15th August 2013
Musings.......
Yet another Independence Day comes by, this being the 66th anniversary celebrating the culmination of a long and arduous journey for liberation from foreign rule and the beginning of yet another of nation building. But folks hav v really achieved Independence and what does that word mean in the present context where a significant amount of our citizen live in poverty. A country which still has farmer suicides and malnutrition deaths. Who is responsible for our condition??
Everywhere money is King. Not the voter, not the constitution, but money. When something or someone is king, what becomes of the republic? From the roadside vendor who has to pay a regular mamul to the giant Corporate that bribes it's way to contracts, we are now become a Jamhuriyat-I-Naqad, a Republic of Cash.
What would Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru would have said today if he was PM. Would he still have used his famous Hindustani words such as sifat(quality), iman(probity), zamir(conscience), words which may seem a bit archaic today. Archaic, I say with confidence on a day where the Parliament is obsessed by its honour when it should be absorbed by its duties, political spectrum mired with scams of such large proportions that small corruption seems trivial.
We have become soulless people, a people without self-confidence, without morale. A nation that do not have ideals cannot survive.
We now live in a challenging economic and security climate. Growth is down, inflation is up. Forex reserves are depleting and economy stagflating.
Our neighbours present a formidable security issue for we are surrounded by problems-
Pakistan- a failed state always a threat
Afghanistan- with the US troops retreating and Taliban taking over
Sri Lanka- Constant war b/w Tamils and Singhalese.
Nepal - with no government or constitution for over an year and Maoists in power who are pro china.
China- incursions into India and conquest of the South China Sea.
Bangladesh- with Jamaat-e- Islami and Shahbag protests threatening its stability
Myanmar- where Rohingya Muslims and Rakhine Buddhists fight it out for identity
How good is our internal security, where the PM had to state that Maoism is Indias biggest threat in the 21st century, ironically on Independence Day from the Red Fort.
Red Fort which has seen great transactions of time, such as the stately durbars of Shah Jahan, the petty machinations of Aurengzeb, the trial and murder of Dara Shikoh, the plunder by Nadir Shah and his loot of Peacock Throne, the carnage of Great War of Independence, Bahadur Shah Zafars great sacrifice and the trial of brave INA soldiers and of the small men who killed our Mahatma, is now just a spectacle, silent stones listening to political blabber and false promises.
So is there no hope?? Is it all finished?? Most certainly not. India and Indians hav almost always triumphed in times of adversities. When Winston Churchill equated India to the Equator, many agreed with him. But we have proved them wrong. We have stood steady as a nation for the past 66 years and will continue to stand. We have risen from almost nothing to the third largest economy in the world in PPP terms. We are the second largest growing economy among major countries. We have achieved heights that for many like Churchill seemed like the equator- non existent.
Our country needs to reinvent itself through the ideals and dreams that drove the Independence Movement and ponder over the question - have we achieved real Independence??
Food for Thought.......
RC
Yet another Independence Day comes by, this being the 66th anniversary celebrating the culmination of a long and arduous journey for liberation from foreign rule and the beginning of yet another of nation building. But folks hav v really achieved Independence and what does that word mean in the present context where a significant amount of our citizen live in poverty. A country which still has farmer suicides and malnutrition deaths. Who is responsible for our condition??
Everywhere money is King. Not the voter, not the constitution, but money. When something or someone is king, what becomes of the republic? From the roadside vendor who has to pay a regular mamul to the giant Corporate that bribes it's way to contracts, we are now become a Jamhuriyat-I-Naqad, a Republic of Cash.
What would Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru would have said today if he was PM. Would he still have used his famous Hindustani words such as sifat(quality), iman(probity), zamir(conscience), words which may seem a bit archaic today. Archaic, I say with confidence on a day where the Parliament is obsessed by its honour when it should be absorbed by its duties, political spectrum mired with scams of such large proportions that small corruption seems trivial.
We have become soulless people, a people without self-confidence, without morale. A nation that do not have ideals cannot survive.
We now live in a challenging economic and security climate. Growth is down, inflation is up. Forex reserves are depleting and economy stagflating.
Our neighbours present a formidable security issue for we are surrounded by problems-
Pakistan- a failed state always a threat
Afghanistan- with the US troops retreating and Taliban taking over
Sri Lanka- Constant war b/w Tamils and Singhalese.
Nepal - with no government or constitution for over an year and Maoists in power who are pro china.
China- incursions into India and conquest of the South China Sea.
Bangladesh- with Jamaat-e- Islami and Shahbag protests threatening its stability
Myanmar- where Rohingya Muslims and Rakhine Buddhists fight it out for identity
How good is our internal security, where the PM had to state that Maoism is Indias biggest threat in the 21st century, ironically on Independence Day from the Red Fort.
Red Fort which has seen great transactions of time, such as the stately durbars of Shah Jahan, the petty machinations of Aurengzeb, the trial and murder of Dara Shikoh, the plunder by Nadir Shah and his loot of Peacock Throne, the carnage of Great War of Independence, Bahadur Shah Zafars great sacrifice and the trial of brave INA soldiers and of the small men who killed our Mahatma, is now just a spectacle, silent stones listening to political blabber and false promises.
So is there no hope?? Is it all finished?? Most certainly not. India and Indians hav almost always triumphed in times of adversities. When Winston Churchill equated India to the Equator, many agreed with him. But we have proved them wrong. We have stood steady as a nation for the past 66 years and will continue to stand. We have risen from almost nothing to the third largest economy in the world in PPP terms. We are the second largest growing economy among major countries. We have achieved heights that for many like Churchill seemed like the equator- non existent.
Our country needs to reinvent itself through the ideals and dreams that drove the Independence Movement and ponder over the question - have we achieved real Independence??
Food for Thought.......
RC
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