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6 IDEAS & BELIEFS SOUTH ASIAN OBSERVER
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 03, 2017

A THOUSAND SHADES OF FREEDOM

we sing the Lord's song in a strange lamented Jean Jacques Rousseau
land?" The captives in America in the Age of Enlightenment in
answered that question by creating France.
an entirely new genre of music, the "Man is a free agent; were it
Spirituals. They sang sorrowfully, otherwise, the priests would not
"Sometimes I feel like a motherless damn him," wrote Voltaire
child a long way from home". They provocatively against the
sang thoughtfully, "Nobody knows oppression of the Church.
the trouble I've seen, nobody but he 'Long March to Freedom' -
Sehdev Jesus." They sang defiantly." O' as the title for Nelson
Kumar freedom, O' freedom, O' freedom over TMandala's struggle against
me, before I'd be a slave, I'd be buried the apartheid attests - has indeed
in my grave and go home to my god been very long and convoluted, and
Dr. Sehdev Kumar is Professor Emeritus at the and be free." it is far from over, even as we
Freedom. Liberty. Emancipation. weave new and radical strands in
University of Waterloo; he lectures on the Freedom to Love. the tapestry of freedom.
making of human civilizations world-wide. Freedom to Speak. One may ask: What all does
Historian of science and international films, he Freedom to be Silent. freedom entail for over 7,000
is author of many books, including Vision of Freedom to Rebel. million of us in the world now?
Freedom to Dream. With the freedom from oppression, does one become free
Kabir. His forthcoming book is "7000 Million
Freedom to Be! of fears that are often imbedded deep in our own hearts
Degrees of Freedom". Freedom of Expression. and minds?
Freedom of Thought. With the freedom of expression does the freedom of
E mail: kumarsehdev455@gmail.com Freedom of Choice. thought follow? With the freedom to choose, how do we
Freedom from Hunger. learn to choose freely?
www.sehdevkumar.com
Freedom from Exploitation. "Freedom for me is to be accepted the way I am," asserts
Freedom from Fear. one young man in a college in India, "and to be freed from
nce, in old Communist Freedom from Debt. all crimes and sufferings."
Yugoslavia, I saw a young Freedom from the Past. "It is cultural freedom that I want;" insists a student of
OAmerican defiantly wearing a T- Freedom from the burden of Expectations! Buddhist studies, "the right to follow my culture
shirt with the words "Freedom or Death". Freedom to criticise and to offend. independently without any fear and interference."
Soon Yugoslavia was to turn into a hell- Freedom to worship any God or no God. "Freedom for me is no encroachment," says another
hole for 'ethnic cleansing', all in the name Freedom to love anyone anywhere. youth, "not being answerable to anyone."
of freedom, unleashing hatred and Freedom to Be! "Freedom for me is to do anything," argues a youth of 18,
morbidity that might have lain dormant for centuries. Free Love. "especially being free from family and other bondage, so
In 1931, at the age of 23, young Bhagat Singh in Punjab Free Will. that I can get closer to my dreams."
died for the cause of freedom of India; in a letter he wrote: Free Trade. A 20-something café owner in Uighur in China pines for
"My life has been dedicated to the noblest cause, that of the Free Play. a taste of the West -- and some room to breathe: "I want a
freedom of the country. Therefore, there is no rest or Free for All! Starbucks so badly. Xinjiang should be like foreign
worldly desire that can lure me now." ver the past many thousand years, what other word countries, with more equal rights."
People have died and suffered for freedom for millennia. has marked the human journey with such power "Cut the Rope, and Be Free," a wise old man exhorts.
The clarion call of Patrick Henry, "Give me liberty, or give Oand passion, and with such irony and skirmish o people in the world, it must be acknowledged, are
me death!" at the Virginia Convention in 1775 is believed to than Freedom? as obsessed with the idea of freedom as a fierce
have changed the course of the Revolutionary War in In every corner of the world, for millennia millions have Nmoral force as the Americans; they carry it on
America. sought freedom from others: from the tyrants and the their sleeve; they flaunt it in their songs and banners; they
"We shall never allow the torch of freedom to be blown dictators; from the ruthless and the oppressors; from the believe they must be the torch-bearers of freedom in every
out," pledged Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru at the exploiters and the corner of the world, whatever the price.
hour of India's independence in 1947, "however high the Women from men.The landless from the In nineteenth-century America Mark Twain mused: "It
wind or stormy the tempest." landlords.Slaves from their masters.The disfranchised is by the goodness of God that in our country we have
In 1960s, Martin Luther King dreamt of freedom for his from the powerful and the privileged. those three unspeakably precious things: freedom of
people, long oppressed: Yet, the tyrants have often hidden in our own families: a speech, freedom of conscience, and the prudence never to
Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of mother-in-law here and a father there; in our offices and practice either."
Mississippi -- from every mountainside. schools, as bosses and teachers; in our prisons and We are now over 7,000 million of us on the planet, each
Let freedom ring. neighbourhoods as wardens and mafia; in our temples and one of us with fewer chains than ever before, and a
'Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are institutions as figures of religious authority and as different notion of freedom, and a different set of dreams.
free at last!' arbiters of what is right and what is wrong. We have infinite Degrees of Freedom. Each one of us is
2001, on September 16, Rev. Jeremiah Wright spoke of Sometimes they hide in our traditions and dogmas, with a world unto itself.
'The Day of Jerusalem's Fall' in USA: their accusatory finger always raised at the blasphemers. Freedom is our birthright.
The Captives in Babylon asked the question: "How shall "Man was born free, and everywhere he is in chains," How must we discover and celebrate it?

