India was given independence by
the British much ahead of the scheduled date of 1948. Shocked? Why the British
left India in hurry than enjoy the benefits of ruling such a vast country? Well
the British ruled many parts of India for almost 300 years. But the Raj was not
allowed to rule Punjab by the native Sikhs for a long time & the famed
empire ruled Punjab for the least times as compared to India. Dogs and ordinary native Indians were
forbidden to venture into areas that the British kept for their exclusive use. Point
is the British had a low opinion about intellect & lifestyle of the natives
that find expression in many a statement of the Raj politicians who doubted the
ability of Indians to rule such a vast land. The Indians too agreed with the British
view on the low intellect & poor competence of the natives by accepting the
partition of India.
Pakistan was carved out of India in
1947 as the Islamic republic and remaining parts of India under Gandhi-Nehru persuaded
the locals to pursue a ‘secular’ dream. The Sikhs who ruled Punjab when the
British ruled Delhi also decided to walk on the path of secularism, rightly so
as the Sikh religion is based on the core principle of universal ‘Brotherhood’.
Pakistan that relished the dream of a religion based state has since been
divided, unlike India which has survived intact. The truncated India, also
called Bharat to appease the Hindutva lobby of Sangh parivaar, went on to
pursue a hallowed tough path of ‘Secularism’ and has survived till today. But
can India avoid another 1947, or Pakistan 1971, in the wake of Hindutva goal to
make it a Hindu state? Can the sangh-parivaar or the politics of Hindu appeasement
keep India united, through persuasion or by force? Many scholars are afraid that
the truncated India is facing another 1947 moment.
Will India complete a century of
self rule and remain a republic in current form till 2047? Your guess is as
good as mine. It depends upon the competence
& performance of the majority natives. India that sacrificed a major part
of its territory to the pursuit of religion based state to Pakistan is gasping
for breath & struggling to keep the monster of Hindu aspirations and keep
walking on the path of secular modern state.
Since Hindus form an overwhelming majority so the Hindu vote bank is
most sought after group for the political parties to appease in order to grab
the power. When was the first time that the President of USA reminded India of
its Article 25? Barack Obama was on his second visit to India and had so much
confidence in the strength of secular India that he called PM of India Dr
Manmohan Singh as his idol while was on a visit to the Germany after his first
visit to India. Does the Hindu Media in
India shared with Indians why the POTUS had to change his mind so drastically
about India?
The Hindu supremacist RSS also
known as the Sangh- parivaar have penetrated deep into most institution of
India including the press & judiciary. Therefore it’s not uncommon to see
the respect and acceptability given to the Hindutva ideology of sangh parivaar
in truncated India that had decided to be a secular country not very long ago. It’s
not the Hindutva lobby alone that dream of a religion/culture based state, Punjab
also experienced the horrors when a political movement for the genuine rights
of Punjab was turned into a struggle for the Sikh state of Khalistan during
80s. Escapism won’t help the Hindus, they have to decide if they want Hindutva
based Bharat or work for a secular India. Both are 180 degrees apart antithetical
to each other.
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