We have been celebrating the Independence Day with much enthusiasm and zeal. No doubt, we have every right to do so. But, what this day stands for and what the day demands of us, is generally either overlooked or underestimated.
Before I pen something on the Independence Day, I must mention, in short, the events that changed the course of the political history of India. It is the Independence Day, the day on which we flung aside the yoke of slavery of the colonial imperialism. We got freedom on 15 August, 1947.
But we did not get this freedom easily. Neither did we beg this freedom, holding the begging bowl in our hands, from the British. This freedom was not even served to us like a rose in a golden plate. The saga of India’s freedom struggle is a tale of valour, courage and sacrifice.
When India’s tryst with destiny came at the stroke of a fine midnight, the country saluted its martyrs and scores of unsung heroes, and awoke to a new dawn, a new era of self-realisation under the outstanding leadership of some politicians having philosophical ideas combined together with politics. Mention may be made of a few notable personalities such as Mahatma Gandhi, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, Dr. Rajendra Prasad, Sardar Patel, Dr. Ambedkar, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, Rafj Ahmad Qidwai et al.
With the celebration of the Independence Day, we not only demonstrate our justified jubilation in different ways and magnitude but also pledge to prove ourselves true citizens in the true sense. The perseverance, spirit of sacrifice and idealism that the nation’s founders displayed and projected through their each and every word and act, spoken and undertaken then, are imperatively needed now so that our present issues and problems are addressed, to the entire satisfaction of the whole population of this country.
Almost at every stage we are imperatively needed to reiterate our pledge to build and run a government that is wholly responsible to we the people. We must not forget that we have chosen and embraced Abraham Lincoln’s lofty ideals ‘a government of the people, by the people and for the people’. Our political leaders are also required not to appear faltering and hesitant in declaring their unflagging interest in serving the nation by discharging their responsibilities honestly equipped with enlivened spirit and conscience. And, it is but an irony that such a declaration made on the occasion of the oath-taking-ceremony and also at the time of fighting elections, is seldom realised. It is beyond any doubt that most of our political leaders say on oath what they fail rather miserably to act upon in the practical life.
A long period of more than sixty-seven years has passed since we got freedom. No doubt, we have made stupendous progress in science and technology. Our economy has also developed and the changed beautiful scenario of rural India speaks volumes of its economic transformation, though some poverty-stricken pockets are still seen. Despite this development and progress, we appear to have remained some steps behind in certain fields in comparison to other developed countries. These areas chiefly revolve round eradication of illiteracy, women’s emancipation from the brutality and sexual assaults and child development, scarcity of drinking water and rural electrification.
With the present government coming to power at the Centre, very recently some communal-minded political figures and members belonging to both the ruling party and apolitical organisations have started to vitiate the atmosphere on the issue of religion. Polarisation of society on grounds of caste, creed and religion has been tarnishing the secular image of the country as well as tearing apart the social fabric woven together with the thread of national integration and the sense of fraternity. Heart-rending cases portraying the prejudice and hatred of some members of the majority community towards the members of the minority community have been often surfacing under the very nose of the ruling government at the Centre. How some members of the ruling political party have been engaged in fooling the people by making false promises, telling lies and making fabricated and baseless statements against a particular community, is commendably commented upon in the editorial captioned “Simmering Hate and Brazen Lies” of this weekly magazine (Issue dated 3-9 July, 2016).
However, let us now turn our attention to the moral values which are rapidly disappearing from our life. Ethics and morality seems to have gone from the lives of the majority of the political leaders. What we lack today is leadership with a mission and vision – leadership with a spirit of sacrifice, compassion and commitment and unflinching dedication. We can bring a significant change in the society by reforming our education and by secularising religion, socialising business and spiritualising politics. “Juda ho dee’n siyasat sey toh rah jati hai Chengezee” – The great philosopher-poet Iqbal said this, which means ‘if politics is separated from ethics, there remains nothing except ruin and devastation’.
It must be noted that without a positive thinking, positive approach to demanding issues, without giving equal opportunity to people irrespective of cast, creed and religion, our dream of a worth living world will ever remain a mere dream. Behind us is the time which is marked with the black spots of corruption and deplorably bad governance. Ahead is the time to overcome the shame of having a country in which eighty per cent of our people live in abject poverty. This demands sincere efforts and honest approach to alleviate poverty and mitigate the sufferings under the burden of which common mass have been groaning.
It is no secret that the majority of our political leaders think of their own interest and of the parties they are attached to. Most of the political netas in the recent past were corrupt, blindly running after amassing as much wealth as possible.
Above all, the rapidly deteriorating secular image of the country is to be salvaged without any further delay. And, this objective can be achieved only by bringing the communal-minded groups and political figures under tight control. The present picture speaks much of religious intolerance which is overshadowing the age-old spirit of tolerance besides making a mockery of ‘justice’.
The Independence Day of 2016 might be aggrieved to see how some groups have been active in their attempts to push through aspects of Hindutva agenda – religious conversion, saffronisation of education, especially history, and the deification of Nathuram Godse and so on. Undoubtedly, these groups see the present conjuncture as a very opportune moment to get their aspirations to alter the secular character of the nation, fully accomplished. In that case, the pledge made by our Prime Minister to provide all Indians with good governance will remain mere a dream. Let us all secular-minded Indians, through deeds and words, adopt justified means to thwart the ulterior motives and ugly designs of the anti-national elements engaged in shattering the well woven social fabric with the thread of secularism.