Free India- Reality or Illusion?

August 19, 2012 | Filed under: Editor's Pick,In India,Your Opinion | Posted by: Megha Dixit

The whole nation celebrated the 66^th independence day with a lot of glee and gusto. Flags were hoisted and patriotic songs sung.

But funnily for most of us its just another holiday, from our otherwise busy and hectic schedules.

So we know its independence day today. Big deal. But do we really know what real independence is? Have we really experienced the freedom for which our great ancestors fought and lost their precious lives? Is there freedom in this nation? Are we free?

India is a developing nation. We are fast building a pretty strong economy and the nation is the biggest democracy in the world. All this sounds pretty sparkly. But behind these sparkles, lies the truth. Yes we are developing in terms if our national income and per capita income, but we still have a long way to go till we become developed, not just economically but socially too. We hear every other day about a gang-rape, robbery or a homicide in one or the other part of our country. We ourselves must have witnessed some act of violence around us. Let it be road rage, harassment or even murder. So lets analyze the situation here. On one hand we assert the country’s freedom. And on the other hand we silently sit and watch the violence and corruption around us. Startling isn’t it?

With every passing day, we are encountering cases of violence against women. From harassment to molestation to robbery and rape of women, these brutes have the courage to commit them all. Especially in metropolitan cities, the women have to face so many adverse situations. And the most surprising moment is when our esteemed politicians and police officers at the highest echelon blame the women for these crimes against them. The way women dress up and carry themselves is the factor to be blamed, according to these dolts. Also in their words, women should remain in their home after the sun sets. Are we free then? Certainly not. If women cant live their life according to their own free wills and aspirations, then I certainly would not.

Believe myself to be a free woman. Why do we have to be scared of these goons? Are our police not able enough to protect us from the evil element of the society?

Moving on, in the recent days, corruption has been a hot issue among the young and old alike. From Anna Hazare to Baba Ramdev, we can see a huge list of the who-and-who of the country who have raised their voices against this issue. But it still persists. Corruption is a deadly evil bug which has taken every sphere of our country as its host. May it be education politics, national security or even education sector. From roads to schools to colleges, you name it. Corruption is slowly eating away the hardworking and honest class of officers and overall making our system hollow and the foundation weak. A very common case of this is the many cases of youngsters travelling in swanky cars, mowing down innocent vagrants and in the end, still getting away from this. innumerable cases like this come into news everyday, making me curious as to is this what our freedom fighters would want for the nation? Certainly not.

Not just these problems, our country is being pestered by innumerable problems like this. but that does certainly not mean that we don’t have a ray of hope for the future generations. Even in this darkness of violence and corruption, we do have a handful of dedicated and hardworking men who are committed to their jobs and have taken the oath to make this nation a better place to live our life and have a huge hand in its development. And I would like to pay respect and gratitude to these great people who make the common Indian proud of his/her nation. And on this independence day, lets pledge not just to be a better and free Indian, but to use our freedom for the right and effective purposes.

Jai Hind.

~ Megha Dixit