracies like USA, UK, Australia, India, etc. enjoy.
The great philosopher Aristotle
beautifully describes the above argument about 350 years Before Christ where he
says that liberty is closely linked with democracy; it means a man should live
as he likes. Another characteristic of democracy he mentions is when men are to
be ruled by none, if possible, or, if this is impossible, to rule and be ruled
in turns; and so it contributes to the freedom based upon equality. In fact,
the modern concept of political liberty has its origins in the Greek concepts
of freedom. To be free, to the Greeks, was to not have a master, to be independent
from a master (to live like one likes); that was the original Greek concept of
freedom.
If I have learnt something after several
Saudi visits this year, is to value the freedom that I otherwise take for
granted, back in my homeland. Last but not the least; we should thank our
forefathers, our past leaders for adapting secularism and liberalism and empowering citizens to exercise their freedom!
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