Freedom cannot be awarded and attained by mere rhetoric of sloganeering or by guarantees in written constitutions of nations.

Besides political freedom, each and every human has the natural right to their aspirations and expressions. Only then would everyone be empowered to enjoy the bliss of a healthy and productive lifestyle, whose components are emotional, mental, psychological health. Freedom to practice the religion, faith, belief, tradition, custom, rituals of their liking is equally paramount.

 Freedom of thought and expression is the natural birthright of all. The practices of amnesty and of diplomatic immunity are really very abhorrent, as these undermine the very premise and concept of human rights.

Freedom is important for all humans, as it is their birthright. If the person or group at the helm of affairs of a government so decides, then freedom could, easily, be denied under a monarchy, oligarchy, dictatorship, fiefdom, aristocracy, autocracy and dictatorial firms of governance. The dictum of ‘Live and let Live’ gets thrown to the winds. Domination and discrimination of all varieties becomes rampant, rather it is the order of the day, if I may put it, succinctly. Anarchy rules the roost, in such circumstances.

Freedom could even be denied under the best-known form of government, which is a democracy. However, verily this best form could be transformed into the worst, when a government, duly elected by the people, eventually, turns out to be worse than invading armies.

And, sometimes, the road to power itself could be murky and replete with manipulative mechanisms like rigged elections, in which scenario it is an easy passage or transition to the seat or throne, when all those in the corridors of power become subservient to forces of subversion and subjugation. The bureaucracy, of course, would naturally tend to toe the line, usually, with some rare exceptions, when a dissenting top bureaucrat would resign in protest or he may be subjected to a sudden and remote-region transfer-order or may, even, be penalized with a demotion, or his service may be terminated and he could, even, be jailed. Then, it can, easily be termed as a Democratic Militarized State. The scenario becomes really destructive, when the judiciary and media get aligned with the destructive and corrupt executive and legislature.

The title of Divine Kingship can well be used while discussing Persian Emperor Cyrus the Great and Sikh Emperor Maharaja Ranjit Singh, both of whom stand out amongst the Greatest rulers, whotreated their subjects with fair play, equality, justice, respect and benevolence. Wisdom was their hallmark.

Tirthankar Mahavir, Buddha (who was Prince Siddhartha Gautam) Saint Kabir Sahib, Sheikh Farid Sahib all preached fairplay and freedom for all, thereby enabling them to actualize their creative and academic pursuits. Freedom of thought and expression is the natural birthright of all. The practices of amnesty and of diplomatic immunity are really very abhorrent, as these undermine the very premise and concept of human rights.

Besides political freedom, each and every human has the natural right to their aspirations and expressions. Only then would everyone be empowered to enjoy the bliss of a healthy and productive lifestyle, whose components are emotional, mental, psychological health. Freedom to practice the religion, faith, belief, tradition, custom, rituals of their liking is equally paramount.

Guru Nanak Ji, The Enlightened Preceptor traversed various continents, covering 27000 miles in 25 years of his 70-year sojourn on this planet, fostering Goodwill amongst divergent races, traditions, cultures, religions. He was the pioneer, enunciating the cause of Inter-Religious Peace and Harmony. His Tenets emphasize upon truthful living, humility, liberty, equality, justice, compassion, honest earning, serving the needy selflessly and protecting the weak and the meek. All this, he said would be tantamount to a Divine Life and real, true, actual worship and attainment of GOD and fulfillment of the purpose of human-birth. Guru Nanak was on a Divine Mission. He was a Spiritual Maestro, a Renaissance-Man, a Crusader for Interreligious Amity, an extraordinary social-reformist much ahead his era and yet he utters the absolute Truth that “he is, what he is, only because of the Gracious Mercy of The Almighty and he is nothing without GOD.” In other words, Divine Guru is teaching humanity to embrace humility,

Guru Nanak reformed several tyrannical rulers, vociferously advocated human rights and women’s rights, brought about social revolution, by speaking out against slavish mentality, superstitious beliefs, hollow ritualistic practices, religious bigotry and suppression of the downtrodden social and economic classes.

Two of the ten Gurus had to take up arms, to protect the masses from the extreme persecution and tyranny of the ruling elite. The sixth Guru Hargobind Sahibji and the tenth Guru Gobind Singhji, with their disciples were the Saint Warriors. The fifth Guru Arjan Sahibji and the ninth Guru Tegh Bahadur Sahibji embraced martyrdom, for refusing to follow the diktat of the barbaric regime. Such events forced the sixth and tenth Gurus to raise a martial force, the army named The Khalsa.  Guru Nanak Sahibji enunciated the Divine Tenets thus: “Human interactions must be replete with *Divine-Love & Godly-Light*, Lifelong-Learning, Humanitarian-Service, Spirit-of-Sharing, Peace, Amity, Goodwill, Tolerance, Harmonious Coexistence, Acceptance and Understanding. He traveled far and wide, to have discussions with Saints professing divergent faiths and he collected their spiritual poetry to be included in The Scripture, Guru Granth Sahib Ji, much later, by his fifth embodiment, Guru Arjan Sahib Ji.

Similarly, the Divine teachings of Sree Ram Chandra, Sree Krishna, Moses, Jesus, Hazrat Mohammed, Gautam Buddha, Tirthankar Mahavir and all Prophets are for the entire humanity and not merely for those who say they are the followers of a particular Prophet. All Prophets were expansive in their Vision & Mission, and made concerted endeavors towards fostering Peace, Equality, Liberty, Justice, Compassion, by shunning all varieties of discrimination, domination, bigotry, tyranny, bias and prejudice.

Freedom cannot be awarded and attained by mere rhetoric of sloganeering or by guarantees in written constitutions of nations.

Real, true freedom shall be guaranteed, only when everyone adheres to the Divine Tenets taught by The Exalted Prophets. These teachings include refraining from self-aggrandizement about all intellect, talent, knowledge, education, comfort, luxury, power, authority, beauty, courage, alll of which we have received from GOD, as a GIFT. We must, always, be humble and remain ‘a learner for a lifetime’ and share this knowledge with all, earn honestly, serve selflessly, share compassionately, remember GOD and shun cruelty and domination. We must remember that nothing belongs to us, not even Life, which we have received on lease-basis. We must remember that death could be lurking round the corner, waiting to strike, the very next moment. By cultivating such thought, we would refrain from harming anyone.”

Imbibing such attributes would be real service to GOD, worshipping GOD, becoming GOD; not actually GOD, but feeling like GOD and feeling good about the journey. The soul must return to The Origin, in the pristine, sublime form, just as it was, when it attained this human Body-Temple. By living and loving thus, The Soul (Aatma) would enjoy eternal communion with ‘The Parent-Soul,’ GOD (Param-aatma). Living thus, is the Real, True Purpose of life. This is Mukti, Moksha, Nirvaan, Liberation, Salvation, Redemption, Emancipation. This is what can be termed as the Final, Absolute, Ultimate and True Destination, to arrive at which this Soul donned this human body-attire. Humans have the heart, with the emotion of empathy and compassion or hatred and violence, and the brain decides accordingly, asking the hands to take action and implement, execute the plan, either compassionate or evil-minded.

As Nobel-laureate, Sir Rabindranath Tagore prayed: “Where the mind is without fear and the head held high; Where knowledge is free; … Where the mind is led forward by Thee into ever-widening thought and action; Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake”.

(The author is a recipient of the Ambassador For Peace Award, from the Interreligious International Federation for World Peace, New York, Affiliated to United Nations Organization.He may be reached at Amar1Ujagar1Pritam@gmail.com)