‘Long years ago, we made a tryst with destiny and now the time comes when we shall redeem our pledge, not wholly or in full measure, but very substantially. At the stroke of the midnight hour, when the world sleeps, India will awake to life and freedom’ – Jawahar Lal Nehru, August 14, 1947
Has India really awaken to life and freedom? Is 75 years not a sufficient time to progress? Have we really acknowledged the meaning of Independence yet or have we failed as a free state? Today, I don’t want to go into the numbers and statistics of development, progress, welfare schemes, and policies but want to speak my mind as a 26 year old youth born in free India.
After being ruled by Britishers for almost two centuries, anyone would have naturally presumed that we would respect our independence and never forget those times when we were slaves to the Britishers in our own country. But did we really respect and acknowledge our independence. After three-fourth of a century, we are still a developing nation which fed food to 80 crore poor people for free during Covid. Does this 80 crore number really digest in your head? Did we want our independence for this massive 80 crore number? Or where we have 4 crore cases pending before our courts where we seek justice when all other doors are closed? Or where we have a supreme government at the centre and 29 state governments who we are always told that they work day and night 24 hours every 365 days and still haven’t managed to free the country from poverty? Or the media a huge chunk of which is answerable to the corporates and the government and not to the public? Or the police whom we are scared to see rather feel secured? Or the society which still hasn’t gotten over the barriers of caste, religion, patriarchy, injustice, customs and what not?
A dialogue of Naseeruddin Shah from the movie ‘Rajneeti’ keeps popping into my head all the time ‘Sawaal jhande ke laal rang ka nahin hai Rai sahab kyuki gareebi, bhukhmari, bekari, ye sab rang puchke vaar nahin karti, ye pet ki maari janta hai Rai sahab, ek roti ka aasra de dijiye, do meethe vaade kr dijiye kisi bhi rang ka jhanda utha legi….are ye kaisi gareebi hai bhaiyo jo inki sainkdo yojnao, croro arbo rupee fuk dene ke baad bhi jaane ka naam nahin leti’. Though this is a movie dialogue, but we haven’t got this answer even after 75 years.
Where students first keep waiting for good education at the levels of schools and colleges and then keeps waiting for employment opportunities. Where you can’t prevent your government exams from leaking even when you conduct them after every 3-4 years. Where we have no policy to curb the amount of time a teenager or an adult is spending on his phone doing nothing. Where mental health is not an issue at all. Where electricity hasn’t reached every part of the country yet. Where we haven’t managed to construct roads in a time span of 75 long years. Where access to justice is costly and complicated. Where we have no data of labour migration. Where we have no data of how many people died due to lack of oxygen. Then what good is this entire executive and bureaucracy for? Why are we giving them all the luxuries of life on the tax payer’s money. Is this the country our freedom fighters dreamt of? Is this why Bhagat Singh at the age of 24 happily gave his life in the name of independence?
Where our political leaders nowadays sitting in the air conditioned rooms wake up, tweet and then go back to sleep. Where the Parliament functioning entirely on the tax payer’s money does not work at all. Where the Prime Minister is accused of infringing privacy of his own countrypersons. Where when the government at the level of the Prime Minister is accused of making false claims on television in respect of agricultural income of a female farmer and the claims are countered, then the signals of the channel are disturbed and the journalist is forced to resign for merely doing his job. Where we forced emergency upon our own people in the name of constitutional provision. Where all the parties fight in the name of castes. Where we seek votes in the name of the legacy of our armed forces. Where the judges who are the ultimate protectors of the constitution come out and say that democracy is in danger. Where farmers of the country sitting at the borders for almost nine months who were once called sons of soil are now called terrorists, maoists, naxals just because they have invoked their constitutional right to question their own elected government. Where the communities thrive and protest to become backward. Where the leaders of the country do not follow and idolize the constitution whose oath they swear upon before joining their office. Where almost the 99% population hasn’t seen the book on constitution once which gives them the right to live there life with dignity and respect. Where almost half the entire wealth of the country is in the hands of the topmost 1-2% rich people in the country. Where a person who has to get a minor work done in the government departments has to bow down and request to the authorities sitting over. Where judges in the higher courts are addressed as Lordships.
Democracy is by the people, of the people, for the people. This means that people of the country are supreme and not the authorities be it the Supreme Court or the Parliament. These are the institutions we have created for the smooth functioning and the progress of our beautiful democracy. It is their foremost and the only duty to serve the people of the country.
The issues at hand are endless and increasing all the time. The bitter truth is we have collectively failed as a nation to become progressive and developed. But is there a way out. Our ancestors have always said and believed ‘Jab jaago tab savera’. We as a country have never been pessimistic but have always looked to the coming times with great hope. Baaki kuch nahin hota to movies aur web series to hain hi dekhne ke liye. ‘Shershaah’ is latestly available to watch on amazon prime.
Happy 75th Independence Day to every Indian.