Is it a mere coincidence that since the liberalisation of the Indian economy in 1991, the growth of this country and the decline of the Congress have been co-terminusIJ
Today as India enters its 70th year of independence, it is natural for us to look back, introspect and ask ourselves to what extent we have been successful in meeting the challenges the country faced at the time of its rebirth in 1947. Have we done enough to feel proud as Indians in the preceding 69 yearsIJ And what are the issues that need to be addressed urgently in the near futureIJ
First things first: India was not born on August 15, 1947. It has been a social and political reality since aeons. But surely August 15 is an another important milestone in our long journey, complete with numerous ups and downs, spanning over several eventful millenniums.
And India is not a secular and democratic Republic because of the Constitution it got itself on January 26, 1950. In fact, it’s the other way round. Pakistan, as was expected, became an Islamic nation on its birth. It would have been logical for residual India to proclaim itself as a Hindu state.
But that would have been completely against its pluralistic ethos. Barring the alien Muslim rule, India was never theocratic in its long and chequered history. Hindu kings surely followed spiritual traditions of their choice, but they did not use the resources of the state to either propagate or force their religious beliefs on their subjects.
Perhaps the only exception was Emperor Ashoka who employed the state machinery to popularise his newly acquired faith, Buddism. Today, in this part of the world, only India has the distinction of living with the twin values of secularism and democracy for the last seven decades. This is no mean achievement.
When the British departed, they left behind a mess. The economy was in shambles. With over 560 independent Princely States, it was a huge challenge to integrate the country in one political entity. The prophets of doom, including several Western scholars, predicted disintegration and an imminent fall for India. Thanks to our civilisational unity and deft handling of the complex situation by the legendary Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, we are one nation and one people today.
However, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, because of his family’s old Kashmir connection and blind love for his friend Sheikh Abdullah, an Aligarh Muslim University product, chose to deal with the affairs of the Muslim dominated state himself. Because of his Himalayan blunders (halting the Indian Army when it was chasing out Pakistani infiltrators in 1948 and taking the matter to the United Nations), Kashmir valley has now become second home to terror (neighbouring Pakistan being the first one) and nurtures a jihadi mindset.
The first four decades of independence were wasted on superstition — believing that the mantra called socialism (and not individual initiative and hard work) could ensure economic miracles. When in 1990-1991, the Socialist god failed in the Soviet Union, India under PV Narasimha Rao changed tack, and ushered in economic reforms. This gradually unshackled the latent Indian talent and enterprise. The rest is history.
In spite of occasional setbacks, India is now on its way to emerge as a major global power house in next decade. It’s polity, though split on ideological grounds, personal and dynastic lines, and marked by regional aspirations, has stabilised and matured over the decades. The recent unanimous passage of critical Goods and Services Tax Bill underlines this laudable reality.
The country is also undergoing a demographic revolution. The younger generation of voters is neither influenced by the Congress’s ideology nor the party’s record of 50 odd years in power. In these years, the Congress failed to bring a political solution to the simmering struggles in the North-East; in Kashmir, it only perpetuated the societal division, making no progress towards a political solution of the plethora of regional, tribal demands. It was for decades the same story of separatists, secessionists and inter-tribal conflicts.
Is it a mere coincidence that during the last 25 years, the rise of India and the decline of its Grand Old Party have been co-terminusIJ Following the assassination of Indira Gandhi in 1984, the party under Rajiv Gandhi won over 400 seats in lok Sabha. Today its tally is about 1/10th of that number. During the same period India which had reached close to near bankruptcy in 1991 has now emerged as one of most promising economies of the world. How come the fall of Congress translates itself in the rise of IndiaIJ
Additionally, what are the challenges India faces todayIJ One problem is that of narrow political considerations over weighing our national interests. look at the recent Parliament debate on Kashmir. Former Union Minister and Congress leader P Chidambaram claimed there was a solemn assurance of a political solution when Kashmir agreed to join the Indian Union but it has been kept pending. His position was so embarrassing that his own party distanced itself from his claim. Notably, he was the Union Minister for Home Affairs in the UPA Government.
Former J&K Chief Minister Omar Abdullah now advises the Centre that it should promote a political solution and should not be influenced by giveaways. If you give free laptops to our youth, Omar Abdullah says, they would throw those away and still pick up stones to hurl at Indian forces. What prevented him from looking for a political solution during his stewardship of the StateIJ And his was the third generation of the renowned Abdullah clan in power in the State.
Reminding us of recent history helps to put the issues in perspective. The way we have mishandled the Kashmir issue from day one is an illustration of all that has been wrong with our polity since independence. The issue of jobs and development as the recognition of Kashmir people’s prestige that are now stated to be at the centre of alienation is not peculiar to Kashmir. We are a polyglot, multi-religious, multi-sect society.
The wide space to advance such claims, however irrational it may appear, is there because of the lively democracy we are in. Just to remind us on this Independence Day how important this life blood of democracy is for the Indian state to bond together as one nation — it was only during the Emergency that newspapers everyday declared that all is fine under Indira Gandhi and that the trains are running on time.
“Who wants elections”, the people were asking, said those reports dictated by the chief censor and carried as truth by all newspapers. So, let us thank god we have a democracy and everyone has grievances against the Government which they can, and do, shout from the housetops. And thank god we now have under the NDA Government a website called ‘Mygov.in’ which takes the voice of the last man, augments it and ensures that the Prime Minister listens to it and acts on it.