As I logged into my Facebook account, I saw my wall flooded with Independence day messages. So it got me thinking. Its the 64th year of independence for India. What have we achieved in these 64 years? The dictionary defines independence as “not subject to control by others; not requiring or relying on something else “. Put in context to a country, Independence is a condition of a country in which its residents exercise self government and sovereignty over its territory. Our constitution gives some fundamental rights to every Indian citizen. For those, like me, who never paid attention in their history/civics lectures in school, here is what the fundamental rights in independent India look like: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fundamental_Rights_in_India .So what is independence for an average Indian?
If I am to look back on my personal experiences, for almost all of my childhood Independence day meant a holiday from school. Waking up to the sound of patriotic songs playing in the neighborhood, I used to go to the morning flag hoisting parade in school, come home and eat 'jalebis' which were made specially for Independence day in my home town. So all independence day was to enjoy an off day in the middle of the year eating 5 pounds of 'jalebis'. The current era is not too different. The most patriotic feelings are evoked out of many Indians including myself only on 15th August, 26th January and during an India v Pakistan cricket game. Do the soldiers fighting on the borders care if its 15th August or 31st December before defending their nation? Then why should we only celebrate our patriotic expressions on one particular day and on the next day act as if nothing happened.
I guess one of the reasons could be that almost all of the fundamental rights mentioned above does not apply to the common man in India. Freedom of speech and freedom of expression are glorified and superficial rights in India. The moment a person crosses a certain line where the rich and the powerful could be affected they are made to shut up or ridiculed. The recent Anna Hazare episode just goes to show that if a man shows guts to stand up to something he believes in, he will just be bullied to shut up. If a common man decides to stand up against unjust laws there are the so called moral police who resort to hooliganism. Hell when IBN lokmat did a news piece about Bal Thakray, their office was vandalized. So how is the average Indian supposed to speak his mind and make it count without the fear of being beaten up by hooligans? The retort to such acts by these people is that its their freedom of speech and expression. Really? Does 'Satyameva Jayate' mean nothing anymore? Why cant a person say the truth and not be harassed for speaking his/her mind? Is it still called freedom if a person does not live life just so that he does not come in the lime light of the 'gundas'? I guess its just easier to accept the faults and live with it creating a facade of how great our country is. This has probably caused so much pent up frustration and anger in people that they just find reasons to take a day off from all this mess and just feel good about their country for one day but return to reality the very next day.
All this corruption and money among the powerful people ruling India has made them even more dangerous and powerful. Is this the India that the freedom fighters envisioned? Definitely not. It is in this time that every Indian needs to unite and fight off such politicians. But we do exactly the opposite. We play right into such politicians' hands and fight among ourselves. United we stand, divided we fall. 70 years ago the British did it, now the ruling politicians do it. Nothing much has changed has it? Even someone as famous as a filmmaker in this country has to go through hell before he gets the nod for releasing his film peacefully. Why does one have to get the approval of the politicians or a certain sect of people so that riots are not broken out? If a Prakash Jha releases a movie which has a controversial subject, the movie is banned in 3 states. The people from the rest of the states are terrified to go watch the movie considering that the theaters might be vandalized by gundas. Its his expression over the matter, why should it be banned even before being seen if the censor board has passed the film?
Don't get me wrong, I love my country and I am as proud to be an Indian. There are several good parts to being an Indian. Our culture and varied heritage is probably unmatched, but I guess its not always beneficial seeing only the good parts. If one is to improve oneself they should accept their bad points and look to improve themselves. Unfortunately in the past decade there is a lot of negative happening in our country than positive. Corruption, terrorism and cultural divide are termites eating up mother India. As difficult as it sounds we need to come together and stand united. We need to fight the everyday devils as the 'jawans' fight off enemies on the border every single day. We need to be the soldiers on the inside and celebrate our independence every single day by fighting for it in our own way. The people who rule the country are elected by us. Vote in elections and make it count. We should keep ourselves updated to the track record of a party rather than just voting for the heck of it. The real freedom that we need is freedom from terrorism. One should be aware of your surroundings. Notify the police of suspicious activities immediately. Above all deny bribes to people who ask for it and report about the bribery. An attitude of “What do I care?” should be done away with. Our country's matter is our matter. Cleaning the house starts by cleaning your room. Its not about just eating 'jalebis' anymore. Its easier said than done but we have to start somewhere.
This was not to hurt anyone's sentiments. Its just something that was bothering me. A happy Independence day to everyone and wishing the future generations live in a real shining India. Vande Mataram !!
