GPS – Teen Murti of India’s Independence

                         

                                                     GPS – Teen Murti of India’s Independence

India has had the unique distinction of being the first nation to have a GPS as long back as 1947 when she got her independence. It was a resounding accomplishment for India to position herself in the world as a champion of non violence after bringing to a close the 200 year rule of Great Britain. Soon after independence, not much time elapsed before India positioned herself as the pioneer of non aligned movement in a world dominated by Western capitalism and Soviet communism. India retained her independent stature by refusing to align both with the Western and the Eastern blocs, led respectively by the United States and the Soviet Union.  She showed the way for settling international disputes by non violence and international cooperation. Nonalignment was a consistent feature of India’s foreign policy with Pandit Nehru outlining its five basic policies:
Mutual respect for each other's territorial integrity and sovereignty

Mutual non-aggression

Mutual non-interference in domestic affairs

Equality and mutual benefit

Peaceful co-existence

The concepts of Non violence by Gandhiji, of Non alignment by Pandit Nehru  and the Vision of a modern India as one nation, one culture, and one people by Sardar Patel formed the core of India’s GPS system. India led the way for many of the colonized countries in Asia and Africa to gain independence without shedding blood and a majority of the newly independent nations embraced the Non alignment movement. The architects of India’s Global Positioning were the three outstanding GPS of India- Gandhi, Pandit Nehru and Sardar Patel. The three exemplified the Panch Sheel of peaceful co-existence ( though the term was applied to the relationship between India and China) that was built on mutual respect, humanism, peace, restraint, compassion and broad mindedness between nations- a policy best phrased by Schiller : “Live and let live”.

Where are we today? The post GPS period has seen a slow attrition of our Global positioning as the Human index, Happiness index, Poverty index and the Good Country index(which includes global contribution to Science and Technology, International peace and security, World Order, Planet and Climate, Happiness and Well being, Prosperity and Equality, Culture etc).  India’s rank is 122 out of155 countries in Happiness index and is one among the ten countries witnessing the biggest Happiness decline. In Human index it is at 130 out of 188 countries, while it ranks 110^th in sustainable development index. As for Poverty statistics, 55%of its population is poor, placing her at 61^STrank out  of 163 countries.

The GPS of India has declined further (though not of her own making) as daily one or two-if not more of her soldiers are martyred by cross border firing from the Western neighbour. All efforts to renew peaceful negotiations between India and Pakistan have failed and even the sporting ties between the two nations have ground to a halt. India cannot maintain her position as a leading military power in the South Asia region and has been compelled to carry out surgical strikes against Pakistan to put an end to the killing of our armed forces personnel. The concept of Panch sheel with its emphasis on mutual non interference in domestic affairs of other nations was abandoned when India openly ( and truthfully) charged Pakistan of genocide in Balochistan  which is a part of Pakistan.  This was almost a tit-for –tat for Pakistan’s interference in Indian side of Kashmir, fuelling hatred and animus against our nation. We find it difficult to get a seat in the Security Council that will add an extra dimension to our GPS. While we are among the top ten countries that include Japan, China and North Korea among the Asian countries in Space programmes, we share the ignominy of being the least honest countries along with China, Japan and South Korea. Despite boasting the world’s second-largest population (more than 1.25 billion) and one of its largest economies, only two Indian universities appear in the top 75, The Indian Institutes of Technology (72) and the Indian Institute of Science — Bangalore (73) while among Asian universities the first 17 positions are taken by China and Japan.

So we are no longer positioning ourselves globally as a leading nation. If any comfort is there, it is that we have done well in IT service sectors and moved from being a under developed nation to becoming a developing nation. To take our honours by the side of developed nations, we need a new set of GPS who can inspire the nation as the venerable GPS(Gandhiji, Panditji and Sardarji) had done three quarter of a century ago. The three exemplified spiritual, moral and intellectual strength. The three together established the fledgling independent India on a strong, secure, secular and ethical foundation. Plato and Aristiotle had written about six forms of governance, one following the other in almost a cyclical fashion. While the basic forms are three – Monarchy, Aristocracy and Direct democracy, the deviant forms of each of them corresponds to Tyranny or Dictatorship, Oligarchy or Plutocracy and Anarchy. Starting with monarchy where the governance is in the hands of an ideal ruler- a philosopher statesman, in course of time it degenerates into a tyrannical, despotic rule. The success of  aristocratic form of government-rule by a few virtuous elites and ruled by  law an d for the people- its deviant form is Oligarchy which is greed based rule by a few possessing wealth and power. The last Democracy where it is supposedly a rule by, for and of  the people, it  declines swiftly to anarchy, the tyranny of the majority.

Our revered GPS gave us what we can define as rule by Aristocracy but worked towards achieving the Benthamite goal of greatest happiness  to the greatest number. Despite all the troubles of a new born nation, the three of them built the unity, integrity and moral fibre of the nation- something missed by Pakistan and other newly decolonized nations. In spite of the strides that the nation has taken in Science and Technology, in becoming self sufficient in food and minimizing starvation and famine as it happened in the pre-independence era, in adhering to the principles of secularism that meant non- interference of the State in religious matters and keeping alive our traditional spirit of tolerance and coexistence among people of different cultures, customs, traditions and languages, slowly we see the demon of intolerance, impoliteness, uncivilized behaviour, corrupt and dishonest practices raising their destructive heads with such rapidity that our descent into anarchy or chaos seems to be imminent  and unavoidable.

It is in our hands to save democracy from its descent into anarchy. We are privileged to have inherited the values from our revered GPS. We have to build our nation on that foundation and strengthen it with suitable additions and modification in keeping with the aspirations and outlook of the modern generation. If we lose sight of what our GPS had stood for, we shall never be able to gain our rightful position as a leading global player. Have we descended to anarchy already? If the cyclical process is to be believed, there has to be a re- ascent to Aristocracy that our great GPS had stood for. GPS are no longer with us, but their wisdom and insight into the soul of India lives on. Let us not mouth platitudes about their greatness on their birth and death anniversaries. Let us salute with gratitude and pride the great GPS and be forever inspired.