Today, August 15, 2020, is Independence Day, and we are celebrating 73 years of freedom. Yes, the Independence Day is inextricably linked to freedom from British colonial rule. The word ”freedom” comes from an Old English word ‘freodom’ ― a state of emancipation, liberty, or free will. Freedom gives us the ability to act or think without restrictions. In both politics and ethics, freedom is recognised as one of the fundamental universal rights of humanity.

While the word freedom has connotations that are more personal, independence refers also to group activities. It is about self-government and self-support and refers to the fact of not depending on others or another. An old English word for independence was ‘selfdom’.

Independence or freedom is, indeed very necessary for our growth and upliftment.  Those born after India’s independence in 1947, often take the freedom that comes from being without the shackles of foreign rule for granted. They can neither imagine the plight of Indians under British rule nor the exhilaration of being free from it.

The author with Maulana Wahiduddin Khan

When I met Maulana Wahiduddin Khan Sahab at his residence in Nizamuddin, Delhi, on May 5, 2018 to present him copies of my book, How to Create Miracles in Our Daily Life, in which he had written six articles, he said, “On the midnight of August 14-15, 1947, I felt like my feet had grown wings and I was flying freely like a bird in the sky. I have never ever been so happy and excited in my life like that night. It was the happiness of freedom.”

Yes, freedom and happiness are linked together and feed on each other, as much as peace and happiness are hitched with each other, like inseparable twins. But for freedom to be real, effective and meaningful, there are some preconditions that need to be met. There are certain factors that inhibit and restrict freedom. When these creep into our society, 73 years of sustained freedom can disappear in a jiffy.

When there is fear, there is no freedom. Where there is inequality, there is no freedom. When the poor are getting poorer and the rich richer, there is no freedom. Where there is discrimination, there is no freedom. Where there is conflict, there is no freedom. Where there is division, there is no freedom. Where communities are categorised on the basis of numbers, there is no freedom. To put it more simply, when a free India goes by labels of majority and minority, there is no freedom.

From my name, Oswald Pereira, it appears that I am a Christian, and, therefore, from the minority community. That’s how my brothers and sisters from this great country would generally identify me. But nothing could be further from the truth, which is not always what it appears to be. I am neither a Christian by practice nor from the so-called minority community going by numbers. I neither practise the Christian faith and rituals nor do I fit into the straight-jacket of a member of the minority community.

Yes, I do believe in Christ. But that doesn’t really make me a Christian. Christ was not Christian, but his believers called themselves Christian. I believe in Sri Krishna, too. But that doesn’t make me a Hindu, because Krishna never called Himself a Hindu. His followers, though, call themselves Hindu. I have no quibble about that, because that’s the freedom they have and have had, before and after Independence.

In my childhood, my school days, my college days, in my working days and now in my retirement years, I always felt a part of the whole of India, my name and the religion that I was born into, notwithstanding. I never ever felt in the minority ― nor did I feel it necessary to join the so-called majority ― because I was always accepted, the way I am. I have always felt a sense of happy belonging.

This feeling of belonging to the whole, rather than a number called the minority or the majority, is the real meaning of freedom. This is what a free India is all about ― a kind, compassionate and all-inclusive nation of equal men and women and children.


Oswald Pereira, a senior journalist, has also written eight books, including The Newsroom Mafia, Chaddi Buddies, The Krishna-Christ Connexion, How to Create Miracles in Our Daily Life and Crime Patrol: The Most Thrilling Stories. Oswald is a disciple of Paramhansa Yogananda, and practises Kriya Yoga.

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