This Independence Day, we need to take a solemn pledge to bring India’s glory back
Why old men, fools and children calculate; why all these things change from the ordinance, to monstrous quality — why, you shall find that heaven hath infused them with these spirits to make them instruments of fear and warning unto some monstrous state”. These words of William Shakespeare in Julius Caesar ring in our ears as we prepare to celebrate the 66th anniversary of India’s Independence. And rightly so, given the state of affairs of the nation at large. Sadly, all does not seem to be well today. Mid-day meal fiascos, acid attacks, assaults on women, etc — something is definitely wrong somewhere.
A pertinent question, thus, crops up: Have we missed the “tryst with destiny” that Jawaharlal Nehru had famously talked about. Perhaps, yes. No doubt, India has made progress, but we have also lost much in the process. We are a trillion-dollar economy today, but we are also known for billion dollar scams. With mafiosi interfering in the business of the state and Durga Shaktis being victimised, with extremist elements killing people at will and officers of law-enforcing agencies being blown to smithereens, swaraj seems to have turned into goondaraj. These are ominous signs for the nation. The writing on the wall is clear — that India is under attack. And, from within. The agenda for this Independence Day should be to deal with this clear and present danger.
So, what can we do to stop this slideIJ And who should do itIJ The political class has already abdicated its responsibility to guide the nation. The bureaucracy, the erstwhile steel frame of the Indian state, has rusted except for those sporadic flashes of Durga Shaktis. Everything, therefore, is now left on the shoulders of the common man. And it is now or never. If we don’t take up the responsibility now, our future generations will never forgive us. Independence is too precious to be frittered away.
India, as a nation-state, is our most precious asset. This reminds us of the words of lord Rama after he killed Ravan. Rama told Vibhishan that even if lanka was beautiful and full of gold, it would never enamour him and his brother lakshman. After all, for him, his mother and motherland were more important than anything else.
We need to reinvent our homeland. More than 120 years ago Swami Vivekananda proved the world that India was not just a country of snake charmers, sannyasis and beggars. Today, we need another renaissance to prove that we are not a country of crooks, rapists and swindlers. An Urdu couplet from poet Iqbal is given below that sums up the spirit of what we must do: “Watan ki fikr kar nadaan musibat aane wali hai, teri bardadiyon ke mashwire hain aasmanon mein/ Na sambhaloge to mit jaoge ai Hindostan waalon, tumhari daastaan bhi na hogi daastaanon mein.” (Think of the nation O ignorant, the trouble is lurking, the signs of your doom are there in the skies; if you don’t pay heed you will perish O people of India, even your history will not be mentioned in the histories.)
The writer is professor, Indian School of Mines, Dhanbad (Jharkhand). He can be reached at ppathak.ism@gmail.com