Freedom of Thought and Speech

It is a common saying that thought is free. A man can never be hindered from thinking whatever he chooses. But this natural liberty of private thinking is of little value. If a thinker is not permitted to express his thoughts, he feels uneasy and disturbed. Moreover, it is extremely difficult to hide thoughts that have any power over the mind. If a man is convinced of the truth of his ideas, it is impossible for him to be silent. Some people prefer to face death rather than conceal their thoughts. Thus freedom of thought includes freedom of speech. Both are closely related.

Men have preferred death and made great sacrifices for the sake of their cherished beliefs. Socrates drank the cup of poison to justify the integrity of his character and the truth of his ideas. Galileo suffered torture behind the prison bar because he had the strong conviction of his thoughts. Crashed under the weight of torture, he once said that the earth is stationary, but in the same breath he again said, “No, no, it moves around the sun.” Our Prophet (SAW) suffered torture because his thoughts and his message were against the old established ideas of the infidels of Arabia.

Freedom of thought has often been denied because it is felt to be something dangerous. No doubt, ideas bring about revolutions more than anything else in the world. The socialistic revolution of Russia was brought about by the ideas of Karl Marx and Linen. The great democracy of America came into existence because of the thoughts of some leaders. Pakistan was also achieved on the basis of some ideology.

There can be no progress in any sphere of life without freedom of thought. Scientific progress remained at low point as long as freedom of thought was suppressed in that field. The scientists were suspected of being in league with the devil. When science was freed to these impediments, it took rapid progress to make man’s life happier; it worked wonders in all the branches of life.

In the field of politics, freedom of thought has been crushed in the era of democracies and republics. With the growth of democratic governments, the rights of the common man have been recognized. Now the voters are real masters. The representatives in the parliament are the servants of the public where there is no freedom of thought and expression; people suffer under monarchy  or dictatorship.

An unrestricted freedom of thought can sometimes degenerate into a bad thing. It is quite possible that a group of persons may create misled in their ideas. The state sometimes feels the necessity of putting restrictions upon such loose thinking. The extremes are always bad. Suppression of the freedom of thought is as dangerous as loose thinking. Healthy ideas must be prevailed and unhealthy must be suppressed.