INDIA @ 70 : A REPORT TO BAPU

“Happy Birth day, Bapu”.  My father has narrated that incidence many times.  We should experience it from his  own words.  “I was only 7 or 8 years old when they shot you dead in the evening at the prayer time in the Birla House.  The entire nation was weeping.  I did not, then, understand the significance of your murder.  As I went through the school and college, more appropriately through the University of life, I realised what your murder meant.  Then I wept.”

Times, Bapu, have changed.  Today’s India is not the India you know.  Alarmingly we have drifted from the old ideals and values of freedom and life, you and other leaders like Nehru, Patel and others had put India on the right path of progress along with ideals and values of life.  You used the most powerful weapon “Ahimsa” (non violence) which brought down the British empire to its knees.  Sorry Bapu, today this  weapon has lost it’s strength.  Instead we use “Himsa”(violence”) weapon to get money, political power or whatever we want.

Means don’t mean anything to us.  We have twisted and blunted your another powerful weapon “Truth”.  Situation in India today is such that we do not get anything if we still use your old weapon, “Truth”.   Again means mean nothing.  To attain the political power we use the old British “Divide and rule “ policy.  We have improved on that.  We have divided the people on the basis of caste, language and religion basis.  That is very essential for us to attain or retain political power.  They are our vote banks.

Gender discrimination is another thing you don’t believe if i describe it.  Newspaper carry the news of violence on women every day.  “Nirbhaya” like cases are reported on daily basis.  We simply don’t care.  “Unity in diversity” is an old ueless culture we no longer believe in.  We are fast creating a new culture in which there will be no diversity. 

Bapu, we the common people have  lot of  hope.  You are still relevant to us.  We know your name is powerful enough to reverse the trend and put India on the right track.  We are waiting for that to happen.  Once again “Happy Birthday” Bapu.