My Life ... My Journey

Ever since Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced on US Election eve that 500 and 1000 denomination notes would not be any longer legal tender, the issue of demonetization has been a topic of heated discussions. The response to the move has been varied and interesting. While some political parties like TMC immediately demanded a rollback, others waited to catch hold of some straws to beat the government on the issue. There were multiple aims of this exercise- 1. Temporarily check flow of counterfeit currency which is used to fund terrorism, insurgency and drug cartels 2. Attack on black money hoarded in form of cash 3. Give a push to a less-cash society with better accountability Most criticism has been around the preparation or the execution post the decision. Let's look at the stated goals and the criticism to evaluate the decision. For the first two goals, demonetization as a move is effective only when  it comes as a surprise and there is little time to make alt

Freedom of Expression has also gone into the list of words abused a lot as people use it in unrelated context and unsparingly. What constitutes Freedom of Expression (FoE)? The general understanding is that each individual has the freedom to express (display) his/her opinion without fear. Is FoE constrained or is the freedom unlimited. As an individual, you are free to do what you wish. No one can't curtail the choice you make but of course, you have to be ready to bear consequences. In the law of jungle, you may do chest-thumping or incite a predator but you should be ready to face consequences for your foolhardiness.  We don't live in a jungle. We live in a society and the membership of an individual to the society is based on social contract . Put simply, individual puts curb on his/her freedom, rights and choices in return for law, order, and mutual benefit. In modern state like India, these rules of society are codified in form of constitution. Indian constitutio