THE IDEA OF INDIA:
The character of a nation is defined by the character of its
citizens. The nation today is in search of people who will put nation before
themselves, who believe that their destiny is intrinsically linked up with the
destiny of the nation; the people who do
not want to use the nation to build their destiny but build their destiny by
first building the destiny of the nation.
“Citizenship is an attitude, a state of mind, an emotional conviction
that the whole is greater than the part.
And that the part should be humbly proud to sacrifice itself that the
whole may life.” Robert A. Heinlein.
The subject “The idea of India” is hotly debated during
these days when alternative “idea of India” is being put forward by the
contending section of the Indians.
They argue that those who are speaking of ‘Idea of India’
think India came into existence only after independence. They argue that India existed since thousands
of years. But there is a big fallacy in
their argument. This fallacy is because
they confuse India as a geographical territory and India as a political
entity.
The geographical land called India existed from, not only
thousands of years but also from millions of years. The fact is what existed
thousands of years ago in the geographical land, now called India, is not the
same as what this land has come to be. It is the history that will tell us how
this land has evolved from primitive reality to the modern 20st century India.
Before the British arrives in India there were many war
lords, kings, and emperors who rule on difference parts of this land. There was the Maghad empire, the Marathas
ruled over huge territory of India. In the south there was a Chola dynasty,
Pallavans, Maharaja of Mysore, Haidar Ali, Tippu Sultan. From the coming of the Muslim sultans, Babar,
Akbar ruled a huge territory of India.
The British arrived in India and they went in war with many of these
rulers and defeated them. They made a
treaty with some which allowed them to keep their territory under their control
but would owe allegiance to the British rules.
When the British rulers consolidated their hold on the entire territory
of India it was in their interest to unite the territory of India. Such united
territory did not exist before the British rule.
Emergence of Nationalism:
During the freedom struggle and with the influence of wester
education the sentiments of nationalism took roots in India. The leaders of the freedom struggle were
looking for an identity of Nation State as the British was a nation state and
empire. The idea of Nationalism
strengthened the freedom struggle. Under
the leadership of Gandhi all people of different origin, cultures, religions
and economic classed got united to fight for independence for the British rule.
Hence the idea of India existed from thousands of years is a
fallacy. It is only through the rise of
nationalism and finally achieving independence from the British rule that India
as a Nation state came into being.
The leaders of the freedom struggle searched for the idea of
India. The founding fathers of our
nation inspire and instill in us about the idea of India.
There was near unanimity among them about how our nation
should be moulded. During the freedom
struggle the people of India with every shade of ideology had identified themselves
with the Indian National Congress. The
manner in which this movement functioned during the struggle for independence
indicated what idea they had for the nation that they had laboured to bring
forth.
We are a nation that is blessed with many great people who
have fought for great values and dedicated themselves to build the nation along
these values. We should solute to these
leaders, Mahatma Gandhi, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel,
Maulana Azad, Jyotiba Phule, Babasaheb Ambedkar, etc.
“Men and women in every age and society want to make their
own history, but they do not make it in an historical vacuum. Their effort, however innovative, in finding
solution to their problems in the present and charting out their future, are guided
and circumscribed, moulded and conditioned, by their respective histories,
their inherited economic, political and ideological structure. Our past, present and future is inextricably
linked to it.
By the very definition of making history is in the context
of our past and our vision for the future. India set on its path, on its own as
it were, after independence, i.e., from 1947.
But this path has deep roots in the struggle of the people for
independence. The political and
ideological features, which have had a decisive impact on the post-independence
development, are largely a legacy of the freedom struggle. It is a legacy that belongs to all the Indian
people, regardless of which party or group they belong to now; for the force
which led this struggle from 1885 to 1947 was not a party but a movement. All political trends from the Right to the
Left were incorporated in this movement.” (Bhipin Chandra, Mridula Mukherjee,
Aditya Mukherjee, K.N. Panikkar and Sucheta Mahajan, India’s Struggle for Independence.)
