“So, Mr. Kumar, any last words of defense?,” the judge asks.
“Jat Saab, my hands are chained today, and inevitably so will my life, in the next few minutes. This has been a tormenting time for me both physically and mentally; but eerily, I do not feel any emotions right now. Seeing what has conspired today, I cannot help but remember one man - Thomas Babington Macaulay. Yes, jat saab, the same Macaulay that this Government, led by the man with the perfectly crafted, almost architectural white beard, uses to deride the English-speaking intellectual class. Macaulay Putras, they call them, sneering with anger. The same people who say that I violated the sedition law, the section 124A of the Indian Penal Code. Guess who wrote down these laws in lieu of which I stand before you today, a criminal and an enemy of the state? Yes, jat saab, the same aristocratic, racist, Macaulay. ‘Take on the Government, and you shall not be spared!,’ he said. How convenient, isn’t it?”
“In a sense, I am proud. I’m proud to be in such prestigious company, with the seditious likes of Mahatma Gandhi, Bhagat Singh, and Sadat Hasan Manto. The Manto who said, ‘Bol ke lub aazad hai tere!’. Funnily enough, I can’t say that anymore.”
“So, last words you ask, jat saab? What am I to say which has not already been said. India, the land of opportunities, the land of contradictions, the land of multiple cultures. The country with the best Prime Minister, the best Space Programme; hell, the best country in the world! Who am I to question it? To be a blockade in its path of progress? Yeah, I think I was wrong to have not proven my patriotism proudly, my 56-inch chest sticking out with pride.”
“So, thank you jat saab, and here go my last words.”
“Bharat Mata ki Jai”
“Bharat Mata ki Jai”
“Bharat Mata, ki Jai!”