As we complete 71 years of independence, we need to introspect and ask ourselves: Is today’s India the one we had dreamt of seven decades back? Replying with a certain ‘yes’ or ‘no’ will be a naïve response to this complicated question.
On the positive side, we have been successful in transforming India from a starving nation into a major exporter of food grains. Most of our neighbouring counties are still unstable democracies or ruled by undemocratic leaders. But India is stable and also the biggest democracy in the world. We are one the fastest growing economies and our large population has made India one of the biggest markets of the world. Thereby giving India a strong bargaining power at a diplomatic level in today’s globalised world.
But if we consider incidents of communal violence like mob lynching, hate crimes, the Sikh genocide, the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits, demolition of the Babri Masjid, Gujarat riots etc., we can say that the power has merely transferred from white to brown colonisers. The policy of divide and rule still continues. Any kind of dissent against the government is treated as enmity against the state and people are tagged as anti-nationals on the drop of a hat. The recent incident of deadly attack on JNU student leader Umar Khalid is the manifestation of this misinformation campaign and poisonous propaganda being spread by a biased media and paid social media warriors. This hate has been spread to such an extent that common people have started believing that such people are anti-India. Hence they need to be killed.
The institutions, on which the foundation of any democracy is laid upon, have come under siege. Recently, four senior-most judges of the Supreme Court made it public that the judiciary is not aloof from the interference of the executive. The investigative agencies like CBI have been called as caged parrots of the Government by the Hon’ble Supreme Court. So the institutions meant to protect us, are themselves not independent to take their own decisions.
The future of India now rests on our shoulders. We can no longer remain dependent on our political leaders who have done nothing but exploit us on the basis of caste and religion. Such incidents need to be condemned by people from all walks of life irrespective of their ideology, and political affiliations. We common people need to speak against the government-sponsored terror created in the name of religion, nationalism and State. Because silence in the face of injustice makes us complicit with the oppressor.
The author is an Assistant Commandant, CAPF, Government of India. You can connect with him on Facebook or follow him on Instagram.