Facts, Lies and assessments: A Roadmap for the Future.
I was seven when India got her independence. Incidentally my
birth month is also August and the date is the 13th, just one night
before Pandit Nehru made his famous
Tryst with Destiny speech soon after unfurling the triumphant Indian flag of
freedom. Today I am racing towards my Platinum jubilee which means I have been
in free India as a free citizen for the last sixty-seven years. What was it like in 1947 when we became
Independent and what is it now nearly seven decades later? Has anything changed
in respect of my freedom, my independence, my right to speak, my right to act,
my right to follow my religion and belief, my right to vote? None at all. I
still enjoy all the freedom that was given to me and to the billions of Indians
on the midnight of August 14,1947 that cruised into a bright and tender dawn .
It was euphoria for everyone in 1947- even to a seven year
old like me watching tears roll down the cheeks of my great grandfather with
whom I was staying then. The sound of music full of patriotic songs rent the
air as the women in the family prepared kheer and offered it to all the
innumerable gods and goddesses adoring every square inch of the walls with the
picture of BharatMata given the centrestage on that special day. Years later, I recalled the joyous experience
of that day with Wordsworth’s memorable lines:
Bliss was it in that dawn to be alive,
But to be young was very heaven!-
The
single focus of everyone then -from the top leaders and freedom fighters to
every single man and woman in the street -was to build India and renew the
pledge our forefathers had made to bring to everyone in the country the restitution of his/her equal rights as
citizen of India. Sixty-seven years later, contrary to all cynical and scornful
exaggerations made by self seeking politicians that India has not achieved
anything, we are still holding to our rights as free citizens of India and to exercise our democratic right to vote. The
promised freedom of 1947 continues to be strong and sound. If this has not been
the achievement of successive governments over the last six decades- especially
seen in the light of turmoil, dictatorship, political instability and violence
in many parts of the South Asian neighbourhood, - one wonders what else is
there to be elated and proud about?
Again,
people like me who have seen India all these years will recognize the
phenomenal changes that had taken place. I come from an average middle class-
that never went to bed in hunger, but never had the luxury of added sufficiency
over and above our daily needs. For example, milk was never available in
abundance and very often my great grandmother would add water to the milk jar to
keep it full so that everyone got half a glass of that diluted milk. There were
many years when drought resulted in less milk yield from the cows and young
children were given ragi gruel as a substitute. Today there is no dearth of
milk and the White revolution has brought the fulfillment of this dietary requirement
to our doors. So were the green revolution, the seeds revolution, the
hydro-electric projects for power and irrigation, the building of new
townships, roads, transport facilities etc., of the last six decades that have raised
the bar albeit marginally of our living standards. The development might not
have been as spectacular as one would have wished it to be, but to say no
development has taken place in India is not just a political exaggeration, but
a complete falsehood in the face of facts and reality.
Our
health and education sectors have also grown though not on a flattering and
competitive order when compared to other nations. Our indigenous research and
defence productions, computer software industry, transport machinery, automobile
industry, mobile outreach etc again have shown our potential to be among the
world’s top industrialized nation, though we fall short by a long margin to
make that potential a greater reality. Building on the Civil services left
behind as a British legacy, the steel framework of the government had been
functioning though we do see the steel getting rusted now and then and blunted
in many places. The IITs, IIMs, the medical Institutions, the Science and Technology
centres, a few quality universities and colleges do give a lie to the shrill
cry of the political parties who see nothing but stasis in governance. The reach
of Radio and Television to every nook and corner of the nation, the better
living conditions of some of our tribal states, the self sufficiency in rice, wheat
and cereals are an index of the country’s march towards freedom from hunger and
starvation.
Let
us ask ourselves a few honest questions and the answers may give a clue to what
holds for us in the future:
1.
Has Indian democracy sustained you as a free citizen of India?
2.
Has lifestyle changed for the better(or for the worse)?
3.
Makan, Bijli, Pani, Sadak, Kapda(House, Power, Water, Transport and Cloth )-
are you better off today than before with regard to these essentials?
4.Do
you get the right to send your children to school?
5.
Do you enjoy better housing facilities than before? Are you better protected
against communicable diseases such as smallpox, polio, measles, TB etc?
6.
Do you go hungry or do you get adequate meals at least once a day?
7.
Has the government ensured decent level of security for you from outside threat
forces?
8.
Has the internal security been adequate? Do you feel safe moving about in the
country?
9.
Which is the most corrupt group you encounter in your daily life- petty Babus,
higher officials, ministers, police, law courts, hospitals etc?
10.
Will you like the present system of democratic governance thrown out as to
bring an Indian version of Tahir Square ?
11.
Is it preferable to be with the system and work towards reform rather than rock
the boat?
12.
If you prefer to rock the boat, what is your alternative?
If
these questions are objectively and honestly answered by every citizen we may
get an idea of where we are going. There is a thin line that divides mobocracy
and democracy. If that line is crossed, we will be at Tahir square. If we are
sensible to stay within the line, we may perhaps save democracy with all its
plusses and minuses. Let us not give unto the shrill falsehoods that we are
worse than before. This is to degrade ourselves and indulge in self-
flagellation.
Let
us keep the democracy boat afloat without letting it sink in an ocean of
falsehoods. Let not ambitious, self-centred people claim for themselves all
honesty and throw dirt and muck of dishonesty on all others. Let us not become
mindless people to vote to power those who claim they alone are honest and all
others are dishonest. Let us not indulge in fantasizing that all aam admis are
honest and they are the ones who have an understanding of Nation’s interests. Democracy
functions through elected representatives. If self seeking politicians pull
wool on aam admi by giving them the right to rule as per his/her individual whims
and fancies, the resulting chaos will rend the unity and integrity of the
country. There will be greater degree of corruption , nepotism and
misgovernance. Violence, clashes, fights between different communities will be
the order of the day and then the question will arise: where is the independent
nation called India? Unless every aam
admi is well educated and learns to think and analyze issues that affect every
other aam admi, it will be foolish to hand over the power of governance to the masses.
This is to encourage demagoguery by savagely attacking all norms of governance
as inherently flawed. If corruption is to be tackled, let us be honest to
function without offering bribes and without receiving bribes. Education is the
key to a corruptionless governance. If we keep our personal lives in order, we
can restore the country to what had been pre-designed by our nation’s founding
fathers. If we allow our personal nefarious designs to influence gullible, uneducated
and ill informed masses, the roadmap is clear- a perfect route to anarchy.
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