India has observed its 64th Republic Day with much pomp and fanfare. We are thankful to God for all our achievements which He made possible for us, and are sorry for our failures in different fields.
We were about 40 crore at the dawn of Independence, and now we are a large nation of 123 crore. We are second only to our neighbours, the Chinese, who are 12 crore more than us at 135 crore or so. But only numbers do not make us great. Nor does our military might as ours is the second largest army with eleven lakh soldiers.
Nations become great on the basis of moral strength. When we look from this angle we find that we are one of the most corrupt nations. Transparency International places us at a very low level. The greater tragedy is that we have corruption even at the highest political levels. Common Indians have accepted corruption as a fact of life they have to reconcile with. We have also become ethically, morally and sexually corrupt.
Human rights are violated at every level. It is not the sad story of a few gang rapes. This is happening in every nook and corner of the country every passing day in spite of ever present law and order machinery and ever awake judiciary. Look at the plight of Dalits, liberals and minorities.
Muslims, the largest minority, have been marginalised, suppressed, demonised and terrorised beyond imagination. Their youths, especially educated ones, are special targets of intimidation, harassment and implication in crimes they never committed. The known communal and fascist elements who have been behind all acts of violence and terrorism are not even touched because of vote bank politics. The government has full knowledge of their activities but does not have courage to take action. As is evident from the recent statement of our Home Minister, Mr. Shushil Kumar Shinde, BJP and RSS are responsible for promoting terrorism in the country. But will he take action against the perpetrators of crimes against humanity or only indulge in sermonising?
How about the widening gap between haves and have-nots? The fruits of development are increasingly being grabbed by the upper classes, the number of slum dwellers is steadily increasing and villages are still in very bad shape.
Serious thought should be given to the sad state of affairs and corrective steps be taken in the right earnest to stem the rot. Let us resolve to rebuild our nation on sound moral grounds with love, respect and justice for every citizen. God is great. We can achieve greatness by following His laws and implementing His commands to ensure success to every individual, group and community in this great land.