My Country India : Hope and Despair Part 1

  I really do not know why I have chosen this topic. I only know one thing, I need to write what I feel to bring clarity to my thoughts. Is my country India or Bharat or Hindustan and should the geographical border that stands today define my nation or the ancient entity engulfing the sub continent including most of our neighbours define India? Well a nation is a notional man made entity and for all practical purposes is almost thought of as one among many. However, if I want to talk about the universe as against a country I can think of two Indians who could think and straddle both entities with ease, Nobel Laureate Rabindrnath Tagore and Aurbindo Ghosh. Many of us may consider Mahatma Gandhi to have a worldwide influence and relevance far beyond his lifetime but the debates between Tagore and Gandhi in letters exchanged makes me think that poet was more inclusive and universal at least in his lifetime than the Mahatma of those times. 

                     

 What intrigues me is that nations even as they are made of the people that inhabit them, they seem over a period to embody certain characteristics which typify a nation and it’s people. So for instance Germany is defined by efficiency solidity and great engineering skill. England by snobbishness and trade, Japan is defined by cleanliness, smooth light vehicles and equipment, USA is probably known for innovation,freedom of individual above common good. While these are not water tight compartments and nations are having more than one characteristic India seems to defy this far more than other countries and in sheer size and diversity can almost be defined as a collection of nations. So to my mind my country is such that both hope and despair can co-exist in equal measure.

 To put things in perspective the country started its journey as a house divided by partition, politicians of the Congress and Muslim League along with the British Viceroy were all responsible for this and they all thought that in the circumstances that was the best course to adopt. The violence of partition and its effects persist to this day yet India in 2023 has progressed. The accession of the Princely states was an achievement to create a united India but it was to some extent an act of coercive colonisaton which in the case of Jammu & Kashmir proved a sore wound. For India it was important to make a Muslim majority state a integral part of India and for Pakistan it became a prestige issue and even as Kashmir had a different brand of Islam along with influences of Sufi tradition Kashmir became a sore point thanks to political manipulation and corrupt rulers. 

India got itself a liberal Constitution more liberal than one expected in a feudal society but the architects Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar a non Congress backward class leader ensured that India ulike a majority of colonised states gave itself a secular liberal consitutional democracy which gave hope to all citizens. All were equal before the law and universal adult franchise was given. However, the scars of partition were fresh and therefore the Constitution was less federal in structure than required as the fear of communal intolerance were high. In this situation came the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi an event which probably saved India from more violence and divisions on religious lines. 

The Fifties saw First successful elections, the idea of using Party symbols as an innovation to ensure the illiterate masses could vote was heartening. 75% of the people voted and free and fair elections in general have been a matter of pride for India. Booth capturing coercion use of gifts and cash have not been absent yet the Indian electorate has shown remarkable maturity in choosing it's Government and leaders. The decade marked the progress of India in terms of putting in public sector inrastructure like Railways but Air India was taken by Government as the tendency was still of having more Government and less private enterprise. Large  irrigation projects and dams were an attempt by Nehru to give farmers  insurance against the vagaries of weather. I would still say that Nehru was not entirely wrong in what was done as he inherited a very difficult and daunting task of leading such a vast and diverse nation. However,  towards the end he should have given private enterprise more chances. Reorganisation of states on linguistic lines was a move with mixed signals as it created son of soil campaigns and interstate disputes became common. The promotion of Science, Atomic Energy, Nuclear reactors were all farsighted moves which helped India in the long run. The foreign policy of Non Alignment and membership of Commonwealth group of nations were the cornerstones of Nehru foreign policy. We did not become natural allies of USA for this reason. His socialistic leanings and western views didn’t go down well with right wing elements in his own party as well as the Jansangh RSS. He was slowly becoming intolerant and dismissing Communist government in Kerala was an error of judgement. India's liberal ethos came to the fore in the way in which political asylum was given to the Dalai Lama. The start of Doordarshan as Television network owned by Government and success of two wheeler company Bajaj providing mobility to the masses was the important highlights of the decade. India continued to remain a poor country and with an agrarian economy with a great dependence on weather the economic growth was barely 2-3% of GDP known as Hindu growth rate. Bollywood reflected the feel good movies and socialistic themes dominated the Dilip Kumar- Raj Kapoor and Guru Dutt era. At the same time the IIT’s and IIM’s and Indian institutions of science were institutions of excellence, but paradoxically we continued neglect primary education and the old style of rote learning continued. No police reforms and civil service reforms led to almost white rule replaced by brown sahibs situation. India in sports was dominant in field hockey and had some success in Asian Games athletics, none at Olympics except Milkha Singh.

