Getting ready for 100th year of Swa-raaj
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s speech on 15th August 2021 was not an ordinary Independence Day speech. It was a speech of a statesman who envisioned a strong Bharat when our nation completes 100 years and gains true Swa-raaj. Not just independence. Except the ‘Tryst with Destiny’ speech by the first PM Nehru, I don’t recall any speech being so visionary, laying a clear cut road map for the country. Nehru’s speech was rousing but without any blue print. The very fact that it was a speech at midnight in English so former colonial powers could hear it in their evening leisure showed a lack of selfhood. He was not addressing the poor unwashed millions but elite class in England and creamiest of creamy layer of the Indian elite.
Actually, Modi laid out the roadmap for intellectual freedom – Swa-tantra when he declared that 14th August will now be remembered as the Partition Horrors Remembrance Day. It was the first step to look at history anew. It was a call to stop white washing atrocities on Bharatiya people for centuries, of negating the horrors of partition or pushing them under the carpet and attempting a monkey balancing act by saying that it was two-way violence.
One can find a closure only after one accepts the reality, how so ever the harsh reality. Reconciliation is possible by facing the truth and accepting and moving on. There have much bigger wars in the name of religions and within sects of those religions but now the same countries are friends and working peacefully together. None has denied genocides, holocausts (except a few one eyed wonders) and wars. They have confronted the demons of the past and decided to bury them with mutual consent.
Thus, this remembrance is not just about Partition, it is a call for a renewed look at our history. Varnished history of the left needs to go back to dark shelves of library and the objective history written by the likes of R C Majumdar, Jadunath Sarkar, and D V Gundappa etc. need to be brought back. Equally important was him quoting Maharshi Aurobindo who is an anathema to secular left lobby. It was a sign that we must respect Bharatiya genius and learn from it.
Every PM presents a score card of his/her work on this day, so we will skip that. We will look at his attempt to push Indians out of their Covid-19 induced depression and inspire them to look at the future with enlightened aspirations. It was a target-based, goal-oriented call for self-reliance and prosperity, and better life for the poorest of the poor.
Like his toilets and homes for poor, Modi has set the pace for piped water for each home. Just as no leader ever thought about millions of women going into open at dark hours to relieve themselves, nobody thought about the back breaking job of women in fetching water for the household. Forget the deserts; even well irrigated areas didn’t have piped water. In less than 2 years, 4.73 crore households have received piped water under ‘Har Ghar Jal’ in Jal Jeevan Mission.
This respect for women and genuine concern for gender justice has also resulted in opening ‘Sainik Schools’ to girls. Can we imagine that it took us 75 years to give institutional justice to girl child despite loud declarations of gender justice by so-called progressives! This is in line with earlier steps taken by this government to open new avenues for women in the armed forces.
Self-reliance in defence sector, the biggest foreign exchange guzzler, the biggest snake pit of corruption and a constant threat of foreigners influencing our policies has further been boosted now. Who would have imagined India producing an aircraft career, or a fighter plane or a submarine? Burried in files for years, these projects had not moved much. Who would have imagined large sectors of defence production being reserved for Indian industry?
A big step forward for an efficient infrastructure is with the pre-announcement of ‘Gati Shakti’ – an integral view of transportation in all areas of road, air and water. We have already seen very huge, unparalleled work done in infrastructure. With this next step, we shall see huge boost to transportation of both men and materials. Announcement of 75 new Vande Bharat trains in next 75 weeks shows the target oriented approach of this government.
This government has already removed nearly 1800 obsolete archaic laws from the statute books. Now, the PM has exhorted the local bureaucrats to look at various laws in their work that can be eliminated. So, it is no more a central government onus, but also the onus of state and district level people who are in governance. Many steps are being taken to pull bureaucrats out of ‘Babu’ syndrome of colonial times and be people-centric. This will really bring swa-raaj at the doorsteps of the people if it is achieved in time bound manner.
Stress of freedom from hunger has brought in new elements like utilizing water bodies, oceans for new resources, new environment friendly foods. Technology usage to make as much land as possible to be free of dispute is a simple but important step to reduce disputes in farming community. As the PM pointed out 80% of the farmers have less than 2 hectares holding. They need to be freed from legal hassles and use land as asset. Easy credit availability and better crop insurance schemes would make lives of farmers stress free and bring them back to profitable farming. This would happen with speedy improvement in storage and transport facilities. New Farm Laws are a step in the same direction.
No government has paid as much attention to border regions like Jammu and Kashmir and North East as this government. There has been sustained reduction in insurgency in these regions due to better delivery of infrastructure. One can’t imagine that it has taken 75 years for states like Manipur to have a train, or bridges that would reduce their travel time multiple times.
As Prime Minister Modi pointed out, what he was setting out as the agenda for next 25 years will be the agenda for the coming prime ministers, and whoever is the PM in the 100th year of our swa-raaj, will be talking of the goals set by him on this day. It was one of the most positive speeches in recent times and created the right kind of uplifting spirit among the citizens of this country.