As the Indian nation celebrates its 61st year of independence from British colonial rule this month, it was Prime Minister Nehru’s “tryst with destiny” speech made on 15th August, 1947 which resonates in my mind. No speech in independent India’s history encapsulates the mood of a country, “long suppressed” as this one by Panditji.
One question I can't help asking every passing year is - six decades on, are we Indians really free? Has the great Indian experiment with democracy been a success or a failure? These are questions that have no conclusive answers. With hindsight, however, one can now look back at the events over the last six decades and judge as to where India stands among the comity of nations.
From being once called a “functional anarchy” by former US ambassador and economist John Kenneth Galbraith to being referred to, as an “emerging superpower” by observers today is an achievement of sorts. The predominant view amongst western analysts was that the Indian people lacked the ethos and values that are required to sustain a democracy – supposedly a “western concept”. After all it was the “white man’s burden” to educate people about democracy, wasn’t it?
Wrong. One only needs to look at the experience of other former colonies like Pakistan, Bangladesh and Myanmar with democracy to appreciate the resilience of Indian democracy. Despite its profound social, linguistic, religious and ethnic diversities, the fact is, the Indian nation has survived, instead of breaking into smaller fragments as most foreign observers predicted. We have managed to remain a functioning democracy despite all its faults, chaos and contradictions.
For cynics who call Indian democracy, a “sham”, they may look at countries like Russia, China and Saudi Arabia where the most brutal and repressive regimes govern in perpetuity. The case of Anna Politkovskaya, the Russian journalist allegedly exterminated at the behest of former Russian President and now Prime Minister Vladimir Putin for her criticism of his policies in Chechnya underscores the ugly nature of these systems. In stark contrast, the average Indian citizen not only has the right to vote out a government if he or she deems it fit but the press is also largely free and independent.
Also, Indian secularism makes for a stunning rebuttal of Samuel Huntington’s “Clash of Civilization” theory. At a time when the West is grappling with the issue of “Muslim integration”, (The European Union for example is deeply divided over Turkey's proposed inclusion in the grouping because of its 75 million strong Muslim population)India with a population of 175 million Muslims is a good example of a pluralistic society. Presently, India has a Hindu President, a Muslim Vice-President, a Sikh Prime Minister and a Christian leader of the ruling coalition. Yes, its a cliche that the Shashi Tharoors and the Ramchandra Guhas of the world trumpet time and again, but its overuse in no way undermines the fundamental reality of the statement, especially now that we may have a Dalit Prime Minister in the equation.
Economically, we are the world’s second fastest growing economy and are expected to become the third largest economy after China and the US by 2050 according to a Goldman Sachs report in 2004 titled, "Dreaming with the BRICS". The economic reforms of 1991 have lifted millions out of poverty. There are more economic choices today than we have ever had.
This is not an exercise in self-adulation. These successes notwithstanding, issues like abject poverty(with 400 million Indians below the poverty line); rising communalism(remember Gujarat 2002, anyone?) and corruption remain a blot on our nation. Gross human rights violations by the Indian state in Kashmir, Manipur(the government must repeal the Armed Forces Special Powers Act there) and other parts of the north-east harm India’s democratic credentials. The events of the past few weeks in Kashmir is a matter of serious concern. For our freedom fighters who wanted India to be anything but a "Hindu Pakistan", Kashmir forms the bedrock of Indian secularism - after all it is an anomaly, being the only Muslim-majority state in an otherwise predominantly Hindu nation. The deep polarisation that we see in J & K today is due to vote-bank politics of the political parties. At the same time it is also due to the excesses of the armed forces in Kashmir - the fake encounter killings in the Valley in the garb of fighting terrorism being a case in point. Let us understand one thing, we cannot "rule" a region by sheer force for we cannot afford to alienate the Kashmiris any further. Yes, the state of Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of the Indian Union and the Pakistani National Security Advisor Mohammed Ali Durrani's recent statements that Pakistan is a stakeholder in the Kashmir issue amounts to a gross interference in India's internal affairs. but this really isn't about the "internationalization" of the issue as much as it is about the exposition of the deep religious faultlines in the state. The permanent shadow of the "Jammu and Kashmir" headache between India and Pakistan has now become the "Jammu vs Kashmir" cancer for India. The Indian government must begin to address the deep divisions among Muslim-dominated Kashmir, the Hindu-majority Jammu and Buddhist Ladakh instead of administering aspirin for both the headache and the cancer. While the "tumour" has been detected in its initial stages(read Kashmir), every effort should be made by us as a collective whole to stop the cancer from spreading to the rest of the country. The ongoing J & K crisis is not only the biggest threat to India's territorial integrity but also to our fragile social and religious fabric. Our leadership must shed its partisan policies and unite in the interest of the nation and its "peoples".
