Two Days, One Question
Every August 14th and 15th, two nations—Pakistan and India—mark their Independence Days. In theory, these are moments of celebration. Flags rise, anthems echo, and speeches recall the courage of those who fought for liberation. Yet beneath the pageantry lies a harder question: What do we mean by freedom, and have we truly achieved it?
Across South Asia, and indeed across the world, we inherit histories that divided us, but also songs of freedom still waiting to be sung. We remember the sacrifices made to cast off colonial rule, but we also see the freedoms that remain incomplete – freedoms from fear, hunger, injustice, and oppression.
Across the Wagah border, at a people’s peace convention in Lahore, the memory is vivid — the sharp steel fencing cutting the sky, the heavy gates, the moment when one side closed before the other opened. And yet, across that divide, one finds something profoundly simple: in both countries, the soil feels the same underfoot; in the markets, the same spices fill the air; in kitchens, the same recipes simmer; on people’s tongues, the same languages dance. Most importantly, the people are welcoming and affectionate, carrying in their eyes the same yearning for peace, dignity, and the freedom to live without fear.
That yearning is not confined to India or Pakistan. From Nepal to Bangladesh, Sri Lanka to Afghanistan, the Maldives to Myanmar, ordinary people share the same hopes. The truth is simple: independence is incomplete unless it is shared – across borders, beyond flags, and rooted in our shared humanity.
Historical Legacies: Borders That Could Not Contain Us
The Partition in 1947 carved nations, but it could not divide culture, ecology, or humanity. Rivers ignore the lines drawn on maps. Folk songs cross checkpoints in the voices of traveling performers. Spices and stories travel in the hands of traders. The rhythms of life -the planting of rice, the monsoon rains, the harvest festivals -pay no allegiance to politics.
Yet the legacy of Partition is also one of displacement, mistrust, and generational trauma. Millions were uprooted, and that pain lives on in the memories of families. Conflicts that followed — wars, insurgencies, and border standoffs — have reinforced a politics of suspicion. Even today, national narratives often teach us to view the “other” as a threat.
And yet, the human desire to connect has never been fully extinguished. Letters, art, cinema, and friendships continue to bridge the divides — proof that our shared existence cannot be wholly dictated by political boundaries.
The Present Moment: The Pause That Isn’t Peace
The past few months have shown how fragile peace truly is. In May 2025, a terrorist attack in Pahalgam triggered missile strikes, drone warfare, and a frozen ceasefire. India moved to halt water sharing under the Indus Waters Treaty. What began as a sudden escalation settled into an uneasy stillness — one that could shatter with a single misstep.
Commentators now speak casually of “limited conflict” under the shadow of nuclear weapons. But there is nothing “limited” about the devastation those weapons can unleash.
Beyond India–Pakistan tensions, the region faces fresh tremors: border disputes with Nepal, shifting alliances in the Maldives, and the delicate balancing of Sri Lanka and Bangladesh between competing powers. The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), once a hopeful platform for regional cooperation, lies dormant. Meanwhile, global rivalries between the U.S., China, and Russia draw South Asia into their competing orbits.
Within our nations, democratic spaces are narrowing. Journalists face harassment, civil society groups are silenced, and dissent is branded as disloyalty. Across the region, human rights violations remain a persistent stain on our collective conscience.
Philosophical Underpinnings: What Is Freedom?
Political freedom — the lowering of one flag and the raising of another — is only the beginning. As Rabindranath Tagore envisioned, true freedom is “where the mind is without fear and the head is held high.”
Mahatma Gandhi, writing in Hind Swaraj (1909), cautioned that political independence without moral and social transformation would be hollow. For him, Swaraj was not simply the transfer of power from colonial rulers to local elites — it was the self-rule of individuals and communities grounded in nonviolence (ahimsa), truth (satya), and a harmonious relationship with nature. He warned against the blind imitation of industrial modernity that dehumanized people and degraded the earth. In our time of ecological crises and widening inequalities, Gandhi’s insistence that freedom must be ethical, ecological, and deeply rooted in community life is perhaps more urgent than ever.
Amartya Sen reminds us that development is meaningless without “freedom to choose the life one values.” Freedom, therefore, is not merely about sovereignty from colonial powers but liberation from hunger, discrimination, ecological destruction, and gender inequality. It is a state in which dignity is a right, not a privilege.
In this sense, our freedoms remain unrealized because militarization replaces dialogue, zero-sum politics erodes trust, and ordinary citizens — especially women — are excluded from shaping the futures they will live in.
