Our 73rd Independence Day - My thoughts

As our great nation celebrates its 73^rd Independence Day , we have many reasons to pump our chests with pride, as our great nation has shown tremendous progress and resilience since coming out from the British captivity in 1947.

Some of the achievements are being cited below:

• ·      We are the largest functional democracy in the world. Irrespective of political differences, the world witnesses amazing , magnanimous and peaceful transition of power after every general election.
• ·      We are sixth biggest economy in the world and are on way to become 3^rd biggest in a decade or so.
• ·      We are IT super power. Our IT skills are well-respected in the world. The top executives of many companies across the globe are Indians.
• ·      We are a nuclear power with a doctrine of no first use, means our weapons are only for deterrence.
• ·      We are one of the select few countries capable of manufacturing nuclear submarines, fighter planes, aircraft carrier etc
• ·      Our Space programs are exemplary. Our reach now extends to Moon, Mars and beyond.
• ·      Our missiles contingent now includes ICBMs and A-SATs.
• ·      Many of our corporations are truly world class with brand value like any global corporation.
• ·      We are able to see eye to eye in dealing with world powers like America and China. The episodes of Docklam with China and Balakot with Pakistan, fill our hearts with pride.
• ·      Many of our public sectors have been instrumental in laying the foundation for industrial revolution.
• ·      We are self-sufficient for the most part in terms of food/agriculture.
• ·      Many of our educational institutions like IIT’s, IIM’s, NITs, are second to none
• ·      We have been able to execute extremely complex infrastructure projects such as Konkan/Jammu-Srinagar railroad, Metro, National highways, bridges for north east connectivity etc
• ·      Our armed forces, in spite being one of the strongest in the world have consistently behaved in an extremely responsible manner.
• ·      We have been able to remove 73 years old Article 370 from J&K so as to bring J&K at par with other states of our motherland, enabling people from J&K to realize their full potential.
• ·      The long list goes on …….

But at the same time, the long British rule has left a huge negative mark on our national values, national morale and national ethos, and we as society have not yet fully recovered from it. Many of us do not want to recover from it due to selfish reasons. Hence, a lot of work needs to be done before we can call ourselves truly free. I’d like to cite a few of the areas.

We will be free when our attraction to the colour of the skin will vanish in thin air and when we are able to realize that true colour of an individual is the colour of his/her character and how the individual is contributing for the betterment of the larger society. Our society seems to be judgmental on skin colour. I will ask a question to prove my point. Would our countrymen tolerate Madam Maino (Gandhi) the same way, if she had been from Nigeria, Chad or Ethiopia and not from Italy? I am absolutely sure that answer from a large chunk of people would be “Hello no”.

We will be free when our society is able to show empathy towards millions of the poor people and look after them, what Swami Vivekananda referred them as “दरिद्र नारायण”. Whether we like it or not, agree or not, we have a huge problem at hand. We as nation constitute a mere 2% of the world land and have to house approximately 20% of the world population, thus creating unbridgeable imbalance between demand and supply of resources. A sizable percentage of our nationals are forced to go to bed hungry.

We will be free when many leaders our nation will stop following the policy of appeasement and vote bank and they will be able to see writing on the walls that years of following these policies has done serious and irreparable damage to our great nation.

We will be free when all our countrymen, no matter which religion they come from, no matter which region they come from and no matter which language they speak , will starting lining up under the common religion of “भारतीय” to chant “सुजलाम , सुफलाम, मलयज शीतलाम, सस्य श्यामलाम मातरम, वन्दे मातरम” with tears of joy in their eyes and choke of emotions in voice.

We will be free when each of us in our society is truly able to demonstrate the principle of inclusivity “वसुधैव कुटुम्बकम” and keep a mindset that we are one large family. Only this principle can keep us united. We are an amalgamation of hundreds of cultures, each with their own language, traditions, customs, values and rituals.

We will be free when many of the so called intellectuals will not have to bash the religion of the majority of the people in our country to be called intellectuals. Over the last decade or so, it has become a fashionable thing to attack the religion and Gods of the majority of the country to prove themselves as intellectuals. This destructive “टुकड़े टुकड़े” gang needs to be shown its place and this manipulative “intolerance” gang needs to be dismantled.

We will be free when our national leaders will speak in a single voice on matters of national security to meet the aggression from China from North, Pakistan from west, Lanka from south and Bangladesh from east, on the lines of former prime minister and nationalist Late Shri Lal Bahadur Shashtri, that “Force will be met with force”. Our leaders need to realize that dialogue and Force, both have well defined role in intra-country dealings. Recently the great work done across the borders by our armed forces has been undermined by many leaders and their respective  political parties, putting national security at huge risk.

We will be free when our society will see the equality between sons and daughters and put a complete end to feticide, and realize that men’s need for women and vice versa goes much beyond biological need. The men and women together are complimentary to each other and one is not complete without other.

We will be free when our society will move away from “चलता है” attitude which has put us backward by decades if not more and has been one of the biggest reason for prevalent mediocrity everywhere.

We will be free when our society in a united way will face today’s challenges and find solutions for better tomorrow.  As Baba Ramdev says “लोग अपने दुख से दुखी नहीं हैं , वे दूसरोंके सुख से दुखी हैं”. Our society needs to show compassion to each other, whether it is on road, parking lot, ticket queue or for that matter, any other public place.

We will be free when we are able to eradicate the chickenpox of corruption, which is just not limited to government sector but has spread its wings in the private sector as well, from our society completely and that we will be able to take a pledge that we are not going to bribe no matter how much delay occurs in getting the job done.

This wish list is long but very much achievable. A small price to pay true unabashed freedom.

Devendra Singh

August 15, 2019.