On this auspicious occasion ; the 75th year of independence, we need to look at ourselves objectively as to how successful we have been as a society , as a nation and ask ourselves - have we been able to fulfill the dreams that our forefathers had envisioned on the eve of independence.

When we look around and compare ourselves with nations that got freedom along with us, we find that few of them have gone ahead but many of them are still struggling – politically, economically and socially, they have still not come to terms with the situation.

Snake Charmers to 3 Trillion Economy; A Remarkable Journey of 75 years

We were then, in 1947, known in the world as a country of snake charmers. The Government in 1947, had inherited a poor, deprived, and a largely illiterate India (almost 88% were illiterate) from Britishers. It hardly had any industry, a scarce road network and public transport system, inadequate medical infrastructure, millions of refugees and a society which had just witnessed genocide, for instance ;

We could then produce barely 1300 MW electricity, that could lit barely 9 lac homes and now we have 3,83 000MW that lits almost whole country. We then had 2 Steel plants and now we have 1150 plants that have made India the world’s second largest steel producer.

Now we have a huge industrial base, we have democratic institutions in place which ensure that governance does take place, we have made tremendous accomplishment in the space arena and in technology as well. Our educational institutions have produced some of the finest young men who are today occupying the top positions at World bank, IMF , and are CEOs of top ranking fortune 500 companies ; Gita Gopinath, Sundar Pichai, Satya Nadela, Leena Nair, Indira Nooyi, Arvind Krishna, Sanjay Mehrotra and many more.

We have also been at the forefront in the field of art and cinema too and our artistes have earned international fame and not to leave sports both our men and women are now delivering results and have earned laurels at the international level.

So, one can state, with confidence, that we have grown slowly but surely. Its been a remarkable journey and we must congratulate ourselves for these achievements because they did not come easily. We faced external invasions, numerous separatist movements, strikes by trade unions, famines and food shortages, but we kept moving relentlessly and kept India’s unity and integrity intact.

This is an ample proof that our forefathers laid a strong foundation and the generations to come have benefited from that. Often it is said; when one starts a new enterprise, it’s the future generations who enjoy its fruits.

Lets not take Freedom for Granted.

Notwithstanding the above, let’s not forget on this auspicious occasion, what Ronald Reagan had said;

“Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. The Freedom is not passed to our children in the bloodstream. It has to be fought for, protected, and handed on for them “.

This implies that Freedom, should not be taken for granted and every generation has to work to preserve that freedom and pass it on to the next generation to do the same.

In that sense are we doing enough?.

We need to ponder ; What have we done to our rivers, what have we done to the air that we breathe ? What have we done to our democratic institutions that were painstakingly built by our forefathers? What have we done to our health care system, what have we done to our primary and secondary education system, what have we done to our law and order system? What are we doing to our art and culture? And finally, What impact will it all have in years to come if all this is not managed properly?

When we look beneath the surface, we find that corruption, mis governance right down to the village level is leading the nation to a point where a small spark can ignite fire which may turn out of control.

It’s a vicious cycle that we are getting into and it will not be easy to come out of it, if we do not take precautionary measures now.

Let me explain this with a small example.

We find that most of our roads deteriorate very soon and very often one notices lot of pot holes, many a times this happens within a month, so we curse the contractor; MAAL KHARAAB LAGAYA HAI and move on.

But we do not think further.

Glimpse of Potholes 

Usually, the contractor paid bribe to the political masters to get that damn Project , he had also paid bribe to sarkari babus and entire administrative system so that his payment is cleared and his project is also passed, that’s why he goes unpunished despite the road deteriorating in few weeks.

Watch this famous video which depicted the pain of a Mumbaikar. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5npFH8v8a4 . 

Now the question arises - How has this money, which is in cash and unaccounted for, that Netaji was offered for the project, been utilized?

The Politicians use it to acquire power, to topple Govts of the rival parties, buy MLAs, buy justice in case they are questioned ever, and distribute amongst their workers ; who are Good for nothing- usually, whom they use for electoral purposes.

30 MLAs of a political party recently ran away to Surat, then to Assam and thereafter to Goa and finally toppled a Govt and acquired Power.

A dispassionate observer would ask ;

Why did they run away?

Why could they not resign from the Govt, if they were not happy with the CM? like it happened in UK recently , where the PM had to resign because his own ministers started resigning from the Govt.

Why didn’t those ministers in UK run away to different towns/ to France or else where, like the Indian ministers did in India.

Some would say that Uddhav would have got them eliminated or bought them back?

How could all 30 of them be murdered?

Perhaps, the main fear was ; they could be bought back or cajoled by the CM by offering huge sums and some doles and hence they were shifted out, beyond the reach of the sitting CM.

This has been the usual practice in Indian politics. Whenever the MLAs have to be managed, they are shifted to safe havens so that, they are not bought by the rival group.

