Tomorrow we are going to celebrate our 66th Independence Day. But one question I would like to ask every Indian is - are we really independent? Before independence we were under the British; now enslaved by poverty and darkness. Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru’s voice was heard over All India Radio on that much awaited midnight of August 14, 1947, announcing, "Long year ago, we made a tryst with destiny, and now the time comes when we will redeem our pledge, not wholly or in full measure, but very substantially…We end today a period of ill fortune, and India discovers herself again." Now 66 years have passed with varied colors, India has also been gradually growing from its nascent stage each day. I would like to draw your kind attention towards some issues that have been haunting me. The first and foremost issue that occupies frequently is whether we are really independent? Before Independence, we were ruled by the British; for every purpose, we had to bow down in front of the foreign power. India has maintained the ideal of secularism till date as mentioned in the Constitution, ignoring all heinous attempts by some political organisations to make it a ’Hindu’ land. Every five years, we, the proud citizens of India, cast our votes and elect our representatives in the Parliament and in the legislative assemblies. But the overall procedure of election is well known to us. Except for some major cities in India, especially where the ratio of highly educated and socially-conscious people is higher than in other areas, election is considered neither a fair nor a peaceful event in the rest of our country. Earlier, we were under the British rule. With independence, a transformation of power took place. Those who were oppressed, deprived and neglected in those days are still the same. No change has appeared in their life style. Not only this, but the Central government has failed completely to fulfill three basic needs of the common people – food, clothing and employment. A number of policies and plans are executed, but nothing has changed. Our Central governments as well as state governments shout a lot about development, but that is very much limited within the boundaries of the metropolitan cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Chennai and a few more. But what about the villages? Shortage of pure drinking water comes first in this list. May be the residents of A-1 cities/metropolitan cities get volumes of drinking water regularly through municipal corporation but those who dwell in the remote villages, strive daily for a bucket of fresh drinking water. Keeping apart Rajasthan, the only desert state of India, until you visit the villages of Orissa, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, Tamilnadu, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, you will not realise the level of distress. Everyday, women in groups from these places cover a long distance just to get one or two buckets of drinking water. Electricity is the next issue. India is a country consisting of over six lakh villages. But alas! After sunset, a major percentage of Indian villages go under an impregnable curtain of darkness due to lack of electricity. Thermal power, hydro power, nuclear power and what not, but still a large portion of Indian population lives without electricity. Now the next issue - food. People are still starving to death. It is nothing but a shame for India, which is globally known as a developing country. It is a striking fact that while a large amount of food grains are wasted each year, people starve to death due to non-availability of foods. There are people in our country who have no clothes at all to cover themselves. Surat is known as the Manchester of India; Reliance, Gwalior, Shiyaji, DCM, Raymonds are some of the renowned Indian garment factories, whose name are well known throughout the world for their quality product as well as standards. Don’t these companies have any extra rags to cover the shame of their brethren? If you go through the streets of the metropolitan cities at night, you’ll find a number of homeless sleeping under the sky after day long hard work. Each day, these homeless come to your house to clear your dustbin, to clean your car or to polish your shoes. But we fail to provide those, with whose help we all are moving faster, a shelter. If your air conditioned car stands near a red light in a busy road, little hands holding some noted magazines appear outside the film-coated glass, begging for some money to have a piece of bread in lieu of these books. Girls fear to come out alone in cities as well in villages at night as they anticipate rape and molestation. Children are kidnapped for money; people vanish and then their dead bodies are found without kidneys and other rare organs. Blinded by religious fanaticism, one community mercilessly kills the other and poses as if they have done a feat. So, are we really independent? We were under the bondage of British, and now we are under the bondage of poverty and darkness. If we are really free, then why are we still under the curtain of poverty and backwardness? Crackers worth of millions will be burnt on the eve of 66th Independence Day, hope all the scars of negativity will be wiped away by the light and sound of firepower. Hope a new India, a real ’Independent – India’ will take birth again.
Posted on: Wed, 14 Aug 2013 17:23:43 +0000
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