The War for India

India, the country of riches, is place where my physical self was born. Its history is a collage of legends, myths, facts, and what not. Many a traveler has described it as a land of riches. Its fame was renowned throughout the ancient world and still is. It has all the natural resources any country can wish for. Some of the greatest minds of all times are from India.

Ah, what a country India was…yes, my friend…was. India was once a great country, we no longer are great. I know it is difficult to accept what I am about to say, but the truth must be spoken and so it will be.

There are some common myths that must be addressed in order to continue this discussion.
a) That India won its independence.
b) We have achieved in 60years what it took America 200 years to achieve [economic growth].
c) India has never invaded another country in over 10,000 years of its culture.
d) That the war for India is over.

India did not win its independence as we would all like to think. It was granted to us. It was granted to us because the British Government was tired after the World War II. It lacked both the economic resources and the political will to control India. Thus, had it not been for the World War II India would not have attained Independence in 1947. I know that most of you may not agree with me; however what I have stated is the truth.

Now to the second myth - India has achieved economic growth that took the U.S 200 years to do. We forget that India did not kick start its economy on August 15th, 1947 but that we had various industries even during the British Raj. And, more importantly, the Raj left us the framework of a working transportation system – the Railways that was and is still used to run the economy. One more thing that I would like to say is that the methods and means we used to achieve the economic growth hat we have achieved were created, developed, tested, experimented and refined in other countries. What about the technology that was available when U.S. proclaimed independence and the technology that was available to us when we were granted Independence. Oh and also isn’t the Indian growth story, the IT industry heavily dependent on the U.S. economy? In fact isn’t America the birthplace of IT?

The third myth is the one that makes me want to laugh out aloud in the face of the person saying it. That India has never invaded another country in the 10,000 yeas of its existence. What we forget is that the idea of India emerged only around 330 B.C. to the great Chanakya. Secondly that India never had the chance to invade other countries as we were constantly being ravaged by the invaders from other countries. Thirdly, what about all the fighting going on between the different kingdoms that made up India? And weren’t these kingdoms considered to be separate countries in their own right? By the way, it is a well documented and accepted fact that the southern kingdoms of India have attacked and conquered Sri Lanka and some other island kingdoms in the Indian Ocean.

The final myth is the hardest and the most complex of all the myths. The myth is that the war for India is over. It is not my friends! We have but won only one battle, the battle for self-governance. The war still rages on. The enemy is decay of our country. Decay in everything. Can’t you see it all around us? I can. I can feel it everywhere; it stinks and makes me sick to the stomach. We are still fighting for independence.

Yes, we have achieved great progress in economic terms whether it is sustainable or not is another matter, but let us look at the other core areas that make up any society/country.

Politically, we proclaim that ours is the largest democracy. But is there true democracy? Does it reach the common man? The answer as we all know is a big NO. We have parties for literally every street corner most of which are based on caste lines with communal ideologies. And, what is worse that people actually vote for these parties. Every single state has some internal strife other going on, every single state without any exception.

Speaking about national leaders, we have none. We have no one with far-sightedness, the acumen, the political will, the charisma to lead the country. And, this is the land where Chanakya was born!!!

Socially, we have lost everything that we were. Atheists are still being discriminated against, though the condition has improved considerably. But there is still a social stigma against eunuchs. Eunuchs are discriminated against in all walks of life. They are abandoned by their parents and learn to grow up hating most of the society. Most of them turn to prostitution, begging for their live hoods. Homosexuality is still considered illegal. Homosexuals are considered diseased people, a group that is to be avoided at all costs.

Let me not even talk about AIDS patients. Some doctors and hospitals actually refuse treatment for AIDS patients. There own family and friends desert them. But the condition is improving through the work of NGO’s spreading awareness about AIDS.

Communally, Indians have become an intolerant lot. The people are still divided among caste and religious lines. Each community views the other community with a degree of distrust. The caste system is still rampant in many parts of the country, especially in the rural areas. Communal clashes are a common occurrence today in all parts of the country. Where is the communal harmony that was so synonymous of India?? Isn’t this the nation that was ruled by the great Emperor Akbar, one of the most benevolent emperors in the history of mankind??

Speaking about communal and religious intolerance, there is also a rise in the number of disputes between the various states that make up the country. Each state seems to be at the others neck over some trivial issue or the other.

Educationally, we have so many uneducated people. There are districts in which the primary school education structure is virtually non-existence except on paper. There are still schools were there are no teachers for many of the classes. Even among the “educated” section of the country, how many actually have the required skills to be considered truly educated is matter of debate among the experts. Whether the students in the various primary schools across the country actually understand the concepts taught to them is question for which the answer is no.

But the worst hit of all is Art. Art is the soul of culture. Art is integrity; Art is the essence of culture. Art at its purest form is the soul of the artist. Art cannot be defined, it should not be. Art has no definition, art is everything! Economic strength can be achieved, political power usurped but not Art. Art can never be conquered, but sadly it can be made to rot away. And, that is what is happening in India. Indians have grown intolerant to art and have been trying to restrict it. One of the greatest painters of our time, M.F. Hussein is prevented from displaying his works. The books of Salman Rushdie, one of best writers of India, are banned. A college’s art galleries were shut, because the painting displayed were considered inappropriate. Sections of books are removed or changed in books and films that give a critical look at India thus distorting or not fully conveying the message that they would other wise have conveyed. Some books and films are even banned from releasing in India. Music seems to have generally escaped, but of course from time to time there is a furor raised over the wordings of some song, poetry.

Every and any culture or civilization that has tried to restrain art will only end up in ruin. The reason being that art is the highest form of self-expression. Deny people the means of self-expression and you might as well as put a nose around your neck. It has precedents, look at the Europe that tried to restrict its art at the height of the Roman Empires and the Dark Ages was the result. A period, were the civilization just stagnated and no progress was made in any field. In fact, the accumulated knowledge of all generations past was lost irrevocably. Look at any great civilization ad you see that the arts bear a direct relation to the well being of the country. When the arts stagnate, the civilization collapses. Lets us look at two examples from our own civilizations. Look at the reigns of Ashok Maurya and Akbar the Great. These are considered the golden ages of Indian history. In both these periods if you see, the arts flourished at their zenith. There was also tolerance towards others views. To even imagine that India can escape the fact of the other cultures is a foolish one.

Is this what you call a great country? A country that has lost its religious tolerance, where communal disharmony is the order of the day. A country that cannot appreciate art. Is this the nation for which our forefathers laid down their lives for? Is this the country Mahatma Gandhi and Nehru imagined for us? Is this the country that you would like to leave to your children?

But all is not lost. There is still time, albeit very little. The window of opportunity to save this country is reducing; we are probably the only generation that have a chance to stop this rot. We must act and act decisively now.

Let us make an oath to all the ancestors who died fighting for the self-governance of the country, the unborn children of our future, to the idea of India, on the ideas that we hold dear to do everything in our hands to make this country a better place to live.

We must first free our arts; learn tolerance for others and their views. Tolerance for other religions must be promulgated. We must change our political system so that people with the real passion to serve the people get a chance to make a difference. The educational system must be revamped to impart practical knowledge to the students. We must engage our friends to have a frank discussion about the various social issues and what can be done about these issues.

If we do this, we shall forever be remembered as the generation that saved India. If we fail, we will always be remembered as the generation that failed to fight for the country and condemned by all the children of our future.