There has been such promotion of militarism in India that in the last few years, Independence Day has been reduced to the celebration of the armed forces only. A nation needs its armed forces to protect its sovereignty, but the armed forces should not symbolise the nation.
Sadly, the deification of the military is what we are seeing increasingly, which has resulted in a culture that scoffs at anyone raising any questions about the armed forces. The result is a thin-skinned military that takes umbrage at its depiction in movies and web series.
It has also resulted in a poorly informed citizenry that thinks the armed forces won them their freedom. The fiction that has been peddled in the last few years that it was the INA that won India her Independence has aided in the crafting of this new mythology.
Remember this on our Independence Day: it was won by a long freedom struggle in which countless selfless men and women sacrificed their lives, their youth, their happiness and comforts to fight against a world power that had 1/3rd of all the people on earth under its control once
The fight for freedom was fought in the streets of Calcutta, in the docks of Bombay, on the beaches of Madras, in the legislature in Delhi, in the courts of Pune, in the prisons of Lahore, on the frontier of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, in the fields of Ballia, in the colleges of Assam...
I am grateful to my ancestors who fought in this national struggle and bequeathed to us freedom as their legacy. It was their finest hour. We cannot forget them by only celebrating the armed forces.
Ek mulk ki quwwat sirf uski fauj se nahin aati, uske awaam se aati hai; uski ekta se, uske buland iraadon se aati hai; uske usuloon, uski insaaniyat se aati hai. Jai Hind!
