I am for freedom and against anyone who wishes to curb it. This is a free country and liberty must be at the forefront of its citizens rights.

I am for the gay rights and against the moral police and the Catholic church that is against it. No legal system has the right to make it illegal for someone to be who they are.  I still do not understand why gay marriage would corrupt traditional ones.

I am for the right of Catholic church and other Christian churches to evangelize and convert. Even the Pentecostal churches that poach from traditional ones. Even the ones that use money as a bait for conversion. As long as nobody is forced to convert, it is all fair game. I am also for the more recent efforts by Sangh Parivar to reconvert some. That is also fair game.  Just know that faith is not something that can be changed forcefully; it is deep within oneself.

I am for the Danish cartoonist who drew the cartoons and Salman Rushdie and against the Imams who issued Fatwa’s against them. If your prophet is so feeble as to be destroyed by a stupid cartoon, you really have bigger problems. The same goes against the people who were against giving asylum to Taslima Nasreen. The novel Lajja has nothing against any religion, except may be bits and parts that are against the orthodoxy in Bangladesh which is a heavily oppressed and hence pathetic nation. The ideas of the novel is not even as liberal as what is mainstream in India. And the biggest shame was the UPA government who did not have the guts to offer her shelter when she came looking for shelter. Whatever happened to अतिथि देवो भव:?

I am for MF Hossein and his art and against the people who issued a Hindu version of Fatwa against him. And to my friend who asked me whether I would like it if someone drew a nude Virgin Mary: Yes sir, I would like it, you know what it already exists. I have seen art in Guggenheim and Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC that has such images. Nobody bats an eye lid. They enjoy the art.  Artistic freedom shall never be infringed. And again, shame on UPA government to fail to offer protection to a national treasure, a gifted artist of more than a generation.

I am for Dan Brown and Da Vinci Code and against the Catholic Church who opposed its release. If your faith is so feeble as a movie could destroy it, it never has a chance to survive. At least the clergy who voiced their opinion should have opened a history books and seen that the church has survived far superior powers and far superior propaganda campaigns. It was utterly shameful to see them having such little ‘faith’ in their faith. The only effect that campaign had was to have at least a few more people go and watch the movie out of sheer curiosity. The distributors must have sent a thank-you letter to CBCI after a few weeks.

I am for Mel Gibson and The Passion of Christ and against the Jewish organizations who wanted to ban the movie. The movie did not show anything more graphic than what is depicted in bible. There are more current things going around, that could cause anti-semitic sentiments if you really open your eyes.

I am for the Tibetans facing persecution in China and against the oppressive regime there. India under Nehru showed supreme leadership in human rights and support for freedom by giving asylum and support to Dalai Lama and the numerous Tibetan diaspora who exiled to India. It is sad to see the descendants of Nehru are not showing the same courage to protect freedom.

The recent incidents like chopping off someone’s hands only prove that the only way for this great nation to thrive and move forward is to let freedom flourish and not allow any forces, any religion, any ideology to lay hand on it.

Let freedom ring from the peaks of Himalayas to the Vivekananda rock in Kanyakumari.

Let freedom ring from deserts of Rajasthan to the marshes of Sunderbans.

Wherever you are, let freedom ring across this great nation.