So two questions arise;

One, Are our MLAs so cheap that they can be sold and purchased easily and the Second is ; someone must have then given them better offer than what Uddhav could have given them.

So dear, why are the countrymen so happy and delighted?

The Goods and Services were sold and bought by the politicians who had plenty of money.

Friends this is our own hard earned money which was to be used for the construction of good quality Road, but was sadly passed on to the Politicians who had sponsored this whole plan and we are getting delighted, as if our own uncle has come to power.

This is damn it, our hard earned money that is being passed on to politicians in the guise of infrastructure development. The Politician - Babu nexus has advertently or inadvertently has created a system wherein ;  more the roads, more the bridges, more the buildings constructed, more power projects being inaugurated, the more rich the politician in power becomes. . And one day they will become so powerful that they can enslave the whole system. Do not believe it, check the Fiancial state of BJP since coming to power and Congress after losing power

Aur hum taali baja rahe hain jub ki baj hummhari rahi hai.

 

Do we really expect that such ministers(who ran around the country) who were bought and those who sponsored them can serve the Nation better?

We are not only paying tax on Goods that we buy but also on what we earn and what we save, We are sending our kids to private schools because Govt cannot properly manage its schools, we have to take our ailing parents and children to private hospitals because the Govt hospitals are in a pathetic state, for water we have to buy an RO/ filter and dig a bore well because Govt cannot give us safe drinking water, The law enforcing agencies cannot be trusted as even they are controlled by politicians in power.

We have in 75 years created a system that only works when it is kick started by a Politician in power, implying that entire administrative machinery is defunct and is a slave of Politicians in power.

Its latest example is of Omaxe township in Noida where a member of a political party was bullying the residents for years and local administrative machinery paid no heed till some big politician intervened.

This kind of corrupt and sham democracy is dangerous for our freedom. This democracy is surely not “for the people” although it might be “ by the people” because it is we, who are electing politicians.

Corruption and mis governance has made the country hollow from within, everyone can be bought including the law enforcing agencies and everything can be sold even the “Conscience”.

One spark and everything will lie in shambles particularly when the communal environment is increasingly deteriorating. We are in the process of creating many Indias. Right now one can only see ; Hindu India, but that’s an illusion. The undermentioned statement of DMK minister A Raja, must be read carefully and its implications be understood ;

“ Though the icon of the Dravidian movement, Thanthai Periyar stood for an independent Tamil Nadu, the DMK moved away from it… Though the party accepted Periyar, backed integrity and democracy and said, 'long live India' and the party continues to stick to that line. I am telling Amit Shah and the Prime Minister (Narendra Modi) with utmost humility, I implore you in the presence of (our) leaders on the dais, our chief minister is journeying on the path of Anna (CN Annadurai, former chief minister and DMK founder), do not push us on the path of Periyar. Do not make us seek a separate country, give state autonomy and we will not rest till then,"

We need to appreciate that the more rich and prosperous these states become the more demands of autonomy will come from these rich and affluent states. This is a phenomena that led to the disintegration of East European countries. The demand for autonomy will not come from poor states ; UP, Bihar , Odisha , MP etc.

Is this the kind of India we will hand over to the next generation?

We blame Jaichand for helping the enemy but do we realize that his daughter was kidnapped by Prithviraj Chauhan whom we eulogies. This love story of Sanyogita and Chauhan , is all hearsay and part of folklore. Is there any evidence that they were in love? Have n’t we heard this saying ; History is written by the victors. So, Jaichand had no means, then to get back his daughter and there were no courts then, where Jaichand could appeal, and he had a small army. So he looked the other way when a foreigner invaded. The same happened with Rajput kings who were fed up of bullying by Maratha Generals who forced the Rajput Kings to pay Chauth, a kind of security tax. The Rajput Kings had no means available for redressal of their grievances, so the moment British came, most of the the Rajput kings noticing that British usually adhered to system and procedures, signed agreements with East India company to get rid of Marathas.

This might have had happened 500 to 1000 years ago but the underlying message needs to be understood by us.

A Big country like India can retain its freedom, if it is governed well, if it is in peace with itself and very important; everyone has a stake in its well being.

Misgovernance, Corruption and Communalism will create a situation as described above and as aptly described by Ayn Rand a renowned writer and philosopher ;

“ When you see that in order to produce, you need to obtain permission from men who produce nothing - When you see that money is flowing to those who deal, not in goods, but in favors - When you see that men get richer by graft and by pull than by work, and your laws don’t protect you against them, but protect them against you - When you see corruption being rewarded and honesty becoming a self-sacrifice - You may know that your society is doomed.”

So, this time when we hoist the Flag , think about it ; What kind of India we will be handing over to the next generation.

JAI HIND !