The “I” in Individual

Harish Rana has been in a coma-like state for 13 years. During this time, his parents loved him and cared for him every day. But they also asked the courts many times for permission to stop the medical tubes that were keeping him alive. They felt it was kinder to let him go peacefully.

Supreme Court finally allowed it. The court had already said earlier that the right to live with dignity also includes the right to die with dignity. Yet Rana’s parents still had to wait 13 long years before they could make this decision. It shows how difficult it can be for people to exercise their personal choices.

India’s Constitution was written after the country became free from British colonial rule. Because Indians knew what it felt like to lose freedom, the Constitution placed great importance on the freedom of each individual person.

In theory, adults in India are free to choose whom they love. But in reality, things like khap panchayats, so-called “honour” killings, and strict laws sometimes stop couples from being together. A woman’s right to make decisions about her own body is also strong on paper, but sometimes doctors or courts make it hard for her to get an abortion. Even something simple like choosing what food to eat can sometimes lead to trouble because of government rules or angry crowds.

Long ago, thinkers like John Stuart Mill and Harriet Taylor Mill wrote an important book called On Liberty. They said that freedom of thought is very important. It helps great thinkers come up with new ideas. But it also helps ordinary people grow and become the best versions of themselves.

When people are free to think, speak, and make their own choices, they can reach their full potential. And when citizens grow stronger, the whole nation grows stronger too.

Sometimes we think only dictators take away freedom. But freedom can also disappear when society pressures everyone to think and behave the same way. That’s why protecting the freedom of each individual person is so important – for both people and the country they live in.

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