Dr. John Mohan Razu
Pritish Nandy in his article An Indian By Accident in the Times of India on the eve of Independence graphically and candidly elucidates “If you look around you, one will find many people like me who in the midst of their many identities, accidentally chanced upon the Indianness. Each of them will swear by their regional culture, the language they speak, the faith they follow or (like me) do not. And, as they wander though all these, and discover themselves, they also discover the magic of being Indian.” He continues, “No, it is not the other way around, as we are being persuaded to believe today. No, one is born waving a tricolor and singing jana gana mana.We reach there at some stage, in our own muddled way, trying to understanding how this amazing nation has held itself together for so many centuries.” Pritish Nanday reinforces further that “Being Indian is not about speaking a particular language even though some of us think so. It is not about the gods we worship or the traditions we have inherited. It is not about some deep patriotic fervor that courses through our veins. In fact, the more you go outside the cities, the less they care what being Indian means. What they understand more are things like caste, dialect, honour, custom. That’s what they identify with.” He skill steers the discourse that “I am an Indian when I translate … I recite … I tell … I quote … That is the freedom being Indian gives me. “ And “So it may be a good idea on this Independence Day to chuck aside this new fangled faux patriotism and celebrate the very freedom that defines you and me and every one of us as an Indian. It is this freedom we need to protect. The freedom to be Indian in the way each one of us wants to be.” More importantly, “Being Indian is a process. It cannot be taught. It must be discovered through trial and error. It cannot be enforced through bans and threats. The only way we can learn to be Indian is by learning to be free. Freedom is the flag under which we are all born and our utmost concern today should be to protect that freedom.” In sum he concludes, “Yes, each one of us is different. And it’s this difference that brings us together. As one nation, one people, fighting, squabbling, arguing, struggling to make good. It is this struggle that will keep us together.” Pritish Nanday reminds that the country we belong to and live in is gifted with plurality of faiths and multiplicity of cultures and this diversity makes us to carry one respecting and appreciating each other for centuries. Composite has civilizing and maturing and we should take our nation to greater heights by retaining its plural character and secular canopy without deviating and changing its path. For this the citizens of the country should be given due credit because respect to one’s religion and accommodation to different cultural ethos have been part and parcel of India’s secular character and almost ingrained in the blood and spirit of Indian citizens. India is a great nation and our civilization has a long history. The contours of India have always been complex but succeed and emerged accommodating diverse cultures and faiths. However, the President Pranab Mukerjee said in his Independence Day address that the Parliament hatred into an arena of combat rather than debate and India’s democratic institutions are under stress. Expressing his concern over total washout of Parliament’s monsoon session which also witnessed wherein 25 Congress MPs being expelled Mukerjee observed and continued that “The finest inheritance needs constant care for preservation.” The President quoted B.R. Ambedkar that the Constitution could only provide organs of state while their working dependent on the people and political parties. “It is time for serious thinking by the people and their parties. The correctives must come from within,” he reminded. Continuing his concern in his speech he said, “The Constitution has gifted India a democratic culture and institutions. Democracy reshaped over ancient values into a modern context and institutionalized multiple freedoms. Our institutors are the infrastructure of this idealism.” The President also expressed his concern over the challenges to India’s plural, tolerant and patient culture. He warned the people to be vigilant and expressed his concern over increasing challenges to our plural ethno-relgio-cultural landscape. He emphasized that “Vested interests chip away at social harmony in an attempt to erode many centuries of secularism.” Expanding on the reference, he said the age of instant communication demanded that Indians remained vigilant to defeat the designs of a few. His address to the nation, the President reiterated that “Humanity is the glue that binds a society over and above rules and law.” This is the beauty of India even when the government fails to live up to its standards; individuals in sum becoming a collective have contributed immensely and thus have left their mark to the present and future citizens and generations of the country. Their contributions continue to linger in our memories and certainly made significant imprints and impacts to the present and be passed over to the future too. Taking our heritage, civilization and conventions the younger generation should steer the nation to the future retaining its pluralism, secularism and the spirit of tolerance. This is the hallmark of Indian democracy and way of life. It is our duty to protect the interests of our soldiers, farmers, workers and those who toil for the country. They contribute surplus despite horrendous working conditions and yet the nation has failed to give in return whatever is due to them. Social and economic disequilibria will have to be moderated since our country’s inequality ratio is widening at an appalling levels. Majoritarianism as an agenda and an ideology need to be contested and crushed and the rights of the minorities have to be preserved and furthered. Under any circumstances we should not allow the very fabric and feature of Indian democracy that makes it stand out in the world as a populous, complex and very diverse country that doesn’t let down our democratic fabric. Precisely because these reasons the President of India has cautioned in his broadcast on Independence eve, “If institutions of democracy are under pressure, it is time for serious thinking by the people …The roots of democracy are “deep”, but the leaves are beginning to wilt.”
