Big Brother Is Watching You

A country in Central Asia, sometime in the early 2000s:

As I write this I am afraid. I am afraid of the road that this country is heading down. If they catch me writing this I know I will not be spared. ‘Thoughtcrime’ they call it. Even what I’m thinking is enough to get me arrested. I can’t express my feelings out loud because I don’t know who to trust. The fear of being branded an anti-national grips me and chills me to my bones. Only yesterday an angry mob lynched a few students from the University for expressing their views against Big Brother.

Big brother’s face jumps out at me from every corner of the city. Bespectacled, bearded… a kindly yet determined face. No one dare speak out against Big Brother or against the Party. No, people haven’t been pushed off to concentration camps yet but the gradual brainwashing of society is there for all to see. This is led by the ‘60 Minutes of Hate’ that is shown on the news channel every night at 9. Person after person is tuning in like a mindless zombie and listening to the hate that is spewed out through this channel against every person who stands against the government. Feminists, artists, intellectuals, sportspersons, activists… none are spared. The public is made to believe that they’re watching a debate but it’s actually a public whipping of sorts. The ‘Ministry of Truth’ which runs the media division systematically goes about destroying any piece of evidence that could possibly prove that it is in the wrong. Innocent (I’m not even sure that word exists now) students are linked with terrorists based on information that has been fabricated. There is no longer a fair trial or an expression of opinions. No, those things were destroyed long back. There is only one view… the Country, the Party and Big Brother are supreme.

A few days back, the Party in a move that is not surprising anymore, arrested students who held a peaceful protest against a decision taken by the government. According to the news that was given to us, there were persons who raised anti-national slogans against the Country and demanded Independence. They also apparently supported the enemies of the state. What was surprising was that the students that were arrested weren’t the ones who shouted these slogans. The videos that prove this was there for all to see. The media obviously chose to ignore this. Attempts to find the real culprits haven’t been made either. Yesterday the student on trial was beaten up for allegedly making those statements. No action was taken against those involved in the violence. ‘The Ministry of Peace’ which controls law and order stood by and watched peacefully.

The World Wide Web is being used as a telescreen of sorts to monitor the activities of the citizens. The Book of Faces portal is constantly monitored by those in power and by their supporters. Dissent of any sort is not tolerated. It often starts out with public shaming followed by threats to the person’s life.

Where all this is going to lead to is visible to all those who want to see. Dissent is being systematically broken down in this country. There are those that oppose of course. Chief among them is the “Opposition Party”. A bunch of misguided people themselves. They are no more than opportunists who can never really be trusted to have the interests of the Country at heart. There are whole masses of students who still love this country but are still being branded anti-nationals and are being dragged off to detention centers. Few remain who oppose and seem far too scattered to make a difference. But there is still hope while even one dissenter remains and I shall cling to that hope.

It is late in the night now…. The Party slogan nailed to the wall keeps reminding me of the trouble I could end up in if they find this.

War is Peace

Freedom is Slavery

Ignorance is Strength

*This article is a work of fiction and isn’t meant to bear resemblance to any person alive or dead. Any similarities are purely coincidental. This is just a small attempt on my part to get people to read George Orwell’s 1984. Please read it and be enlightened!