India Shines!!! (for the corporates)

Independence Day 2011 

Though the 65^th Independence Day of India is a moment of delight and grandeur, it is also high time to review the performance of the nation during the past and to chalk out constructive programme to move ahead in the future.  As the nation prepares for another triumphant show of nationalism, it only fuels the bogus pride but falls short of fighting the serious maladies of our times. Behind the façade of India’s 65^th Independence Day, one-third of the nation’s poor languish for the promised social change. With the ever increasing inflation, even the middle class is suffering with increasing prices of food grains, essential commodities, and petroleum products.

Dalits are living in utter poverty, without proper education, medical facilities, employment, and agricultural land and the atrocities on Dalits are on increase year after year. The Muslims are still facing discrimination in employment. Justice Sachar reveals that for the minority sections, the poverty level remains on a par with Dalits. Wide-ranging issues like poverty, inflation, food-crisis, health, education, employment and deficits in infrastructure are not yet tackled. The country needs to tackle deep-seated social problems like unprecedented corruption scandals, failure to bring black money, mounting unemployment, soaring prices of food and essential commodities, increasing poverty and widening gaps between poor and rich, farmers’ suicides etc.

Patriotism can’t be the final spiritual shelter of our great nation if we don’t adhere to humanity. One of the founding fathers of the nation, Rabindranath Tagore said: “My refuge is humanity. I will not buy glass for the price of diamonds, and I will never allow patriotism to triumph over humanity as long as I live.” The nation should stand committed to the welfare of the poor, the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, Muslims, women and other backward sections of our society. The government should take the pledge on this Independence Day to fight back the anti-people policies and march forward to build India sans corruption and for a government which cares for the poor, Dalits and marginalised sections.