In I-Day speech, PM talked about five pledges. People can honour these pledges, but can politicians too?
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Independence Day speech is important for spelling out a big ambition: making India a developed nation by 2047. He has unfolded a long-term roadmap for the government as well as the people, which lays out several goals for the next 25 years. He talked about five pledges for 2047: having developed India, removing any sign of servility, pride in heritage, unity, and fulfilling our duties. The five pledges are part of the same continuum; each of them is linked with the others. Similarly, the goals that are to be achieved with the give pledges are also intertwined with each other. A developed nation is not just one with a high per capita income; that is the necessary but not the sufficient condition. A developed nation is also predicated upon the individual liberty of and equality among citizens. It is a well-known fact that the developed nations, which are mostly Western, are not just the richest with citizens enjoying high standards of living; they are also the freest countries in the world. In those countries, people can say and do anything, however weird, so long as they don’t hurt or bother others. This is the reason that people from India and other countries want to go and settle in Canada, the US, the UK, Australia, and other developed nations. India can also become one such, provided the political class and the society strive to eradicate servility and the conditions that generate it.
Pride in heritage, unity, and a feeling of responsibility to carry out our duties will make our country stronger, confident, and resilient. PM Modi is an inspiring leader, whose charisma wins elections and stimulates people to participate meaningfully in public life. There is no doubt that people at large would respond enthusiastically to his call for making India a developed nation. The real problem, however, lies with politicians. Will they, including those in the Bharatiya Janata Party, follow his exhortations in letter and spirit? One is not very sure of the answer. The Central Government has tried to be fiscally prudent as much as possible, even during the most trying corona times; it has never succumbed to the appeals made by economists and experts before every Union Budget that the government of the day should commence on a spending spree because ‘this time it is different.’ Every year there is some pretext or the other for indulging in profligacy. The Modi Government has never bitten that bait. Modi has also started speaking against freebies, something which has been opposed by many anti-BJP leaders, especially Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. But, unfortunately, not BJP government in states has shown much initiative to stop freebies and moderate populism; at least there is nothing on the record to suggest that. In short, while the people of India will honour the pledges Modi wants them to take, one is not sure about politicians’ sincerity on that count.