That James Bond movie, ah! That's "License to Kill", is it? Silence too can be a subtle license to kill. It's more than a license, it is in a way a privilege and a power to not speak. Especially when it is needed the most. It is a license to be OK with the atrocities happening to the underprivileged. It is a permit to be quiet - selectively and conveniently - about the glaring reality of bullying and injustice to those who can't speak or are not allowed to speak.
Who gets this license? And how? For someone like me who is born male in an upper-caste Indian house, is already on the highest percentile of privileges. As a child, I got open doors to a good school, any temple and all the playgrounds. As a young man, access to clubhouses, entry to discos and permits to bars. I can wear what I want, go where I want to and stay out till the time I wish to. No one ever asked, no one stopped.
There is no problem with this nurturing. It is for only a selected few based on their caste and gender. The bigger problem is the lack of empathy and understanding of the world experienced by those who won't get these 'powers'. The inability to see the pain and agony of those who are suppressed for no fault of theirs. This license to be silent is as dangerous as the license to kill.
The inability to see the pain and agony of those who are suppressed for no fault of theirs. This license to be silent is as dangerous as the license to kill.
We can always choose to forbid the privilege to be silent. By being cognizant of the future of our next generations, by being responsible for our own actions and behaviours and by being accountable for our self-expression, to our freedom to speak. No silence there, please.
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