India marches on towards greater achievements
India celebrated 64th anniversary of gaining independence from
the British hands which ruled over it for close to 200 years with
some satisfaction. Called an unnatural state with many different
cultures and linguistic group forcibly unified as a modern nation, the
political scientists predicted its breakup sooner rather than later.
The grit of its rulers who were soldiers of the freedom movement
negated all these possibilities and the march towards a modern
nationhood where equality, fraternity and justice would be the rule
rather than the exception. Prime minister Nehru was impressed by
Russian style of planned industry but abhorred their totalitarian
structure of the society. Therefore he strived to wards a socialist
economy but under a democratic constitution which granted certain
fundamental rights to its citizens.
That beginning was followed by the enterprising Indians who never
had the fortune of having good leadership in later years. But one
thing was clear; howsoever self serving a leader was he or she
could never stop progress for Indians have fond dreams of making
the country greatest. The degeneration of socialist economy and
resulting stagnant industrial development threatened India's survival
as a serious economic player. Showing adaptability the government
under the able guidance of Manmohan Singh switched priorities
overnight and despite reservations in some quarters, liberalization
has brought benefits to the country. The world bank too had to
grudgingly concede that Indian decision of not making Rupee fully
convertible acts as cushion against volatile global currency markets.
The failure of south east Asian economies two years ago provided
India a big opportunity to present itself as favoured destination for
foreign direct investment.
The IT revolution also gave a golden opportunity to Indians and
though it seems restricted to highly educated professionals at
present, the boom is sure to create good openings for the normal
educated in the country who a few years ago had not much use for
their traditional education in the country. The IT projections are
encouraging enough to force US president to laud Indian IT
professionals and he predicted this century to be Indian century due
to their expertise. Unfortunately this growth is unevenly spread in
India and many regions lag behind in the IT race. The lack of
bandwidth and telephone lines along with electricity further threaten
this growth. What is admirable however is the average Indian's
resilience to surmount all these problems and yet survive to see
another day. This strength comes from having a feeling of being
Indian.
The incidents of atrocities against women and weaker sections of
society is another area for concern. Despite being well educated
the average Indian mindset has not been able to accord equal status
to women. Similar is the plight of the lower castes and outcastes
and they are still being victimized in certain pockets. However India
still is the best [place to live when compared with conditions
prevalent in other countries including the US and the UK. he
government is being pilloried for according inhuman treatment to
minorities and asylum seekers from developing countries. The US
also witnesses many racial attacks against Asians and
Afro-Americans. India has the best record in this respect and
though the need remains to empower women and dispossessed and
eliminate poverty, India continues to be the best the liberal world
could offer. On the auspicious anniversary of Indian
independence therefore one could say conclusively that whatever
be the shortcomings India is on its way to achieve its rightful place
in the comity of nations. The India of today holds promise for the
world of tomorrow where there would be no poverty, hatred or
violence within or between the nations and people at large.