In 1962 India paid a heavy price for it's misplaced friendship with China. This proved to be Nehru's blunder and the nation was badly bruised in the conflict with China. An old tired Nehru was slowly losing his grip on the nation. In the field of Agriculture the Green Revolution was a sectacular short term success with a heavy long term price. Unrest in the NorthEast was also not dealt with in a tactful manner leading to long tem consequences.The establishment Of IIT's and IIM's were good moves but India's neglect of primary education and reluctance to spend on Healthcare was somthing which seems to haunt us till date. Nehru died in 1964 and was suceeded by a small statured simple leader Lal Bahadur Shastri. Simple honest ethical person but a stout hearted man Shastri was undestimated by Pakistan who waged a war against India and lost badly. However, the twin wars and the vagaries of weather leading to droughts made India a vulnerable country. The rhetoric of Soviet styled planned economy and the increased centralising tendency made India a vulnerable country. We seemed to have not overcome poverty, illiteracy and lack of health care. India became a nation full of glaring inequalities and the poor were not getting the benefits of a welfare state due to inefficiency corruption etc. The utimely death of Shastri led to the Congress old gaurd choose a light weight leader in Nehru's Daughter Indira Gandhi which was bad for India in the long run. However, the decade saw the quiet growth of right wing Vishwa Hindu Parishad. In the hope section the arrival of free enterprise and bussinessman Dhirubhai Ambani were significant developments. The seeds of division unrest in the form of local regional parties like Akali Dal in Punjab and ShivSena in Maharashtra were a sign of politics to come. Indira as a cornered leader created a place for rise of right wing RSS leadership which was against a secular India. These shortsighted decisions by Indira Gandhi had created a climate for a theocratic state in India. 

The next decade saw a again a mix of good and bad. 1970 saw a spectacular success story of Amul called Operation Flood a white revolution which saw India becoming a milk producing nation. 1971 was a momentous year and the Indo-Pakistan war and liberation Of Bangladesh gave PM Indira Gandhi an opportunity to become a tall leader. She was able to distract the country and India's refusal to embrace free market led to what we called a licence-permit raj. The economy was not growing and Garibi Hatao became mere slogans. India became a nuclear power creating a paradoxical situation of a poor nation boasting of nuclear power prompting neighbor Pakistan to create its own N bomb. 

The rise of Sanjay Gandhi as an extra-consitutional authority was an ominous sign. In the meanwhile in the field of cricket the Gavaskar Bedi era ushered in a confident India of winners. The Dilip Kumar era ended Rajesh Khanna and romatic heroes ruled Bollywood but at the same time Amitabh Bacchan's angry young man era had started. Movies reflect society and India was entering the eighties a decade of tumult. The honeymoon period and the glow of independence and the quality of our leadership started diminishing. Corruption, power as a means of oppression rather than service and a welfare state which was inefficient, ineffective and based on empty slogans created unrest and discontent even after Mrs. Gandhi as Prime Minister had won a decisive war against Pakistan and liberated Bangla desh. 

 1975 saw the imposition of Emergency and suspension of civil liberties. This was done to quell a democratic relatively non-violent rebellion by student movements from Gujarat and Bihar and both of them found a leader in Loknayak Jayprakash Narayan. JP as he was known, in his youth was not in tune with Mahatma Gandhi's nonviolent methods of protest but as Gandhi had predicted spoke in his language after nearly 30 years after 1942, Quit India movement. India, it's people, press, judiciary and many leaders of Congress surrendered and in a spineless display of sycophancy became blind followers of Indira Gandhi and her ruthless son Sanjay Gandhi. These were indeed dark days, when in the name of beautification the poor were crushed and their houses bulldozed by rulers. In the name of population control forcible mass sterilisation of men was done. Amidst despair there was hope still and some brave persons resisted. We were as relatively secure city folk unaware of there degree of persecution, despair and suffering of the people. An overconfident Indira Gandhi had probably lost touch with her people, thought that she could call an election and legitimise her dictatorship. India and it’s people responded to the call of a group of opposition parties united under the leadership of an aging ailing Jayaprakash Narayan and overthrew the dictatorship by defeating the invincible Indira Gandhi. I was 16 years old and almost felt the kind of euphoria that my parents may have felt when India got freedom in 1947. Hope that democracy was thriving and could be safeguarded came from people, judiciary and young leaders like Laloo Yadav, Chandrashekhar, Mohan Dharia, Arif Mohammed Khan, Madhu Dandavate and so many others. However, it gave way to despair sooner than expected and Indira Gandhi returned to power. As a person with an impressionable mind I started becoming aware of the right left centre and communist political strands. 

