Freedom of Speech: Voices from N Korea, B'desh, Nepal

The clamps imposed upon the freedom to think and speak, formed the focal point of a session today at the ongoing Jaipur Literature Festival here, with voices from North Korea, Bangladesh and Nepal documenting stories of their struggles.
The session saw participation by Kanak Mani Dixit, editor of Nepal-based Himal Southasian, who was incarcerated in April last year, Hyeonseo Lee, an escapee from North Korea, and Bangladeshi poet and activist Sadaf Saaz, along with historian Timothy Garton Ash.
Lee offered a window into the notoriously secretive North Korea and the frightening ways in which the state would ruthlessly "disappear" anyone raising as much as the slightest doubt over the regime.

"I have seen my neighbours disappearing overnight without a trace. My friend's father disappeared because he simply remarked 'this is unjust' to someone he knew," she said.
Lee went on to recount how the North Korean people were "brainwashed" into thinking that theirs was the best nation in the world, that the Kim Jong-il and Kim Jong-un were "divine" figures.
"We used to get only one TV channel that showed nothing but propaganda. I used to somehow watch Chinese shows secretly by covering the windows. That transformed my mind."

Lee would then go on to make her escape from the repressive country, covering countries like Laos and Thailand before eventually landing up in South Korea.

"When I got out it seemed like a utopia," she said.
Dixit stressed on the need for solidarity between journalists and free speech advocates across all South Asian countries, including those from Pakistan.
He also said it was the Indian media's responsibility to make sure that the "elbow room" for free speech is maintained for the rest of South Asia to emulate.
" We look up to India as the fount of democracy in this region. If the Indian media lets go of the rein they have on freedom of expression, I can tell you that the rest of South Asia will follow very quickly.

"Therefore, it is a great burden, for journalists not only from Delhi but also the rest of the regional media to make sure that the elbow room is kept open," he said.
Saaz highlighted the volatile situation in Bangladesh which witnessed a spate of murders of atheist bloggers and minorities.
"Ours is a democracy which is a work in progress and one in which we struggle for secular democratic principles everyday. There is the danger of death if you write freely and especially if you touch upon religion.
"The spaces for speaking your mind are shrinking and the government will arrest you for hurting religious sentiments. From three years ago until the present day, 46 free thinkers, bloggers and minorities, gay rights activists have been murdered," she said.