Vinod Chandrashekhar Dixit
August 15th is the day of re-birth of the India. India will be celebrating its 75th Independence Day to pay tribute and remember all the freedom fighters who had contributed a lot and fought for the Independence of India. At this day India got freedom from the British rule after long years of slavery. Independence Day is celebrated to commemorate the freedom of India from the British rule in 1947. It took years of efforts, non-violence and other movement by our national freedom fighter to attain freedom. This day also inspires us to follow the teaching of peace and non-violence that was preached by Mahatma Gandhi, the father of our nation and it reminds us of our duty and responsibility to the country. We all know that the plant of independence which sprouted in 1947 was the culmination of more than a century of sacrifices offered by numberless patriots at the altar of national freedom. India has a splendid and glorious history and we must be proud for the grandeur of our country but a sense of frustration and disappointment haunts a great section of the people. Today our country is passing through a series of problems like terrorism, communalism, corruption etc. Corruption in high circles set a lamentable example in the whole nation particularly the lower classes that are perpetually in the grip of poverty and want. How can they develop a spirit of citizenship under these circumstances? It has been rightly said that we have not inherited this planet from our ancestors but we have just borrowed it from our children. Environmental security is an essential part of our national security. Population control is directly related to environmental conservation. Have we ever given a thought that had the British left without Partition, Hindu-Muslim antagonism would have escalated into civil war, leading ultimately to an even bloodier Partition. The civil war would have converted India into a hotbed of Hindu communalism and violence, with secularists sidelined as traitors or worse. Partition, warts and all, has been a better outcome. On Independence Day, one can find a number of people on television giving lectures about the nation. During these speeches, they often give vent to their patriotic sentiments. One has to be empathetic to the sufferings of one’s countrymen and stand up for their rights. India is a diverse nation; this plurality should be used to the people’s advantage. Religious conflict has to stop, and the people need to fight social evils together. We got our freedom at midnight but still look forward to the dawn. Of late, Independence Day has come to mean just a holiday to watch some Bollywood programmes on various television channels. The glory is forgotten and the memory of the freedom fighters gone with the wind. We are today liberate but we have to preserve our hard won freedom. For this, we have to keep alive in our hearts the sacred memory of those great martyrs who made tremendous sacrifices for the attainment of freedom. Let us derive inspiration to work hard to consolidate the freedom we have won at such great cost and hope to reach the highest summit of prosperity to make India a heaven on this earth. Everyone knows that our country got freedom from the 300 years of British Rule at the stroke of midnight as India moved towards August 15, 1947. How our nation has fared over the last 75 years is something we cannot change but the future is in our hands. India’s Independence Day is a day of great significance for the people of India. Don’t we forget the importance of this day soon after the evening? Aren’t we attaching too much importance to our individual freedom rather than to the national independence? Why is there little sense of pride in the country about what our parents and grandparents managed to achieve against all odds? Today our country is a well established democratic country all over the world. Gandhi dreamed of an independent India with the non violence and peace. Let us ensure that we exercise our rights and proudly participate in our democracy so that our nation heads in the right direction. The celebration of Independence Day is the same throughout the country and this is the day when we find whole country celebrating and rejoicing but the real celebration is to worship those patriots who shed their blood for achieving freedom.