A Congress party which was led by stalwarts and great selfless leaders of substance had been reduced to a bunch of power hungry corrupt persons and politics  and criminals worked together to loot the nation. The eighties became a decade of decadence and I was seeing India disintegrate as never before. Agitations in Punjab, Kashmir with separatist strands, mostly due to creation of politicians for short term gains. The events of Operation Bluestar leading to the assassination of Indira Gandhi, followed by the ascent of an inexperienced reluctant Rajiv Gandhi who became PM only because the Congress could not see beyond the Nehru. Rajiv Gandhi's first act as PM was to look the other way while Congressmen out to prove their loyalty to him, indulged in massacre of the Sikh community. In the same period Maruti cars became a reality and India won a world cup in cricket displacing hockey as India's national sports forever. This was also the time where slowly and steadily TV, Media and newsmagazines started shaping our thoughts and views. Investigative jounalism, world events all were shaping my world views. Rajiv Gandhi as PM had a team of backroom boys and technocrats who guided him usher telecommunications and also create thinktanks which were setting a template of free market reforms and one of his senior ministers Narsimha Rao was a key player. The handling of the worst industrial accidental Gas leakage disaster was very poor and the lax adminstration allowed the CEO of Union Carbide to escape the country. Unfortunately, Rajiv Gandhi was not politically savvy and made two vital blundes in my view which resulted in the rise of the BJP who had lost miserably in 1984. A PM with more than 50% of popular vote and over 400 seats in Parliament did not have the courage to allow a reformist judgement of the Supreme court granting alimony to a lady Shah Bano a victim of triple talaq. The Muslim mullahs pressurized him to overturn this verdict by an ordinance. This was vote bank politics and gave BJP an opportuity to paint Congress as pseudo-secular party appeasing Muslims. The next blunder was in opening of the locks of Babri Masjid which were shut in 1949 whe some mischievious elements smuggled in idols of Ram. one act of muslim appeasement and a reaction to placate Hindus gave a momentum to BJP RSS which has severe repurcussions. 

Also Rajiv Gandhi was accused of corruption in the famous Bofors gun scam and allegations that 64 crores were given as kickback to his family members became an electionissue. In the meanwhile the Tamil seperatist movement in Sri Lanka and its fallback on Tamil politics led to India getting sucked into this conflict via Indian Peace Keeping Force which suffered heavy losses at the hand of Tamil militants. In 1989 his own minister rebelled and V.P. Singh led a campagn against Mr. Gandhi and became head of a coalition government supported non Congress parties from outside. 

 As a person today in his 6th decade of existence, I was born in a free India and was in childhood nurtured on the vision of the freedom fighters of India who conjured a vision of a liberal democatic society where the individual was conferred fundamental rights to prosper and progress. The recognition of the diversity of the country in terms of religion and the socio-economic inequalities an attempt was made to give positive discrinination in favour of the disadvantaged classes to help them progress. 

As an individual Parsi boy born of parents from the middle class parents (father lawyer and mother school teacher) life was not a bed of roses but was not bad too. My parents worked hard and for the sake of our education gave up certainty in life as a district judge in Gujrat for an uncertain competitive life in a metropolitan city of Mumbai.My elder sister and I were raised in a liberal atmosphere with freedom to think semi-independently. The freedom in a democratic country were available and universal franchise at least notionally made each person equal to the other at least every 5 years when the opportunity to vote came. Yet, in my childhood I saw that servants were treated differently, they were served in different utensils and were not allowed to sit on a chair. The questions were brushed aside and I slowly started coming out of the small bubble of my surroundings and from a patriotic admirer of India, it's leaders and it's progress I became a cynic and a critic.

With this I end Part 1 and will contiue to Part 2 soon.