Independence has to be a reality and not a mere illusion. Speaking from the heart and with a fearless mind in tune with the current sordid ground reality, we could in fact celebrate that historic August 15 only when we are once again truly and factually independent being free from a dictatorial and despotic regime. Independence means enjoying freedom and empowering others to do the same.
We are today far from being independent. The hard work of those who toiled for our country’s freedom has all gone down the drain since the BJP assumed power at the Centre in 2014.
We all know that freedom of speech is today a myth. Our independence will only have some meaning when we, the world’s largest democracy once again have a government of the people, by the people, and for the people.
All that we sense is that our once great nation is on the verge of bidding our once prized democracy a farewell and possibly on the path to adopting Vladimir Putin’s Russian model. In the current circumstances, where democracy, the rule of law and the foundations of our Constitution are in peril, is there any scope or reason to celebrate the hard-won Independence that we attained in 1947?
Mahatma Gandhi the architect of our Independence famously said ‘I personally crave not for independence, which I do not understand, but I long for freedom from the English yoke’. One wonders how true that saying rings today as people long for freedom from the yoke of this government.
AIRES RODRIGUES, Ribandar
