My tongue is wrapped around a prickly pole,

Is this the Free Speech the Framers promised?

Look up, there must be some law to book me,

I know I can’t get away if you wish

to put me behind bars, locked up for good.

Someone gets offended every single time

I speak on matters, temporal or divine,

My tongue and pen better submit to censor,

Gods and Grandees don’t take kindly to censure,

Cops come sniffing for blasphemy or sedition,

Courts don’t know how to check their invasion,

The trampling of my freedoms is now the rule,

Because he is mortally hurt, claims some mule.

I enjoy my ‘expression’ as ‘alms’ bestowed

upon a slave who has an abiding need

to talk, allege, preach, beseech, and expose,

their faith, egos, secrets and morality.

The society and the system, threatened

by the onslaught of logic, truth and humour,

aim to keep me gagged with the vagueness of laws,

I’m told there’s no sense in pointing to their flaws.

Is this the Free Speech that the Framers promised-

Where a line quoted from a scripture,

A verse lampooning a senior leader,

A tweet criticizing a policy matter,

A video mocking party followers,

A blog discussing the China factor,

A film recalling historical horrors,

A message discussing pandemic blunders,

A speech calling for an end to hunger-

Invite bans, bookings, arrests and protests,  

Is this rule of law, the law being of the forest?

---

#freespeech #constitution #framers #freedomofspeech #freedomofexpression #Fundamentalright #ruleoflaw #hunger #blunder #protest #arrest #Blog #Tweet #rebel #rebellious #freespeechabsolutist #sedition #blasphemy #libel #allegation #slander #logic #truth #humour #vaguenessoflaws #modernIndia