FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION

Freedom of expression is an expression of freedom. Freedom is a privilege quite precious. Like any other privilege, freedom also warrants observing some civic norms and rules. Only nomadic and psychotic can afford to pay no heed to the norms of society.
Modern means of transportation and modes of communications have gradually submerged the isolated pockets of human societies into a global community. Electronic media has further enabled human populations to interact freely across the globe. Due to mass communication, geo political and cultural demarcations remained no longer fine and well defined.
Right from Antarctica to Timbuktu human population has now opted to live, at least intellectually, in a community called global village. Village is a concept. Contrary to smoky and hazy urban environment, villages have an air of transparency. Virtually everyone knows who is who and who is up to what. No one remains anonymous in a village.
To make this global village more livable and lovable place to inhabit, there we need to learn a civic sense that ensures the mutual respect and regard of the inhabitants of this virtual world. It is the hospitality and not the hostility that should be the norm of the global village. Only civic population of the village can lay down the rules of freedom of expressions. Rest of the folk may consider the naked expression of vulgarity a “freedom” of “expression”. Hues of nobility become visible only where vulgarity fades out.
Civic sense is like road sense. I may own a car and its horn of my own choice, but the road I move on, is a public property. Auditory threshold of tolerance of noise is also a public judgment. While driving, expressing my personal mood is, sometimes not permissible. If someone gets hurt due to wavy and noisy driving, my freedom of driving may come to a halt.
As I throttle my way on the super-highway of information, the importance of civic sense unfolds to be many folds. This route is open and interactive round the clock and it en-routes around globe. It is important to surf the internet safely without making an accident. When uploaded, words and images, moving or still, move with a speed that can supersede the range of trans-continental missiles. If deployed unwisely, words may prove to be potential WMD (weapon of mass destruction). Any surfer addicted to thrill and with a fever of having over-night fame can trigger the ballistics of hatred and chaos.
To be read, one does not have to be a writer now. Simply push few strokes of your key board and you are being read throughout the world. Right now when I am typing a sentence in my lap top connected to a modem, I am responsible and at the same time answerable to the temperaments and sentiments of six billion human beings. What a freedom to experience, and what a responsibility to share!!
With freedom comes responsibility. Civic sense teaches me to protect the rights of others even at the cost of my own freedom. The rule is simple, whenever there is a situation of choice between expression of my personal freedom versus safety and sentiments of public at large, I will have to surrender my personal freedom. Willful surrender of right is called a sacrifice. Rules are not regulations. Moral rule is a matter of insight. If we cannot enchain the beast within, global civilization becomes endangered.
In a civilized society, freedom costs lot of self-constraints. A wise man from the West put it very rightly “Your freedom of waving your stick ends where my nose starts”. It implies that freedom of expression if starts hurting others, may amount to be violence.
Extremism is a threat to a civilized society. Extremism has no boundaries and no religion. From Kabul to New York, extremists are there doing their job with “missionary” spirit. Almost a decade ago few “religious” extremists disfigured the historical monuments of Buddha in Afghanistan. Their sadistic and terrorist act created a shock wave across the globe. The religious sentiments of Far Eastern population were bruised by this brutality. World witnessed millions of devotees of Buddha crying with tears as they watched on their television screens, signs and symbols of their religion being disgraced. Extremism is growing like a mushroom. World is facing still another creed of extremists who are, too, a potential threat to the world peace. They are “constitutional” fundamentalist; they occupy cyber-space and busy in sabotaging the monuments of history. They humiliate the signs of nobility using high-tech interactive gadgets of communications. Virtually they are involved in social violence.
As the globe is dwindling between two groups of extremists, world peace is in danger. One group raises religious slogans that are totally out of context of the teachings of religion and exploits the religious sentiments of common folk; the others are liberal fundamentalists who are bent on injuring common man’s religious sentiments. Both the groups have a tunnelled vision and fixed ideas. Religious extremists “believe”____ I am right without doubt; and you are wrong because you do not agree to what I believe.” Constitutional fundamentalists, on the other hand, have a very “strong argument”: ___ “If there is no enacted law that declares trespassing as an offence, I have right to trespass any one’s lawn; and if the owner of property objects, he is violating my right of freedom to walk”. Naturally mission statement of both the creeds of extremists remains the same ____ “shoot at first sight”.
