Wednesday, August 16, 2006

Freedom and democracy

A "new" India was born 59 years ago on 15th August 1947.India was declared a "free","independent" and "democratic" republic.Our elders and forefathers who took part in the "freedom struggle" thought India's time had finally come.I guess their descendents are still waiting for that time to come ! I'm not talking about the India which we see in Bombay(I prefer to call it that),Bangalore,Delhi or Madras.I'm talking about the India which lives in the villages.The rural India,which constitutes about more than 70% of the countries population.
Whenever I hear about villages which have never heard of "independence", not having any electricity,not having any water supply it makes me shudder.I guess our great leaders like Mahatma Gandhi,Sardar Patel,Maulana Azad,Lal Bahadur Shastri must be turning in their graves!When I say this I am by no means trying to be critical.I'm just tryin' to give a reality check.What exactly is freedom?Instead of whites ruling us,we have "our own countrymen" ruling us.Is this freedom?Are we free just because we are being ruled by Indians? Even today we can't criticize any leader openly due to the fear of being pounded by goons of political parties.At the most this can be done in the cities.The concept of constructive criticism is still missing in large parts of India.Try criticising the left parties openly in W.Bengal,Kerala or say a top BJP leader in Gujarat,or any Dravidian party in Tamil Nadu.You'll get the point I'm trying to make.If we are unable to do this inspite of being in a "vibrant","functioning" and "functioning democrary" then what is all this celebration for ! The only people who are enjoying the fruits of democracy,liberty and freedom are the rulers themselves.
We do have some achievements to show off in the last 59 years.I am by no means trying to downplay those achievements.But,do those achievements suffice to cater to a population of more than a billion?Of course not.It really makes me feel ashamed that we still have people dying of hunger and being forced to eat caracasses of animals due to poverty.Naxalism(which is the biggest internal threat to the county at present),poverty,lack of electricity,lack of infratructure,farmer suicides,terrorism,seperatist movements by some of our own people-the list is endless.Is this independence?I don't think so.But,definitely there is a section of the society which is independent.The rulers,kings(I'm sorry they are now called "leaders" who are elected by the people),the goons,criminals and families of the politicians are the ones who enjoy the fruits of independence.
Inspite of having so many problems we still find our leaders fighting and arguing in parliament over quota implementation(staggered or implmentation in one go being the two options acc to them),Indo-US nuclear deal(which is more important than all the other problems), portraits and statues being "insulted"(whatever that means),security cover of politicians being beefed up!Oh god!What kind of freedom is this.
I'm sure I'm a fool to write all this a day after celebrating independence day.What the hell am I complaining about?God,India is and independent and free country whose time will definitely come due to the vision of its leaders.Happy independence day.Jai Hind!

4 Comments:

Blogger humbl devil said...

india bcame a republic on 26th jan 1950, just for the record...hehe

12:00 AM  
Blogger Neeraj said...

I share your cynicism about freedom. Most certainly, we are far ,very far from acheiving it in the true sense of the word.

What I do not agree is the question mark you raise over important issues like quotas. You and I may have a point of view which may be different than the one of the ruling class. However, there is an undeniable mass support for what they are doing(see my blog - Status:Reserved , u mite find it interesting..)

Regards, nuke deal, it will not be very wrong to say that it THE most impportatnt thing being discussed in parliament and elsewhere for its repercussions(hopefully positive) will be felt even decades from today..

Having said that, I am proud of you for crrectly recognizing the distinction between the India we see daily and the vast India that we do not. It's an achievement to do so esp. being fed on english language media..

11:35 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

thoda kuch cool likh.. ajay devgan image nahi cchhaiyee ladki logon ko... abey.. akshay kumar ban.. hahahahahahahhahahaha........ itna gussa sehet ke liye accha nahi....

- the devil

5:48 AM  
Blogger Pranav said...

Agreed that anger is not good for health.But, don't forget that Ajay Devgan is a fave of many women. Ever heard of a certain heroine named Kajol?

9:37 AM  

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