The immediate problems notwithstanding, let us not forget that 60 years is a very short time in a nation’s history, so let’s give it a chance to spread its wings and play a role commensurate its size. Let history be the judge of whether we have redeemed the pledges made by us in the past. Here's wishing the Republic of India a very happy birthday!
One question I can't help asking every passing year is - six decades on, are we Indians really free? Has the great Indian experiment with democracy been a success or a failure? These are questions that have no conclusive answers. With hindsight, however, one can now look back at the events over the last six decades and judge as to where India stands among the comity of nations.
From being once called a “functional anarchy” by former US ambassador and economist John Kenneth Galbraith to being referred to, as an “emerging superpower” by observers today is an achievement of sorts. The predominant view amongst western analysts was that the Indian people lacked the ethos and values that are required to sustain a democracy – supposedly a “western concept”. After all it was the “white man’s burden” to educate people about democracy, wasn’t it?
Wrong. One only needs to look at the experience of other former colonies like Pakistan, Bangladesh and Myanmar with democracy to appreciate the resilience of Indian democracy. Despite its profound social, linguistic, religious and ethnic diversities, the fact is, the Indian nation has survived, instead of breaking into smaller fragments as most foreign observers predicted. We have managed to remain a functioning democracy despite all its faults, chaos and contradictions.
For cynics who call Indian democracy, a “sham”, they may look at countries like Russia, China and Saudi Arabia where the most brutal and repressive regimes govern in perpetuity. The case of Anna Politkovskaya, the Russian journalist allegedly exterminated at the behest of former Russian President and now Prime Minister Vladimir Putin for her criticism of his policies in Chechnya underscores the ugly nature of these systems. In stark contrast, the average Indian citizen not only has the right to vote out a government if he or she deems it fit but the press is also largely free and independent.
Also, Indian secularism makes for a stunning rebuttal of Samuel Huntington’s “Clash of Civilization” theory. At a time when the West is grappling with the issue of “Muslim integration”, (The European Union for example is deeply divided over Turkey's proposed inclusion in the grouping because of its 75 million strong Muslim population)India with a population of 175 million Muslims is a good example of a pluralistic society. Presently, India has a Hindu President, a Muslim Vice-President, a Sikh Prime Minister and a Christian leader of the ruling coalition. Yes, its a cliche that the Shashi Tharoors and the Ramchandra Guhas of the world trumpet time and again, but its overuse in no way undermines the fundamental reality of the statement, especially now that we may have a Dalit Prime Minister in the equation.
Economically, we are the world’s second fastest growing economy and are expected to become the third largest economy after China and the US by 2050 according to a Goldman Sachs report in 2004 titled, "Dreaming with the BRICS". The economic reforms of 1991 have lifted millions out of poverty. There are more economic choices today than we have ever had.
This is not an exercise in self-adulation. These successes notwithstanding, issues like abject poverty(with 400 million Indians below the poverty line); rising communalism(remember Gujarat 2002, anyone?) and corruption remain a blot on our nation. Gross human rights violations by the Indian state in Kashmir, Manipur(the government must repeal the Armed Forces Special Powers Act there) and other parts of the north-east harm India’s democratic credentials. The events of the past few weeks in Kashmir is a matter of serious concern. For our freedom fighters who wanted India to be anything but a "Hindu Pakistan", Kashmir forms the bedrock of Indian secularism - after all it is an anomaly, being the only Muslim-majority state in an otherwise predominantly Hindu nation. The deep polarisation that we see in J & K today is due to vote-bank politics of the political parties. At the same time it is also due to the excesses of the armed forces in Kashmir - the fake encounter killings in the Valley in the garb of fighting terrorism being a case in point. Let us understand one thing, we cannot "rule" a region by sheer force for we cannot afford to alienate the Kashmiris any further. Yes, the state of Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of the Indian Union and the Pakistani National Security Advisor Mohammed Ali Durrani's recent statements that Pakistan is a stakeholder in the Kashmir issue amounts to a gross interference in India's internal affairs. but this really isn't about the "internationalization" of the issue as much as it is about the exposition of the deep religious faultlines in the state. The permanent shadow of the "Jammu and Kashmir" headache between India and Pakistan has now become the "Jammu vs Kashmir" cancer for India. The Indian government must begin to address the deep divisions among Muslim-dominated Kashmir, the Hindu-majority Jammu and Buddhist Ladakh instead of administering aspirin for both the headache and the cancer. While the "tumour" has been detected in its initial stages(read Kashmir), every effort should be made by us as a collective whole to stop the cancer from spreading to the rest of the country. The ongoing J & K crisis is not only the biggest threat to India's territorial integrity but also to our fragile social and religious fabric. Our leadership must shed its partisan policies and unite in the interest of the nation and its "peoples".
The immediate problems notwithstanding, let us not forget that 60 years is a very short time in a nation’s history, so let’s give it a chance to spread its wings and play a role commensurate its size. Let history be the judge of whether we have redeemed the pledges made by us in the past. Here's wishing the Republic of India a very happy birthday!
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