70 Years of Indian Independence and the Growing Challenge of Manifold Nationalism
India as we know today was born when 200 years of British Raj was overthrown and democracy was crowned on 15th August, 1947. It’s far from possible to forget the sacrifices our freedom fighters made to create this nation, but it won’t be too long before we forget the values that they fought for. Hence it’s necessary from time to time we introspect and understand the challenges we come across through our journey post-independence.
I remember the
television interview few years back of Lee Kuan Yew, the first Prime
Minister of Singapore, who transformed Singapore from a third world country to a first world country in a single generation under his three decades of leadership. When he
was asked what he would do if he were to govern India, he replied, “No single
person can change India.” He said that when he had visited India he observed
that there are many different ‘Indias’.
We
are a set of multiple cultures and this diversity has fostered brotherhood,
social advancement, revolutions, innovation in medical science, technology and
space research, but we are yet to experience a unified sense of NATIONALISM.
To quote Rabindranath
Tagore “India has never had a real sense of nationalism”. Unfortunately
his words have lasted the test of time as we are incapable of generating the
real sense of nationalism even today after seven decades of independence.
I feel we still stand
divided along the lines of region, religion, culture, language, ethnicity, etc.
We Indians find it utterly impossible to tear through these layers and identify
ourselves as Indians first. This is evident from ethnic and religious conflicts
that occur every day in some or the other parts of the country.
We fail to put our
country ahead of everything else and pledge our loyalty to the country and only
to the country. In modern times this divided sense of loyalty towards the
nation can bring down the hopeful picture of a prosperous nation.
Every other group,
community or a social unit has a different vision of India’s national identity
and shamefully express of what and how India should be. Even a majority
government gets accused of looking India through the chasma of
Hindu nationalism. Though every government in the past has failed to bring
together different communities under a single sense of nationalism, every
community today has become sensitive enough to put its interests before the nation.
This divided sense of
loyalty towards the nation impacts the country socially and economically and
continuously exposes the national security to external threats.
I feel our society is
yet to break free from the shackles of caste divide and the consequences are
slowly apparent in recent times. A complex system of reservations and quotas
has hardly succeeded in educating the economically underprivileged. The stir among the Patel, Jat, Gujjar, and Maratha community demanding reservations in
education and employment shows that the issue of national development is far
from being a common interest.
The country’s attempt to
forego its socialist ideas and the reluctant steps taken towards capitalism has benefited the economy in huge ways by making array of products available and
affordable to Indian consumers. However lack of conscious spending on foreign
products and poor implementation of policies allow foreign companies to take
away huge amount of wealth from the country. Consequently we are still dependent
on advanced countries for our technological needs and have made little progress
to uplift our manufacturing sector which is far below the global standards.
The conflict of
separatist ideology and Kashmiri nationalism has disallowed both India and
Pakistan to come to terms to the animosity between them. The problem that is
intensifying everyday has not just prevented economic development in the region
but has allowed infiltrators to take advantage of the critical situation and
carry out terrorist attacks in the country.
I understand we are
diverse and we need to march ahead at our own pace but we also need to protect
and nurture this gift of democracy that our forefathers have given to us
through their struggle of independence. If we are to achieve the dream of
economic prosperity and stand united as Indians we must start by nurturing a
common vision for the country.
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