Independence Day? For Whom?

Today, the world’s largest democracy enters its 68^th year. A week before this landmark day, people suddenly realized that they are citizens of this country. Their facebook and WhatsApp profile pictures suddenly turned into the national tricolour, their pages began reflecting of patriotic songs, TV Channels suddenly began playing patriotic movies, and News Channels suddenly realized our brave heart soldiers exist as well so let’s do a show on them. Nothing can be as insulting to our country than this.

We live in a country where patriotism exists only on two days; today and 26^th January. We sport the flag on our shirts, sing the national anthem with wrong pronunciations, express sadness on the state of affairs of the country and go back to cursing the same country for the remaining days of the year.

Let us be really honest; we are not an independent country. We do not have the right to express ourselves; if we do so, we are branded anti-national, sent to jail and we are treated the same way a terrorist is treated. I do not need to give you examples; we are smart enough to figure it out.

Our tolerance levels are absolutely zero. We get offended at the drop of a hat. Someone makes a movie on a community; get offended without even watching it. Someone shoves you in a crowded train, get offended. Someone is an atheist and does not agree to your religious beliefs, get offended. However, if someone asks us for a bribe, we are quiet. Women are treated like garbage in our country, we are quiet. Our soldiers die an unknown death every day, we are quiet. We always end up at the wrong side of the spectrum.

The late Rajiv Gandhi once famously said, “Development is not about factories, dams and roads, it’s about the people.” It holds true for a simple reason is that until we change ourselves, we can’t crib about the rot in our system and neither can we dream of changing it ourselves. We have not changed is evident from the fact that Khaps still exist, ruling their village with an iron fist, women are still burnt alive in the name of dowry and that rusted rituals still form a part of our so called ‘customs and traditions.’

When people talk about these customs and traditions, they say our forefathers instilled this in our society. Too bad that they did not have a ritual of making a sad soul smile, they did not have a ritual of giving women the respect they deserve, they did not have a ritual of not spitting like sprinklers in the middle of the street, pass by the same place the next day and say “bahot ganda hai yaar.”

It is only when the power of education reaches the poorest of the poor in the society, only then we can dream of building an independent and self-reliant India; free from the bondages of caste, society and traditions and not influenced by hate mongers who only have their own motives fulfilled in the name of religion. Only then we shall be able to achieve true independence.

And last but not the least, my humble salute to our soldiers who in almost inhuman conditions are constantly there with a smile on their faces protecting their homeland. It is only because they are awake that we can sleep here in peace and mumble all the rubbish that we do all through the day.

I wish you all an Independence Day. Whether you wish to add happy or sad as a prefix is for you guys to decide.