Today we celebrate 75 years of our independence. 75 years since the British formally handed over arguably their most prized colony to be ruled by its people. Independence was secured after the long fought battle in which freedom fighters had to endure long periods of incarceration, hundreds had to pay the ultimate sacrifice of being hanged to death or shot dead by British bullets during the various protest movements that were held.
The freedom movement, however, hasn’t culminated on August 15, 1947, but instead on January 26, 1950, when the constituent assembly adopted the Constitution of India in which the people of India gave unto themselves a sovereign, socialist, secular, democratic republic. Independence wasn’t just about overthrowing the British and earning for ourselves 'poorna swaraj' or complete self-rule, but it was also guaranteed to the people of India and citizens civil liberties and freedoms that were quite hard to come by in the preceding decades.
As we celebrate the 75th independence day, one needs to especially cherish the freedoms that our forefathers and freedom fighters fought so hard to achieve -- freedoms that we today seem to take for granted. These freedoms have been guaranteed to us not because we overthrew the British but because we gave ourselves these freedoms as enshrined in the constitution. These include the Right to equality, Right to freedom, Right against exploitation, Right to freedom of religion, cultural and educational Rights and the Right to constitutional remedies among others.
The departing British gave us independence, but independence in itself didn’t guarantee us our freedoms. To understand this one just needs to take a look at the list of countries that received ‘independence’ from the British, but are yet to receive ‘freedoms’ in the real sense. A prime example in our neighbourhood is the former British colony of Burma today called Myanmar that for all intents and purposes is a full-fledged dictatorship that recently executed pro-democracy activists in blatant violation of international law and human rights conventions.
Rights and freedoms that have been long and bitterly fought for can be lost in an instant if we are not careful to safeguard them from the various threats they face and the people -- including within this country -- that wish to take away those rights. It is these freedoms that we must celebrate each time we commemorate our beloved country’s Independence Day. Independence would mean nothing if we were to overthrow the British only to give ourselves a theocracy instead of a democracy, which is the fate that befell our brethren in the sub-continent in Pakistan.
This freedom and independence will also mean very little if we as a society fail to eradicate the social evils that we continue to be plagued with including communalism, casteism, corruption, the ‘othering’ of our very own people and increased intrusion by the government into the private lives of citizens. Hard-fought freedoms can be very easily lost if we are not careful and not constantly on guard to hold on to those freedoms and hold our government to account every time they seek to take them away.
This Independence Day let us strive to fight for the principles that our freedom fighters espoused in giving us this country 75 years ago today and let us take a moment to celebrate their sacrifices that have given us these freedoms that allow us to be in charge of our destiny.
