Quote by Nayantara Sahgal: “Freedom is not a gift, but an achievement. It is a constant struggle.”

This quote emphasizes that freedom isn't passively received but actively earned and continuously defended. It implies that maintaining liberty requires ongoing effort and vigilance, recognizing it as a hard-won condition rather than an inherent, effortless state.

Writing during a period of political turmoil and authoritarianism in India, Sahgal consistently argued against complacency regarding democratic rights, advocating for continuous vigilance and resistance against oppression.

Indian novelist and political writer, niece of Jawaharlal Nehru, whose fiction and essays have engaged critically with Indian politics, democratic decline, and authoritarianism since independence. She returned her Sahitya Akademi Award in 2015 in protest against rising intolerance in India. Her novel Rich Like Us won the Sinclair Prize in 1986.