Ranchi – Long Years Ago we made a tryst with destiny, and now the time comes when we shall redeem our pledge, not wholly or in full measure but, very substantially. At the stroke of the midnight hour, when the world sleeps, India will awake to life and freedom.” with these words of Pandit Nehru, India commenced its journey towards a prosperous future. We were free from British rule. Now we would have been our own rule, law, government, constitution, and all the necessary things, which a free country should have. But Wait was we really free? No, because despite getting freedom, we were the slave of poverty, communal riots, and many other countless problems. Communal Riot was the biggest problem of India post Independence. A single line drawn on the map caused such bloodshed which our country never saw before. In Khushwant Singh’s Train to Pakistan, it is mentioned that people were confused, they didn’t know what happened. what is Pakistan and why is Pakistan was Unknown to them. They were not sure about what to do. People thought that migrating to Pakistan was a temporary act to do Until the riots stop. The police came to their village and said those who are Muslims make yourself prepare with all the basic need items with them within a time period and we will take you to the refugee camp and then a train will ferry you to Pakistan. Muslims of that village asked their Hindu and Sikh neighbors to take care of their house and cattle until they come back. But they were unaware of their destiny. Few people decided the fate of millions of people. Many people blamed Mahatma Gandhi for that. According to them, He and only He was responsible for the disaster. He was the man behind the Partition. Many blame Pandit Nehru for the Partition to fulfill his dream of becoming prime minister of India. Are these things true? Well, I don’t know. But the thing I know, let me share with you. When Jinnah was stubborn for another state for Muslims. Mahatma Gandhi asked Pandit Nehru and Sardar Patel, to offer Jinnah to form 1st government of Indian state with a promise of leaving his demand for a separate state. But Pandit Nehru and Sardar Patel disagreed and said we can’t let an autocratic kind of man form the first government of India. Sardar Patel said to Gandhiji, to fulfill other’s man desires you are sacrificing your own people. To which Gandhiji replied, If my country will be united and will not face partition then I will sacrifice them. For me, my country is my priority before any other individual. Sardar Patel in a meeting said I know that our freedom will cost us, with the birth of a new nation but at the same time, we are getting freedom. He then said, if a part of a body gets infected then it is better to cut out that part from the body. Well, it was known to our leaders that our freedom will not be easy, But there was no other way of getting freedom. No one was right or wrong at that time. Everybody was doing their job according to the situation. Our leaders tried to stop partition but unfortunately, their efforts went in vain.
There was a time when India’s share of world trade was around 27%, and the time Britishers left, the figure falls to less than 2%. This is only one fact which I put in front of you, there are many more facts like this. So, from approx 1/4th in almost every sector, we fell down to below 5% and in that condition, India had to start its journey. But fortunately, the reins of India were in the hands of our great leaders like Pandit Nehru, Sardar Patel, B.R. Ambedkar, Maulana Azad, and many others. It was their and common people’s effort that established the quote, “The only permanent thing in life is change”. All of our leaders contributed to the welfare of India. Pandit Nehru focused on Technology driven Sectors. Sardar Patel worked on Integrity. B.R. Ambedkar worked on Constitution. Maulana Azad worked on Education. And many other leaders contributed to different fields. With the help of New Zeland, India laid the foundation stone of AIIMS in 1952. We were not having many resources, but gradually we dealt with it and Our country got CBFC, Railway stations, Colleges, Atomic Research Centres, ISRO, Election commission, and many more for its service. In between these developments, we also fought a war against Pakistan. We lost Mahatma Gandhi. In 1962 we fought a war against China and lose, but this did not impact our Army’s morale and just after a few years we won a battle against Pakistan. In 1964 we lost Pandit Nehru. Today, there are many WhatsApp forwards that how aiyas he was, how fool he was, and how selfish he was. But at the same time, it was his ability which pulled India out from swamp of problems. After Pandit Nehru, India was under the leadership of Lal Bahadur Sashtri, Whose simplicity won the heart of everyone and make him one of the beloved Leader. After Sashtriji, Indira Gandhi leads India. Under her leadership, not only India but Bangladesh too get benefited. In the year 1975, Emergency which was imposed by the then President Fakruddin Ali Ahmed on the recommendation of Indira Gandhi Government came into effect and lasts for 2 years. Most people claim it as Black Era but one should also know the other side of it, Which is explained in “The Dramatic Decade” by Pranab Mukherjee. In 1977 Morarji Desai became Prime Minister, but his faction was having trust issues, which installed Charan Singh as Prime Minister with the help of Congress(I), where I stand for Indira. Actually, in the year 1969, Indira Gandhi was expelled from Congress Party and then she with her supporters named her faction Congress(I). After all these ups and downs she once again took the oath of Prime Ministership in 1980. After 4 years of that she was assassinated, and then her son Rajiv Gandhi took the oath of Prime Ministership. Rajiv Gandhi was known for his Panchayati Raj System and IT revolution. But unfortunately, he too was assassinated during an election rally. In 1991 PV Narshima Rao became Prime Minister. With the help of Dr. Manmohan Singh LPG was introduced and this leads to an end of License Raj. In 1996 AB Vajpayee became Prime Minister, but unfortunately, after 16 days his government collapsed as he was not having adequate numbers to prove his majority in the Lok Sabha. HD Deve Gowda then became Prime Minister and was replaced by IK Gujral within a year. In 1999, AB Vajpayee again became Prime Minister and this time with adequate numbers. He was one of the most beloved PM in our country. Then in 2004, Dr. Manmohan Singh took the oath of Prime Ministership after a dramatic political Turmoil. He was in office for 10 years and in 2014 Narendra Modi Became Prime Minister. In 2019 Narendra Modi Won again and this time with more numbers than the last time.
So, from “Dams are the temple of modern India” to “Jai Jawan Jai Kisan” to “Garibi Hatao” to “IT Revolution” to “LPG” to “RTI” and now “Vocal for Local” each and everyone contributed to the country’s development. During these times our literacy rate increased from 12% to 70%, our poverty rate decreased from 70% to 21% and again these are only 2 examples. Many more data like these are there. And we need to improve many more of them. A lot of work needs to be done, and I am sure that we will do it.
We saw many ups and downs, many things changed, but the only thing that did not change is our culture, our unity, and our love for each other.
The Journey from 1947 to 2020 was very Adventurous.