In this era of information technology, let no terrorist or Terry burn the book of sanctity that belongs to humanity. Let no baseless or faceless person ignite the fire of hatred and hell by disfiguring the objects of love of a community.
Global warming will become too fast, much before the ozone layer gets depleted, if we do not stop adding fuel to burning sentiments of those who are disturbed by our self defined freedom of expression. If I am not listening to those I am hurting, I am literally committing an act of violence. Freedom of expression can never be synonym with expression of “Might is right”. Civilization means migration from “Might is right” notion to that of “Right is might”. Until and unless “Right is might” becomes a norm, global civilization and peace will remain a dream to be awaited long.
The key factor of global peace and harmony is to regard each-other’s embodiments of love. The person whom you love is sanctified. Similarly social customs, geographical area, era, events and belongings of the beloved also become sacred.
Global peace is a composite mosaic comprising of multiple strips of different colours from various parts of the world. That is why the world is colourful. Discarding or disregarding a single colour will mar the mural of world peace. If someone claims to be religious, he must show a sign of recognition to other religions. If someone is claimant of secular thought, he may take religion a matter of love affair of humanity with a personality of the past. It is the bond of love that bridges the present with the past. Love is a blood that gushes forth in our jugular vein and becomes a prime cause of life; if bruised, leads to bloodshed.
Thought is articulated in the form of word. Word is a working map of action. Harmony of thoughts is the building block of civilization; it aims at peace with IN and around. An individual is with IN a society and society is AROUND him. IN and AROUND together surround peace.
Peace stems from with IN; if there is no peace with IN, there is no peace with OUT. If peace of mind is disrupted, global peace become disturbed. It requires a lot of saints and sentiments to build a monument of peace with-in. Disregarding sentiments of individuals is a direct threat to world peace. Disrespect to saints and Prophets is even a bigger threat. History provides the proof. No matter followers of a religion practice the teachings of the religion or not, they hardly compromise with the notion of disrespect to their saints and teachers. Religion or belief is an emotional asset of human being. Nobody welcomes a stranger who attempts to trespass his property, what about the sacred assets of religions, books of religions and the pioneers of religions?
Prophets are the noblest human beings on earth; they are the hallmarks of the greatness of humankind. Prophets are monuments of history. We still date our calendars with reference to our prophets. In fact our time line starts with Prophets. Disgraceful gestures to these monuments of nobility will prove to be a suicidal attack on the noblest part of humanity. These gestures are, in itself proof of arrogance and perversion. Embodiments of humanity are to be loved, to be adored and to be respected; and not to be mocked and ridiculed. Prophets must be regarded much more than the World Common Heritage, as past is an asset of all humanity. Past is present’s heritage. To preserve this common heritage, UNESCO should take serious step for the sake of future generations. All the nations of the world ought to vote unanimously to preserve these mile stones of humanity. UNO must take this agenda as World Peace Mission. If law of defamation (Law of Torts) holds good for a living personality, it must hold true for the personality living in the heart of humanity. It is food for thought for intellectuals and legislators having international vision and for those social activists who are seriously striving for world peace. “Respect for all and hatred to none” should be part of syllabi of the students’ right from the kindergartens to university campuses all over the world. No community should consider itself “wise” enough to fool around other communities.
“O ye, who believe! Let not some men among you laugh at others: It may be that the (latter) are better than the (former): Nor let some women laugh at others: It may be that the (latter are better than the (former): Nor defame nor be sarcastic to each other, nor call each other by (offensive) nicknames: Ill-seeming is a name connoting wickedness, (to be used of one) after he has believed: And those who do not desist are (indeed) doing wrong.” (QURAN 49 : 11)

Dr. Azhar Waheed.
Writer, coloumnist and Editor "The Wasif Khayal".

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