Stay Away From Me, State Police

I am off to the nearby seaside town of Honavar, which I have passed many times but never visited, and which has a long history as a free trading port - and my intentions are entirely peaceful and honourable, being to study the place and write about it. I am a journalist, an "independent media publisher," and not a politician, nor a political activist. Yes, I smoke ganja, and I also drink alcohol. I buy them and use them - because it makes me happy to do so.

I write this since I have repeatedly been interfered with by State Police agencies - not only in Karnataka earlier, but also during my recent travels.  In case these bozos get on my back again, I will take matters up with the justice of public opinion - and report all excesses committed upon me.

To that Public Opinion, let me quote from Cato's Letters on the vital importance of freedom of speech:

Without Freedom of Thought, there can be no such Thing as Wisdom; and no such Thing as Publick Liberty without Freedom of Speech....


This sacred Privilege is so essential to free Government, that the Security of Property; and the Freedom of Speech, always go together; and in those Wretched Countries where a Man cannot call his Tongue his own, he can scarce call any Thing else his own.

All State Power, when it sees its errors exposed by private scholars, will seek to silence that voice, ridicule it, or libel against the character of that individual. In the USSR, compulsory psychiatric treatment was widely practised on dissidents. I do not want to receive the attention of the professional psychiatrist - and most certainly not at the behest of The State. However, if I cause any trouble in the local area among the local people, I will be responsible to them. I am hopeful that my visit will be peaceful, enjoyable, comfortable, educative, and productive - and my pursuits of happiness will not be disturbed.

Its the "religion of consent."