Run away from Indian Flag

Though Indians got their freedom on 15^th August 1947, Indian Flag is still not free.  It is chained with sanctity, incarcerated by tradition, guarded zealously by peevish Indians whose only claim to greatness is their orthodoxy and antiquity.  Though Naveen Jindal fought to set Indian Flag free, allowing ordinary Indians to raise the flag, it still remains inaccessible to the common man.

After coming back from living abroad, it was my dream that one day I will keep the Indian flag high and big at my workplace.  Hearing that a common man can now raise the flag even at nights, we raised the Indian Flag on the 15^th August and decided to keep it aloft on a tall mast for all times to come, brimming with pride.  That lasted just one day. 

The next day the police swooped onto us and asked us to remove it – they were not aware of the new flag code nor do they want to hear it from us.  When I checked the flag code and recent updates, it says that if you intend to keep it up in the night, then it should be ‘well-illuminated’.  Now, there enters the subjectivity – ‘well-illumination’.  What does that mean? The police, which was bent on denying this right to us, has an upper hand there.   Since he doesn’t want the flag up there, he does not agree that it is ‘well-illuminated’.  Try arguing with the local police what ‘well-illumination’ means. 

So, in effect, such stupid clauses deterred us from keeping it on the mast.  We removed it the next day and decided not to tamper with such sanctified symbols ever again, because such acts only allow the police from harassing us again. 

Freedom from silly prosecutions

Freedom also means freedom from frivolous prosecution and stupid litigations.  By giving one a freedom, you are saying that you can have this right, free from persecution, free from state intervention, free from fellow man’s weak sensibilities and insecurities.   You are basically letting the man have his freedom without getting bothered incessantly by the peevish Indians. 

MF Husain was hounded by these peevish Indians using archaic and antiquated laws which sought to protect the religion from the common man’s criticism and caricature.  The entire fight for human rights, self-determination, democracy, is founded on the principle to protect the common man from the onslaught of powerful institutions like religion and state, and here we are reversing it all in one go by inheriting the laws framed during colonial times. 

Sania Mirza was hounded by frivolous litigations when one photographer thought it was a cool idea to frame the national flag in the foreground with Sania Mirza’s feet in the background.  Instead of rejecting such photographic illusions, peevish Indians went overboard to protect that innocuous plastic flag that was many meters away from the defiled feet of Sania Mirza.

Now, a local court has issued non-bailable arrest warrant against Sushma Swaraj for dishonoring the national flag.  So what actually happened?  Well, one little girl got dressed up as ‘Bharat Matha’ and she held a small flag in her hand, but it was ‘upside down’.  Oh My God! What a sin, what blasphemy?  How dare this little girl hold Indian Flag upside down?  And how dare Sushma Swaraj not notice it?  Sushma Swaraj should have reprimanded the girl for committing such a big crime.  Definitely she should have corrected it right away.  Now, that she has not done what she was supposed to do as Indian, she is issued non-bailable arrest warrant for disrespecting the flag.

Sounds silly?  Not really. 

Many Indians don’t find it silly.  They are used to so many caste based rituals, like washing right hand first and then left hand, or taking the prasad only with right hand, and so on, that they think that the whole life is about rituals, doing the mundane and completely irrelevant things in the exactly prescribed way, and if for some reason, you don’t do it the right way, it is considered a sin.   Would you go to hell if you eat prasad with left hand?  ‘May be, you do.  Why take a risk?  But such habits should be shunned, and if needed, a non-bailable arrest warrant should be issued against that person for showing disrespect to our greatest Indian culture’.

Recently, someone filed a petition against Kapil Sibal because he was seated next to a minister from Mozambique to sign an agreement.  So what’s wrong with that?  Well, there was a flag in front of them where it was upside down.  Just because you failed to pay attention when you are next to a flag, you can be prosecuted. 

Take back the flag

Why give the flag to us when you can prosecute us with such silly allegations.  Instead, please take the flag back; put it in a museum.  Keep it on a pedestal, or keep it chains, but please keep it away from the reach of the mere mortals like us.  Let’s go back in time and pray to our flag, and call it mother, call it goddess, and keep it away from all of us in dark sanctorum in the temples.  We don’t want the National Flag in our lives if we are to be constantly afraid of silly prosecutions and frivolous litigations. 

Next time you see an Indian Flag at a ceremony, just skip it.  God knows which peevish Indian is trying to capture a picture with you next to it and use it to prosecute you.  To be really free, Indians should shun the Indian Flag completely and run away from it as soon as one appears on the scene.  Teach your kids not to hold the national flag, not to go near them.  The way you warn the kids not to go near dangerous animals, prepare your kids for the future – warn them from holding national flags or going near them.  

Run away from the Flag. Be Safe.