Women and Liberation: Central Yet Sidelined
Across South Asia, women have been at the forefront of grassroots peacebuilding — from the Mothers of the Disappeared in Sri Lanka and Kashmir to rural women in Bangladesh fighting for land rights, to Afghan women risking their lives for education.
Yet in official negotiations and national decision-making, women’s voices remain sidelined. The irony is painful: the very people who carry the heaviest burdens of conflict are denied a seat at the table where peace is decided.
History and global research show that peace agreements are stronger and last longer when women participate in shaping them. A liberation movement that excludes women is only half a liberation.
Interconnectedness, Interdependence, and Inter-Existence
The crises of our time — from climate change to pandemics, from refugee flows to economic recessions — do not respect borders. The monsoon rains that flood one nation can also sustain crops in another. Pollution released in one city can poison the air in a neighbouring country. A water dispute upstream can become a humanitarian crisis downstream.
Interconnectedness reminds us that what happens to one affects all. Interdependence tells us that our stability and prosperity are bound together. Inter-existence takes us deeper — it is the recognition that humanity and nature are one web of life. If one strand breaks, the whole suffers.
This truth extends beyond South Asia. The inhuman genocide unfolding in Gaza is not an isolated tragedy; it is part of a global pattern in which the powerful dehumanize the vulnerable, and civilian lives are treated as collateral damage. Ordinary people — whether in Gaza, in Kashmir, in Myanmar, or in rural Afghanistan — share the same longing for safety, dignity, and the right to live without fear. Our freedoms will remain incomplete as long as such suffering persists anywhere.
Pathways to Realizing Freedoms
If we accept that our liberation is bound together, then our actions must reflect that truth:
- Permanent Dialogue Channels – not dependent on political cycles, and inclusive of youth, women, environmentalists, and cultural leaders.
- Reviving Regional Platforms – SAARC, BBIN (Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal), and others must be insulated from bilateral disputes to allow cooperation in education, health, and climate resilience.
- People-to-People Bridges – cultural exchanges, academic partnerships, and sports events to foster mutual understanding in future generations.
- Shared Belonging with Nature – rivers, forests, and mountains as part of our common home, calling for joint care and protection, not competition.
- Leadership Grounded in Pluralism – governments that protect diversity, uphold human rights, and ensure freedom of expression.
Personal Reflection and Call to Action
When I think of Wagah what comes to mind is not the barbed wire, but the wind — the same wind crossing the border without asking permission. I think of rivers carrying stories, of children’s laughter sounding the same in Lahore, Delhi, Dhaka, and Kathmandu.
Independence is marked not only by flags; it is the daily work of building dignity, equality, and justice into our societies. That work must be done for everyone — women and men alike — and it must be done across borders.
Can we imagine a South Asia where a child can cross a border as easily as crossing a street? Where rivers are shared, not weaponized? Where songs of freedom rise above drums of war? Where a woman’s voice is as powerful as any man’s in shaping the future?
Unrealized freedoms are not permanent failures. They are invitations — waiting for our courage to accept them.
Let us find that courage. Let us reclaim those freedoms. And let us sing the songs that have yet to be sung — together, as equals.
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References
- Tagore, Rabindranath. Gitanjali. (Poem: “Where the Mind is Without Fear”). https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/45668/gitanjali-35
- Gandhi, M.K. Hind Swaraj or Indian Home Rule (1909). Gandhi Heritage Portal. https://www.gandhiheritageportal.org/hind-swaraj
- Sen, Amartya. Development as Freedom. Oxford University Press, 1999.
- UN Women. Facts and Figures: Women, Peace, and Security. https://www.unwomen.org/en/what-we-do/peace-and-security/facts-and-figures
- Human Rights Watch. World Report 2025 – South Asia. https://www.hrw.org/world-report
- UN OCHA. Gaza Humanitarian Situation Reports. https://www.unocha.org/
- International Crisis Group. Sri Lanka’s Mothers of the Disappeared. https://www.crisisgroup.org
- SAARC Secretariat. About SAARC. https://www.saarc-sec.org/
Sudha S. Reddy is a member of the Advisory Board of the Foundation for Global Governance and Sustainability (FOGGS). She founded and directs the Eco Foundation for Sustainable Alternatives (EFSA) based in Bangalore, India, focusing on the holistic empowerment and sustainable development of the underprivileged and marginalized rural, urban and indigenous communities, with an emphasis on women, children and youth at the grassroots through direct intervention. Sudha has more than 25 years of experience in social action and the development sector in India and worldwide, academic researching and teaching on capacity building and organizational development, advocacy and campaign.
