A former student of Jamia Millia Islamia who has been a strong voice on the freedom of speech since the time the Centre pushed through amended citizenship regime, today said the freedom was at its full flow because any one could raise “communal slogans” at will.
Aamir Aziz was at Presidency University to speak on a topic titled “Bol Ki lab, azad hain tere”, picked up from a stanza of a poem by Faiz Ahmed Faiz.
The title of the programme translates as “Speak out!Your words are free”.
The session held on the occasion of a fest “ICON”, was attended by actor Anirban Bhattacharya. The fest was organized by the IC- Independents Consolidation.
A BTech in civil engineering from Jamia, Aamir who took to poetry as a tool of protest, said this new freedom has been introduced in the country over the past six years. “To be precise, freedom of speech is nothing but a quote now,” he said.
When moderator Suman Sen, referring to the topic, sought to know whether the artists are free and independent, Aamir Aziz broke into a chuckle.
He said: “The kind of freedom of speech that we enjoy today, I don’t think so much of freedom ever prevailed in the country. These days you can abuse as much as you wish. You can raise communal slogans on the roads. You are free to do that. This new form of freedom has arrived over the past five to six years”.
“Every development pertaining to the institution, country or state is unfolding before your eyes. Freedom of speech is nothing more than a quote in our country. So there is no freedom,” said Aamir Aziz.
According to him, art was the very first thing to be attacked and it has come to such a pass that these artists love to self-censor themselves.
“Before the state censors artists, artists start to censor themselves. So this is the situation of artiste and art in India,” said Aziz who in 2020 had come to Jadavpur University and Park Circus to speak at the anti citizenship gathering.
Actor Anirban Bhatacharjee said, this curb of freedom of expression was not a latest phenomenon, but it is the part of a long process.
“Today there is no leash on the political leaders- religious leaders, anymore. They can say anything they wish. They don’t come under any censorship. Who will dare to censor them because they are speaking about religion? Aamir is singling out a time span of five to six years to denote the spike in censorship on freedom of expression. But I think it is a long process. What started as a small pimple has snowballed into a large festering wound,” said Anirban.
In response to a question whether art should reflect the time people are living in, Aamir Aziz said it is important for an artist to decide whether he or she is choosing to respond to something that is less dangerous or less consequential.
“And we are not choosing to respond to something which is more consequential. Because I refuse to understand and accept it also, any person, who has a heart or a mind, can really be happy about the violence upon some innocent in any corner of the world….Nothing gets more personal than creation of art. But being truthful is one of the parts. Otherwise it will not resonate,” he said.
A popular face in campuses across the country since the time of the citizenship protest, Aamir was asked why this resistance is “not translating into anything”.
“I hope you are understanding what I am trying to say?” asked the moderator.
“In the context of the current political time, I must say the part of hatred is much bigger and larger with a lot of money, police and guns and what not. But I think it (the resistance) is progressing. With each movement, resistance is progressing. Hatred is screaming loud, but resistance is whispering. That is how it happens. Now there is UAPA. So sedition can be slapped anytime even for spitting”, said Aamir amid a loud cheer from the green lawns of Presidency.