SOUTH ASIAN OBSERVER One Ontario hospital saw 4,352 patients in hallways last year
PUBLISHER : Global Media Network Inc.
(Every Friday) SAO NEWS Brampton Civic, the internal memo of what is actually needed, it just shows
EDITOR : Jaspal S Shetra TORONTO written by the CEO of the William Osler that she doesn't get it. She has let patients
he Ontario NDP released new Health System and obtained by the NDP down again and again."
REPORTERS: H.S. Dosanjh (California), information that shows between also notes an occupancy rate of 114 per The last Conservative government
SPS Chahal (Vancouver), TApril 2016 and April 2017 cent, an average of 33 admitted patients fired 6,000 nurses, closed 28 hospitals and
Ron Brar (Calgary), Brampton Civic Hospital treated 4,352 per day waiting in the ER for a bed, and over 7,000 hospital beds. The Wynne
RP Sharma (Ottawa),
Jasbir Shetra (India), patients in its hallways as a result of hallway stays of between 40 and 70 hours. Liberals have further disappointed
overcrowding. Brampton Civic's Emergency Room patients with further hospital cuts and
GENERAL MANAGER: Satwinder Brar This shocking information comes on was built to serve 90,000 visits annually, years of budget freezes. This year alone
VP (Sales & Biz Devp.) Andrew R Feldman the heels of the Wynne Liberals' feeble but last year the ER saw 138,000 visits. In the Liberal government underfunded
ADVT SALES MANAGER Munish Tegi announcement of just six temporary new the first four months of 2017, code hospitals by at least $300 million.
MKTG. MANAGER: Tarun Mehra
SALES EXECUTIVE: Ali Daredia beds for the hospital last week. gridlock was called eight times, for a total Horwath has committed to properly
GRAPHIC DESIGNERS: Hardeep Singh, Om Parkash Malik "The premier and her Liberal of 65 days. The hospital was built with 18 fund Ontario hospitals, including a
government just don't get it. They do not operating rooms, but 10 years later, two of guarantee that hospital funding will
FOR ADVERTISEMENT grasp the severity of the overcrowding those ORs have never been used, because always - at a minimum - keep up with
Email: ads@southasianobserver.com and hallway medicine crisis inside the government has not funded their inflation, population growth, and the
HEAD OFFICE: 5574 Ambler Drive, Mississauga ON. L4W 2K9 Ontario's hospitals," said Horwath. "This operation. unique health needs of each community,
Ph. #: 905-366-0108, 905-366-0109 Fax #: 905-612-7282 crisis has been years in the making, "This crisis in our hospitals is the each year. Horwath has also called for a
info@southasianobserver.com | www.southasianobserver.com caused by Liberal budget cuts and freezes result of years of cuts, underfunding, and moratorium on layoffs of nurses and
piled on top of Conservative budget cuts a stunning lack of leadership by this frontline care providers, and introduced
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all liabilities are that of the claimants. Global Media Network Inc and Punj Pani and freezes. It's absolutely disgusting that Liberal government and their a plan to create Ontario's first
and people associated with it advise readers to verify claims of claimants health care in Ontario is coming to this." Conservative predecessors," said pharmacare program, a drug plan that
before entering into any arrangement with them. All advertisements are subject
to the publisher’s approval and the advertisers agree to idemnify Global Media In addition to the 4,352 patients who Horwath. "The Wynne government's offer will cover everyone - regardless of age,
Network Inc. and the people associated with it against claims arising from were treated on hallways last year at of a few temporary beds falls so far short income or health history.
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