Our India’s Tryst with Destiny !
By- Pamarty Venkataramana
As sunlight peeps out of the distant horizon to usher in a new dawn,the beautiful moonbeams clash with the soothing warmth of the light and even as my bare feet are caressed by the dew on the gentle grassy lawn,I begin to see a most uncanny sight : of a long row of forms floating by through the space touching the sky above my head.Their crowns and bejewelled attires are perceived and seen by my shocked eyes but the souls surely conveyed to me their various names and lineages etched in the annals of history books of the world we live in now..! Yet,to me all seemingly were floating besides me as I took this morning stroll having slept countless nights as an insomniac ruminating over the state of nation and the human clan in general ( societal mores were fast changing and societies seemed to crumble;citadels of culture and morality of traditional communities tumbled as though an earthquake had engulfed man-made edifices and structures..).
I could clearly sense my most favourites led by King SriKrishnadevaraya,Ranjit Singh,Chola,Pallava,Pandya,Chandragupta Maurya,Padmini,Rudramma Devi and a host of such righteous and magnanimous rulers who in their era had strived to bring about a RamaRajya or the land of Peaceful & Happy Life!
They did not believe in might of sword or gunpowder and currency notes but patronised arts,literature and cultural forms to better the mental health of mankind and thereby imbibe a sense of human rights to mean peaceful co-existence,compassionate living as well as a disciplined and orderly behavioural pattern to knit one generation of population with another.
All in all,a glorious era where personal values were held supreme and life was not subservient to either gadgetry or mechanical systems.
True,times have changed. Monarchy has given way to revolutionary concepts of ‘liberty,fraternity,equality’ and sloganeering as well as marketing of governance-forms became passé!
It was not as if there was no equality before the famous French Revolution sprung up these catchwords of contemporary-politics. It was not as though there was no equitable distribution of resources among populations or that the river valley civilisations had no laws to bind them all as one homogeneous ecosystem of beings!
However,with the advent of more technological advancements,democratic societies began to grow into honourable beings justifying indulging in counter-terrorism to counter terrorism with a view to survive onslaught by demented minds set upon further dividing the planet on lines of imaginary yardsticks such as creed,race,caste,religion and even physiological inclinations. Even though the world in 2018 has come to witness the ‘big brother’ State described in Orwell’s 1984,it has by far managed to surmount the problem of unequal treatment meted out to female gender,transgender and even towards elephants,whales and rhinos.
Many might argue that all such equality of laws is all lip-service and that the land still faces monstrous reality of unabated gender-crimes or beastiality towards even domicile creatures as the cows. Some others have got habituated to tend to think in terms of trends on Twitter and view every incident or happening of the world as being ‘politically motivated’ and in the process,fail to view the larger problem facing the society and one which needs to be addressed most urgently by all right-thinking people so as to generate a strong public opinion to propel the ‘movers & shakers’ of society towards enacting the right legislations to reshape the world as it ought to be in our living times!
What is the larger problem we all are facing ? While it is one facing the whole world,one would do well to discuss that facing India that is Bharat – all the more pertinent as we step into the realm of next general elections slated for 2019.
Religion.
We were always a spiritual nation with a most ancient tradition of respecting divergent views. ‘Dissent’ meant consent of conflicting views. And not protesting mobs nor angry barking television anchors and publicity-hungry panelists.That the vast land was invaded by hordes of desert-tribes and other buccaneers from across the high seas and furthermore that these strangers were all accorded great hospitality to only be betrayed in turn is testimony to the religion of ‘humanism’ which India has been practising much before the western world and neo-world was authored by modern historians! Likewise,that India was carved after a portion harbouring fanatics of a particular religion was divided away from mainland bears ample proof of our cultural ethos to live and let live.
The bitter truth is that no religion offers ‘equality’ based on gender – Christianity and Islam are shining examples.
Priesthood has been denied and those screaming for few old temples to open doors to women without understanding the reasons behind ancient practices of allowing a ‘men only’ zone are billboards of the fact that ‘democracy ‘ and ‘equality’ are reminding the world that ‘religion’ holds no ground in policy matters and good governance era.
Proponents of ‘equality before law’ are in fact screaming for a just social order which can only happen when religion isn’t worn as a sleeve but like a vest – unseen to public eyes.
The very thought of continued discrimination of citizens on basis of minority religions holding sway over majority population by sheer dint of freedom to procreate without let or restriction ( in guise of a personal subject ) sans an uniform civil code, exposes the shallow ‘democratic-system’ that we have been blindly treading since 1947!
This must end. Bring in an uniform civil code. To end all disputes and frivolously litigating before the apex court over triple talaq,mutta marriages or any other such conflicting and discriminatory habits of a section of our democracy.
Simultaneously,restructure the habits & practices of the economy such as by bringing in a single slab of day seven percent general sales tax-rate on all items of consumption in society ( including petrol,diesel and diamonds ) and by abolishing the most erratic,confusing and torturous personal income tax regime to bring in the much-touted ‘transaction-tax’ of say two percent and add to this banning the illegal practice of issuing ‘post-dated cheques’ ( and,ordering all transactions over three lakhs of rupees to be undertaken digitally).Scrap article 370 and reunite estranged lands such as Bangladesh,Myanmar,Bhutan,Nepal,Pakistan,Afghanistan,Sri Lanka through cultural
exchanges and maybe one fine day,even Big Brother China would like to put an end to the rapidly growing arms-race of the world around us and bolster BRICS to outgrow shadows of UN bodies acting as dinosaurs of polity.
It is not out of context to note the worthy achievements of the President of America who is going about with a single-minded devotion towards making his country great and taming of Turkey is a glaring example. India too must halt all imports of goods that can be manufactured within the country and create more and more employment opportunities as well as aiming to strengthen the Rupee.
A major step will be to break the spine of monopolists in oil sector and exploit available huge reserves along both coasts and at all the ‘Jyotirlinga’ sites where studies have discovered immeasurable reserves. If this be undertaken immediately,foolish dependence on Iran or local demagoguery would end and external debt – bill would be cleared . But for all this , the Government of India needs the strong support Prime Minister Modi has enjoyed over last four years .
To continue to enjoy such overwhelming support,he must walk the talk on major issues of corruption and reconstruction of economy which cannot be achieved if left to vagaries and moods of courts of law or the unending monolithic influence and fancies of bureaucrats hidden in corridors of power.
Summation?
India needs Modi ji to continue as the Honourable Prime Minister for the next term too but the caveat is that today’s Prime Minister Modi has to rise up to the expectations of the majority of Parliament rather than succumbing to pressures of sectarian groups or anti-nation building policies of erstwhile regimes.
A whole nation backed him when the ambitious demonetisation was announced literally overnight aimed at breaking the back of not lesser,ordinary mortals but of evil and greedy few.
So,if positive measures as Uniform Civil Code are implemented now,all would stand strong behind him as one Nation!
The nation comes first – always.
No individual is above a Nation.
.. And, this is the -‘Tryst with Destiny’ which the first Prime Minister mentioned seventy two years ago!
This is no midsummer noon’s dream.But,a vision for every soul singing our national anthem to feel,act and help materialise.
For if not so implemented, life remains a nightmare never ending from one generation to another and despite parades,rallies,speeches exhorting upon honest citizens to give up subsidies as bring scar-marks of socialism :
And,silencing voices of the majority-religion of humanism even as the dispensation is hell-bent on serving the unequal demands of a violent minority of the society.
Truth shall Triumph! So,we believe..!
Jai Hind!
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