Euphoria is all over as we are celebrating the 60th year of our independence! We are overjoyed with the fact that our country in a definitive way has made its presence felt all over the world.
So we must CELEBRATE the Diamond Jubilee of our Sovereignty. But which freedom are we celebrating? Just have a look. Even after 60 years, freedom means, Female foeticide Riots Equal before law? Education for all? Domestic violence Orthodoxy Moral policing Whenever I want to set myself into the celebration mode, these are the facts, which thrust me to think WHY CELEBRATION?
Indian society is still limping. Clouds of unsureness, anxiety, and unknown fear have DARKENED the bright sky of Rising India! We are anxious about the present state of the nation! According to UN report, India has the highest number of female foeticide. Dumping of the baby girls is rising drastically! Fundamentalism, Communalism, Riots and Genocide have made India shameful several times in last 60 years. India at large still looks at a particular community in suspicion.
Whenever our country faces a terror attack, we raise our fingers to that community, most of the times without any proper evidence! We cry for justice. We point at our Constitution that all are equal before the Law, but Reality bites. High and mighty generally go round scot-free and if people like Sanjay Dutt get the punishment for his misdeed, we rally around him as to why would a ‘reformed man’ be punished, after all he has spread the message of Mahatma in one of his movies!
As if India has got her NEW GANDHI on 60th year of independence!! When reservation-politics struck the premier institutions of higher studies, it was noted in central report that nearly 40% children have never seen the school and nearly 60% are drop-outs, that too in primary level! Free basic education to all up to the age of 14 ¾ a mockery to the Constitutional Rights.
230 million people are still below poverty line and farmers’ suicide rate is alarming! The people those who feed us, themselves are ending their lives because of debt and non-availability of food. What a shame for an independent nation! In recent date domestic violence has been a real worry for India. Nearly 60% women are the victims of this.
From dowry to marital rape, from oppression to physical and mental torture, these have defined the social order. A woman is raped in every 53 minutes! India gets her first Madame President on this very significant year of the nation, whereas majority of women don’t even have a voice in the society.
The stagnation in thought process has halted the progress of the nation. We cannot accept inter-religious or inter-caste marriage. Janm-kundli, not the blood test gets prime importance for nuptials! We believe there is atma, bhoot and pret, we believe Ganesha, the stone idol drinks milk, we believe sea-water turns sweet and drink it from blind faith!
Thus, Superstitions and Supernaturalism are still dictating the society! In name of saving the age-old Indian CULTURE, some self-proclaimed reformers always try to vandalise the society. They are up in arms if friends by holding hands sit in a park, artists portray their thoughts on the canvas, and people celebrate Valentine’s Day etc, as these are AGAINST THE INDIAN CIVILISATION! Govt too is a part of it, though their means are different.
I&B Ministry would decide which movie, ad or channel India should watch or what should be the content of news or talk show. I sometimes question myself, why am I writing this trash, after all I believe in RISING INDIA! I vote for defining moments, I take part in writing blogs, and the campaigning for India rising too carries me away.
I know, by now you must have tagged me as PESSIMIST NO 1. But as an Indian I simply cannot deny the present state of Bharat! Yes, even on the 60th year of India’s independence, these incidents strike me most, SHOCK me most and EMBARRASS me most! Still, HOPE floats… If these are the darkest of the clouds, all of these have silver linings. How could we define independence?
This is not just a word, but an expression which best defines Rising India. Information revolution Nuclear power Destination India Economic boom Peoples’ power Empowering nation with right to information Nurturing dreams Democratic rights Experiencing the mouth-watering Indian delicacies New genre of cerebral films and classy literature Cell-ing nation Enigmatic rise of brand India I am proud of India.
The India, which empowers its people through right to information and ICT. The India which has taken a powerful entry through its economic performance and nuclear possession in the global stage. The India which has become ‘DREAM DESTINATION’ for the foreign investors. The India which aims at becoming a ‘Developed Country’ by 2020.
US president Bush once had commented “In future India will be an economic super power.” The process has already taken off. Robust economic growth in industrial sector has made India rocking! It has accompanied by Sensex crossing 15k mark! Though there is need to do a lot in agricultural field.
Democracy has put this nation on a very strong foothold. In every 5 years there are elections for choosing our government. Peoples’ power has been triumphant here, be it re trial of Priyadarshini Mattoo or Jessica Lall case or voting for Taj Mahal to make it no 1 in seven wonder’s list! Millions of young Indians are nurturing dreams to make it a happening country and it is already yielding some results!
This generation-y has become cell-ing, with mobile subscribers reaching to 4 crore in just 12 years! Chicken Tikka to Ilish Bhapa to simply green chilly have made the world rocking, so did bollywood, literature and Gandhigiri! All these have given birth to ‘Brand India’ and are marching towards the Indianisation of West! Can an Indian ask for more on the diamond jubilee celebrations of his country? Definitely not! So, RISING INDIA, I too believe!!
(Anwesha is based on Kolkata and calls herself a Cub Journalist)
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