About a month back, a few of my friends and I were having a conversation on politics and political ideologies after attending a club induction at our university. Our group comprised of people having myriad political ideologies ranging from the left wing to the right wing and even the centrist ideology. We voiced our opinions, spoke about political films and to an extent indulged in some slight political slander. It was a healthy discussion where each one of us was tolerant towards what the other person had to say. Our discussion ranged from domestic politics to geopolitics and lasted about an hour.
I hadn't given the conversation much thought as I walked back home. Days went by and I got bogged down with studies. In the meanwhile, I had completed reading the book, "Patriot", by Alexei Navalny. As I put the four hundred twenty-five page book on the coffee table after reading, my mind began ruminating on the conversation we had earlier.
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February 16 2024 was one of the most shocking and perhaps a nerve-racking day for me. It was the day my board exams had begun and I was greatly relieved to have parted my ways with KTPI, a subject I had to take at school only to have two more similar subjects in my first semester at university. But the sense of relief quickly waned as I reached home and read the news. I had opened Times of India on my computer and the headline which caught my eye was that Alexei Navalny had been killed in the Arctic prison in Kharp where he had been imprisoned since December, 2023.
I stood stupefied and in utter disbelief. I had been closely following Alexei Navalny's case since 2020, particularly, the case of him being poisoned in August of that year and his being imprisoned immediately, when he set foot in Russia in January 2021.
Democracy is often a topic for discussion during dinner at our home. This has fostered my interest in governance and political systems, particularly, the plight of democracy in autocratic regimes such as Russia, North Korea and China. As my curiosity in politics grew in my early teens, I delved deeper into the subject of Russian politics and the name of Alexei Navalny was hard to miss. I started watching his videos on YouTube and found them quite fascinating. I also found it unfathomable as to why the state machinery would try to silence a person's voice for stating facts and conducting investigations and for just having a political ideology which differed from that of the ruler.
Given this background, I found it quite hard to come to terms with reality on February 16 2024. Despite preparations for board exams foreshadowing my thoughts, I made it a point to check the news regularly and never missed an update on his funeral. On 1st March, 2024 his funeral took place in Moscow. I had my Physics exam on the 3rd of March, but instead of studying for my exam, I ended up watching the livestream of his funeral. I continued checking his YouTube channel for updates on Russia and his foundation's work, and in August, 2024, I saw an announcement of memoirs being published posthumously.
In November, 2024, I finally had the opportunity to buy the English translation of his memoir from Amazon. As our semester ended in the last week of November, I began devouring the book. I had the intention of reading the book at a stretch, something which I usually do but there was something so intense that I couldn't help but take breaks in between.
The first part of the book began with him describing his life in Soviet Russia, the Chernobyl disaster and the opacity of the Soviet Union with a plethora of examples. The book then moved on to describe life in Russia of the 90s, and early 2000s. This was followed by the part where he wrote about his work and his ideals. This was perhaps some of the most intense piece of writing I had ever read. The chapters where he had given detailed descriptions of his investigation into corruption by the state were perhaps some of the most macabre things I had read in quite some time. The final part of the book comprises his prison diary and his life in the various penitentiary camps, detention centres while also describing the multitude of cases fabricated against him.
As I read on, I wondered if I had ever heard about someone in this century who has been so true to one's convictions and had such faith in one's ideology. That's when I began to uncover the true meaning of one of his most famous quotes, "Consistency for me is everything." The setbacks he faced to uncover the truth seemed appalling but what appalled me even more was that he was ready to sacrifice everything he had for his nation. Oftentimes, activists seek political asylum in different countries but he despite being aware of the risks such as persecution hadn't bent down to fear and persevered in his quest for freedom in his nation for which he had to pay with his life.
This trail of thought led me to think about the conversation I had with my friends earlier. It dawned on me that the conversation that we had seemed so normal to all of us, was something millions of people couldn't even imagine. I began thinking that we were indeed very fortunate as we were voicing our opinions in a public space with each of us having different opinions and ideologies instead of a dichotomy wherein one is either a supporter of the ruling party or an opposer. This made me think that the book, "Patriot" must be read to not just know about Russian politics and Alexei Navalny but to realize the priceless value of free speech and freedom of expression.
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