The vision for the future of Indian was set by the
Constituent Assembly which with long strenuous deliberation drafted a
Constitution for India. At the heart of the constitutional document was the
indelible faith in Indian Nationalism.
The visionary founders espoused to deliver the promise of freedom to the
masses. The primary aim of the
constituent assembly was fostering the goal of social revolution and this was
matched only by an interest in securing ‘national unity and stability’. The engine of this social revolution emerged
from both the pressing needs of the newly independent country and the Indian
National Congress’ long experience of anti-colonial nationalism. The leaders of the Congress successfully
transplanted the goals of freedom struggle as constitutional maxims. According to Nehru, ‘Indians did not default
their tryst with destiny’. The
fundamental rights and the directive principles are the ‘conscience’ of India.
Along the history, in the context of emergency of 1975 and
in 1992 the demolition of Babri Masjid,
there was increased demand for further democratization and empowerment among
the economically and socially deprived.
The founders’ vision of social revolution, national unity,
and stability through democracy that formed the ‘seamless web’ continued to
both influence and pose problems for their successors.
The country lost its maternal immunity late in the sixties
with the decline of the founding generation ... Approaching maturity in the nineties, its
most difficult time lie ahead.
Can India be a great democracy, strong in itself and, in the
eyes of the world, so long as so many of its people are denied the promise of
the Preamble?
If the constitution of India was the finest expression of
Indian nationalism, why did it not enchant two of the most significant
communities of India, the Muslims and the Dalits?
The Indian nationalists were at the heart of the founding
document, the constitution. Such
nationalists believed in democratizing power, in accommodating differences and
in integrated pluralism and, above all sought to uplift the down trodden
through a social revolution.
What are the outstanding features of the freedom struggle? A
major aspect is the values and modern ideals on which the movement itself was
based and the broad socio economic and political vision of its leadership (this
vision was that of a democratic, civil libertarian and secular India, based on
self-reliant, egalitarian social order and an independent stand as against the
rest of the world.
- Democratic ideas and institutions in
India: The Indian National
Congress was fully committed to and organized on a democratic basis and in
the form of a parliament. Having
experienced the British authoritarian and despotic rule which did not give
any space for freedom of speech and press, the national leaders were whole
heartedly committed to drive out not only the British rulers out of the
country but also their despotic rule and replace it with democracy,
freedom of speech and freedom of press. The national movement did not see
the democratic values to be practiced only after independence, but these
values were built in the functioning of the movement itself. There were no decisions taken in the
congress without thorough discussion and through consensus. Every resolution
was put to vote. People were free to disagree and dissent. Mahatma Gandhi even congratulated those
who had the courage of conviction to vote against a resolution.
- From
the beginning the nationalists fought against the attacks by the state on
the freedom of the press, of expression and of association. They made the struggle for these
freedoms an integral part of the national movement. The defense of civil liberties was not
conceived narrowly, in terms of one political group, but was extended to
include the defense of other groups whose views were politically and
ideologically different. Gandhiji
thus writes on the total civil liberty, “Liberty of speech means that it
is un-assailed even when the speech hurts; liberty of the Press can be
said to be truly respected; only the Press can comment in the severest
terms upon and even misrepresent matters.
Similarly, freedom of association is truly respected when the
assemblies of people can discuss even revolutionary projects.” “Civil
liberty consistent with observance of non-violence is the first step
towards SWARAJ. It is the breath of
political and social life. It is
the foundation of freedom. There is
no room there for dilution or compromise.
It is water of life.” (B. R. Nanda, Mahatma Gandhi -- a Biography.)
Nehru was known for his deep commitment to civil
liberty. He kept the civil liberty at
par with economic equality and socialism.
He wrote, “If civil liberties are suppressed, a nation loses all
vitality and becomes impotent for anything substantial.” (S. Gopal, Jawaharlal
Nehru – a biography vol. one.)