A fifteen-year-old girl uses abusive language while speaking about the Prime Minister. Immediately, the machinery of power allegedly swings into action. Threats are made against her and her family, and soon the child appears before the public saying that she was forced to use those words.

Perhaps she was. Perhaps she was not. But the larger question is whether we are listening to the anger behind those words.

A democracy should not be frightened by the language of a child. It should correct her language, listen to her grievance, and teach her that she possesses the precious right to criticise those in power.

When my elder daughter was around that age, her cellphone was stolen from her college library. Students had to deposit their bags before entering, and the phone disappeared from inside hers.

She complained to the librarian.

“I am not responsible,” said the librarian.

But she was responsible because the bag had been left in her custody.

My daughter called me. I went to the college, met the librarian, and heard exactly the same answer.

“I am not responsible!”

My daughter looked at me. Her eyes asked a question that her lips did not.

“Dad, is this how the system works? Do people in authority simply deny responsibility while ordinary people walk away helplessly?”

I could have told her to forget the phone. I could have bought her another one. That would have been easier, but it would also have taught her a terrible lesson.

So I marched with her to the nearest police station and registered a theft complaint. A policeman returned with us to the college.

Suddenly, everyone took my daughter seriously.

“Why did you have to bring the police into the college?” the principal asked me later.

“Because my daughter had to learn her rights!” I replied.

That lesson was more valuable than the cellphone. She learnt that authority can be questioned, negligence can be challenged, and an ordinary citizen need not tremble before a system.

What did that fifteen year old girl learn?

Did she learn to choose better words while bravely expressing her opinion? Or did she learn that criticism invites threats, that power must never be questioned, and that silence is safer than truth?

Our children will occasionally speak foolishly. That is why they need parents, teachers and leaders. We must correct their words without crushing their voices.

A strong democracy does not silence a child. It teaches her how to speak. A wise government does not fear the anger of its youngest citizens. It asks what produced it.

Because when we frighten a fifteen year old into silence, we are not protecting the nation.

We are frightening its future..!

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