I am an Indian. When there are people
who talk about Intolerance in India and the country deviating from secular
values, let me stop. Before going any further I want to clarify the Intolerance
you find here is in “In”, it is still far away from “dia” (lamp) or what many
see as symbol of hope. Intolerance is in the people who cry it out, not with
the ones who hold their hopes high. This country is In-dia, our hope that’s how
I like to see it. People who like to leave the country are not able to see the
hope. For many reading, I want to remind you our National Pledge. The
pledge, which we recited to, swore our oath of allegiance to the Republic of
India.
I know all
of you reading this would be saying, when did I ever swear an allegiance to
anything?
Oh this is
what we are talking about. Many among us who have recited this and still didn’t
know it being the National Pledge, I would love to share to them that the idea
of India is unclear to them. In fact it is even unclear to me. I who
confidently swore my allegiance to this and rise up in honor and pride of our
National anthem, am in love with Idea that is India. It is a unique experiment,
very different.
Explaining
why it is different; with a very simple start this National anthem many say was
to honor Britain’s king when he visited India (Bharata Bhagya Vidatha). Well
times have changed; we are in a democracy and decide where our India heads. So
the anthem is for all of us and so we can be proud of this when we hear it
every time.
India is
ancient, and the modern India started when a man known as Jawaharlal Nehru
proudly presented the “Freedom at Midnight” speech. Our first PM may not have
done us a lot of good, but he gave us a perfect start to be proud of. Pandit
Nehru was a man and is bound to have made mistakes and so we have to forgive
and respect him for the good deeds he did for the new start. For many who
forgot Sardar patel. He was the Iron Man (before Robert Downey jr came by) of
India. I mentioned Robert Downey Jr because many would have not seen or learned
what this man was. In India where Nehru became the great star he was, there was
this story of a man who sacrificed. We consider Shree Ram as God for being the
ultimate man, doing the ultimate things like sacrificing the throne for his
father’s happiness. Sardar Patel needs no temple but needs a monument made of
Iron not for him, but for us to remember and honor him. To see there are those
in these times who stood up. We (India) need to know this man.
Lal Bahadur
Shastri, gave us Jai Jawan, Jai kisaan. The irony is both are not being taken
care these days. He went for an unreasonable war imposed on us in 1965 by an
unreasonable brother. He won the war and showed humility at Tashkent before his
final breath. People looked up to this
leader and loved him. His memories are fading.
I don’t
want to write about the leader who followed after that, their stories are
vibrating in all mediums like schools, books, documentaries, bridges and what
not.
Do people
remember Narasimha Rao, not many do. In fact he was one of the greatest prime
ministers most of us need to respect. He was the one who supported Manmohan
Singh to present the famous revolutionary budget that changes India.
Manmohan
Singh was our PM, but not a leader. He didn’t inspire us when he was asked to
lead. Now I don’t consider Rajeev, Sonia or Rahul Gandhi’s to be great. What
congress party now doesn’t understand is the fact that it is not the dynasty that
many hate, but the fact that none of these people worked under a senior leader.
They were given the throne to rule, and they took it not for our hope. But for
them,
Atal Bihari
Wajpayee , as the name suggests he was ATAL. The man stood the betrayal (one
vote Government fall incident in the no confidence motion) to make him fall and raised up to stitch up a
perfectly happy Coalition Government and managed to build impossible highways
the true bloodline of our country. He braced the International sanction storm
to make us go ballistic (Nuclear). Through diplomacy brought down the
International isolation. He made us proud.
Now we go
to the Intolerance topic. What is it?
Mohammed
Akhalaq being dragged and beaten to death is not that, its brutality and planned
barbaric execution. It was not a Muslim who died there; it was a father to the
family a husband …a hope for his family that was blown out. When the dia was
being blown of, people stood up for that hope as they did for Nirbhaya. India
is not Intolerant, it is resilient. Action of few who killed an Indian cannot
be considered as intolerance. This is a Nation where Satyameva Jayathe , the words on Ashoka sthambh should have been
used as a salute statement in school assemblies. When an Indian was killed
after lynching in dadri, if you want me to say India was Intolerant…. I am
ready to agree ..yes India was Intolerant as it stood up and renounced and
hated the action by those few. This is not an unsafe country. It’s not country
for hindu, muslim, Christian, Buddhist, or anyone. This is a country for hope.
Here we will stand for it. I can’t accept a celebrity with all his reach and
fame , saying that in his conversation he felt India was unsafe. Look at other
countries, everywhere this is happening. This country and its policies have
never targeted any community.
The
columnists or the masala papers or the intellectual elite or the news channels
have no right in labelling any of these incidents or imposing the view of a
little on a billion. We will stand on our own to oppose these, but won’t
appreciate anyone labelling anything. I hope for them and protest against them
to compete and report facts as news, and not their views.
Narendra
Modi is a leader who rallied and won an election that was massive and destroyed
the opposition to a mere 44. How can congress disrupt the nation when they
stand with 44 seats against a single person who has yielded 288 seats on his side?
Congress needs to define itself as an old party which believes in parliament
and parliament working. Congress stooped by painting India Intolerant and
Insafe. Congress stooped by washing out parliament for an entire session. Congress
stooped while maligning the present Government as the root cause for the
intolerance.
Now for the
modi haters. The people who call him fakeu . Here is a man who is working hard
for the country. A man who travels abroad not for vacationing or introspection.
Campaigned for hope. I don’t want to go a lot further. Just that you know
whatever you say, this man will keep working for India. He will work for our
hope. He will not stop. Many would want to point about Gujarat 2002, keep
pointing about what anyone of us do not know. But this man will not stop
working for us. Because that is what we all know about this man.
SATYAMEV
JAYATHE
