There are enough agencies, powers, and people who are working in their selfish interests to divide society by confusing, provoking, or creating conflicts amongst various sections of the society. These groups operate not only within the country but also from outside the country. Only when the society is alert, well-organized and strong it can win over such forces that are bent to break it or divide it.
Dr. Mohan Bhagwat
Sarsanghchalak, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh
On 15th August’22, Bharat will complete 75 years of Independence. To celebrate this Amrit Mahotsav of Freedom, various programs and events have already begun and will continue throughout the year.
We are in a festive mood, but that does not mean that we don’t have any challenges or issues in front of us. Though some issues were resolved, some new issues have also emerged. Despite all obstacles, the happiness and joy of this Amrit Mahotsav is obvious and natural.
On 15th August 1947, after many centuries, we were able to establish self-governance and organize an arrangement of self-rule as per our wishes; under our system, under our flag, over a large area of the Bharat.
This independence also reminds us of the elongated period of slavery, hardships, and constant battles that Bharatiya fought without deviating from the sole goal of complete Independence. From a geographical view, this struggle of the Bharatiya people against foreign powers was broad-based, widespread, and all-encompassing. All sections of society contributed to the freedom movement as per their ability, power, and strength. Society slowly grew aware of those components that were posing obstacles in the way of our freedom.
While the various armed and unarmed struggles for freedom kept strengthening, efforts were also undertaken to cleanse the society of social evils and to awaken the society to get organized to work with collective interest.
Thanks to these relentless efforts, on 15th August 1947, we arrived at a position to self-govern our land as per our will, as per our wish, as per our choice, by our very own people. From here on, we bid adieu to the British rulers and took control of running, operating, and administering our nation.
So, it is only appropriate and obvious, we relish this festive mood with enthusiasm and an atmosphere of celebrations as our motherland completes 75 years of independence.
During this extended & protracted freedom battle, a significant number of people, who are real heroes, sacrificed everything including their lives. Their stories should be brought out and spread across society for the society to imbibe, adopt and be inspired by their character, sense of patriotism and their devotion towards motherland. (There were many small and big incidents, small and big events, small and big acts that left an everlasting impact on our vast nation)
The purpose, resolutions and the duties they worked for should be remembered and such focus rejuvenation ought to be dedicated to them.
Why does the country need Swarajya?
Why can’t a country be controlled by an alien nation that does good for the citizens of the country and for the well-being of the nation?
Self-rule and natural expression are fundamental for any society. Thus, the need for freedom provides instinctive inspiration. A country can be governed well only when it’s free and can decide for itself.
Swami Vivekananda once said, “Every nation takes birth and then it rises to contribute something meaningful to the life of the world.” To contribute to anything, the nation must be both free and capable at the same time. These are basic and thus essential.
Like Swami Vivekananda, several great people, who worked for the awakening the people of India and inspired the armed and unarmed revolution for the freedom movement, have described in their own ways why it is not only essential to achieve freedom but also how to handle and preserve it.
The revered RabindraNath Tagore, through his famous poem “चित्त जेथा भयशून्य, उन्नत जतो शिर” and Mahatma Gandhi, through his ‘Hind-Swaraj’ quotes elaborated on concepts about free Bharat. Freedom fighter Veer Savarkar in his famous Swatantra Devi Aarti spoke about collective well-being and sublime excellence. We also can’t miss out on the contribution and two famous speeches of Dr. B. R Ambedkar, where he spoke of the meaning, purpose, and reasoning of freedom and the duties every bharatiya should follow and pursue to build a great nation.
In line with the celebrations of Amrit Mahotsav, we should also introspect that if the very purpose of freedom was to achieve self–reliance, then, in 75 years, is Bharat completely self-reliant as yet?
If Bharat has to contribute meaningfully to the world, does it first need to stand on its own feet wholesomely, and has Bharat attained self-dependence across all spheres?
In 1947, we took an oath of making Bharat the greatest and bringing an era where Bharat will show the light, the path, and lead the rest of the world. But, for that, we need clarity, specificity, and a sense of direction in both our thoughts and actions.
The greatest characteristic of Bharat’s eternal vision, its thoughts, and its culture is oneness, wholesomeness, sampoorna. This is the message it sends to the world by its conduct. Oneness is natural, free of conflict, all-inclusive, based on experienced, logical and scientific truth and harmony that can sustain forever.
Diversity is a mere expression of unity and not an expression of differences. For being one, one need not be the same. If one forces it, then it leads to discord and disharmony. We need to understand and respect each other’s differences and take them all along to build a unified society.
We are all sons of Maa Bharati. It is what connects us. Our eternal culture of being kind, friendly, loving with affinity gives rise to knowledge in our hearts. From the holiness of one’s heart to the cleanliness of nature, this purity gives rise to knowledge and wisdom. From ancient and historic times, our forefathers have been guiding us to progress, proceed and move ahead on this path of knowledge.
Understanding our commonality of being sons of the same soil, respecting the differences, leaving selfish attitudes behind, avoiding any discrimination and nation first approach in every context is the need of the hour. The entire society should come together and stand up with such beliefs.
Due to the passage of time, certain evils continue to plague our society – discrimination, petty selfishness, etc. These arise from the desire for worldly benefits, for wealth, and for materialistic gratification, etc., and complicit our mind, words, and deeds.
To be free from these entanglements, one has to lead an exemplary life of good conduct. Such enlightened souls (examples) help in building equitable societies. And such societies that are equitable and free from exploitation create an inner force that protects freedom.
There are enough agencies, powers, and people who are working in their selfish interests to divide society by confusing, provoking, or creating conflicts amongst various sections of the society. These groups operate not only within the country but also from outside the country. Only when the society is alert, well-organized and strong it can win over such forces that are bent to break it or divide it.
We must develop and establish constant and transparent communication channels within every single stratum of society. In a free and democratic country, citizens have the right to choose and elect their representatives for themselves. Such representatives should pursue the work in the overall interest of the country to the best of their ability and discretion and should prefer national interest above the ideology of the parties. They must maintain general knowledge of the law, constitution, civil discipline and its faithful observance is most essential for a successful democracy. However, in recent times, some of these virtues have deteriorated. The erosion caused by it is due to the gimmicks of politics that are present in front of all of us.
During disputes among people, speech incontinence (which is now a general rule in social media) to prove bravery is also one of the major reasons why politics is moving away from the nation to parties; and from parties to just degrading others. Every one of us, including the leadership, should get away from such conduct and maintain the discipline of citizenship. The rule of law has to be followed and an atmosphere of respect has to be created.
Any kind of change anywhere in the world can only be brought about when society itself is capable, competent and effective. No change can exist over a long time if society is weak, vulnerable or fragile.
For the society to develop a system based on ‘Swa” by taking the good things in both the age-old system and the prevailing system it has to have four basic qualities – clear knowledge of ‘Swa’, patriotism, individual and societal discipline and a sense of unity.
Superior materialistic knowledge, high quality skills, good governance, administration etc., will only help that society and country which stands united.
At this time of celebrating ‘Amrit Mahotsav’, which we have achieved though great sacrifices and hardships, we have to continue to work hard with the same amount of dedication to take India to the pinnacle of its glory.
Let us accelerate on this journey with enthusiasm, clarity, and determination.