Let us celebrate 72nd Independence Day with great hopes for the nation.
Today marks the 72nd anniversary of India’s independence. The day for which our freedom fighters and millions of oppressed people of our country had been waiting to witness finally came into reality, when the Pt. Jawahar Lal Nehru announced the independence of India from the British rule on the night of independence in his speech “Tryst with Destiny” on 15 August 1947.
On the one hand was the exuberance and excitement of breathing in a newly independent country after years of exploitative and unjust British rule, while on the other hand was the brunt of the partition that claimed the lives of millions of people across the borders massacring the humanity.
It has been said that whenever a massive transition or revolution takes place in a country, some people, even innocents, also get crushed in that phase under extenuating circumstances. But, the number of innocent people who lost their lives and were rendered homeless at a time when India was on the cusp of independence is too large to believe or even imagine.
The reasons this issue of loss of millions of lives during the partition need to be addressed at the beginning because (a) either not many people are aware of it or even if they do, they don’t often touch the intensity of horrors that wrecked the humanity (b) to remind ourselves of the fact that the India we take pride in to live in present time has actually been awakened to its consciousness at the expense of the lives of millions of people, besides the contribution of the many known freedom fighters.
It reminds us of the fact that freedom that we often take for granted comes with a certain price. Sometimes the price is beyond ones’ imagination. Therefore, we all must be thankful for the almighty and the grateful to the freedom fighters to have been born at a time when we are fortunate and independent to explore the new dimensions of life while contributing to the nation-building without necessarily putting our lives in perils.
But the questions that we need to ask ourselves on today’s auspicious occasion: Have we been actually able to live up to the expectations of our great and visionary freedom fighters? Had our freedom fighters been alive today, would they be happy to see the present state of affairs of the country?
Have we really achieved the goal of living in country with equality, liberty, fraternity, social justice and non-discrimination where one could voice his/her opinion against the injustice without the fear of being muzzled, where there isn’t any inflammatory slogans or speeches to trigger the communal violence in the society, where people are equipped with well scientific temper, better education, a sense of tolerance towards each other’s dissenting views, where farmers don’t commit suicide due to agrarian crisis? This list is very long.
Undoubtedly, our nation has developed over the past seven decades on many fronts with many feathers on its cap both at domestic as well as international level. However, the chasm between the hopes and reality has only widened on the certain matters since independence.
Therefore, there is no denial in saying the fact that our freedom fighters would have been more saddened and disappointed rather than being pleased, considering the state our nation is in present time with the many instances of assassination of the people having opposite political ideology, increasing majoritarianism, the polarization on the grounds of caste and religion, increasing chauvinism, intermittent mob lynching, subversion of democratic institutions, corrosion in the space for free speech and dialogue, and the attempts to coerce the people into doing something against their will with a moral authority without any constitutional backing.
Independence day not only reminds us of being physically independent to do anything as long as it doesn’t harm anyone but also being independent in thoughts. Being independent also means to be able to think freely and logically leaving aside our personal prejudices, to be independent of the narrow confines of left and right and being audacious enough to call a spade a spade. And most importantly to not be swayed away a particular wave or propaganda carried out to befool the people to suit the vested interests.
The economic growth of a country is of no use if it doesn’ ensure the harmony, peace, security, and freedom of expression to its citizens.
Currently, I am pursuing B.A(H) Political science from Satyawati College, Delhi University.
I like public speaking, writing and reading in my leisure.
