As we celebrate the 71st Independence Day of India, we remember the valiant freedom fighters who made huge sacrifices to make it possible for us to live as a free people in an independent nation. They are the ones who should be worshipped as gods who delivered us from cruel clutches of alien rulers.  They are the ones who should command our admiration and adulation. But what do we see here?

The present political masters in charge of the nation’s affairs are doing their best to malign them. They are carrying out a sustained propaganda against them. They are removing their mention from history books. They will soon remove their statues and busts which one sees all across India, and even abroad. It suits their politics. But the question is: Does it suit the nation? Does it make the nation any better?

We have been hearing the word “intolerance” in India for quite some time. We have often seen its manifestation in various spheres- from the world of academics to that of entertainment. We have seen it manifested in every sphere of ordinary man’s daily life. We have heard the voice turning in to a noise in the name of majority and minorities; in the name of regions; in the name of religions; in the name of language and culture. The question is: Is it good for the nation? Is it good for the 1.3 billion people of India?

On the 70th anniversary of Independence of India, we need to ask ourselves: Was it this kind of independent India that our freedom fighters dreamed of and laid their lives for? We need to ask ourselves: Is it this “Tryst with destiny” that we want? Surely, not. So then, let the voice of reason be raised; let the common people tell their rulers we do not subscribe to your ideology of hatred and intolerance. We want the India that our freedom fighters had dreamed of and fought for. You were nowhere in the struggle for freedom. You were on the other side thinking of yourself only which even now you are doing. Go ahead, go on doing it. But do not try to turn India in to a country of which the souls of freedom fighters will feel ashamed of. Enough is enough.