When Did India Get Independence?

Date:

Prof Ram Puniyani

KANGANA RANAUT, the actress and MP was the first who bared her understanding of India’s Independence when she stated that our country became Independent in 2014; when Modi came to power. It was the first time that the BJP got a majority on its own strength. The hint was India was a slave country earlier; a slave of ‘foreign rulers’ or was ruled by governments which wanted to pursue the path of secular, democratic values. She meant that with Modi in power; full Hindu Nationalism would be unleashed. Not to be left behind recently another actor Vikrant Massey claimed that India got freedom in 2014, when ‘we’ got free expression of Hindu identity.

To cap it all now the new date has been thrown up for the real freedom of the country by none other than RSS Sarsangchalak, Mohan Bhagwat. Speaking in Indore he stated that 22 January 2024 was the day when we got Independence, “the date should be celebrated as “Pratishtha Dwadashi” as the true independence of India, which had faced “parachakra” (enemy attack) for several centuries, was established on this day. The ideals and life values presented by Lord Ram, Krishna, and Shiva are included in the “self of India” and it is not at all that these are the gods of only those people who worship them, he said.

Bhagwat further said that the invaders destroyed the temples of the country so that the “self” of India also perished. Projecting Ram Temple Pran Pratishta (Life installation) as the panacea of all our social problems he further added: “I used to ask those people that despite talking about socialism after independence in 1947, giving slogans of ‘Garibi Hatao’ (eradicate poverty) and worrying about people’s livelihood all the time, where did India stand in the 1980s and where have countries like Israel and Japan reached?” The RSS chief said he used to tell these people that “India’s livelihood path goes through the entrance of Ram temple and they should keep this in mind.”

Bhagwat’s constructs take the story further. He wants to legitimise the criminal act of demolishing the Babri Mosque in Ayodhya. Overarching the diverse cultural and religious traditions, he wants to present only Lord Rama as the sole cultural symbol of this country. Even in the broad spectrum of Hinduism, there are Lord Shiva, Lord Shrikrishna, and Goddess Kali, among others. Then, we have the glorious traditions of Lord Mahavir, Gautam Buddha, Guru Nanak, and Kabir as part of the great canvass that India is.

While the population genetics studies clearly show that Aryans were also migrants, before them there were other natives here. And diverse people coming here can either be seen merely as aggressors walking the path of ways of kingdoms. Chola Kings ruled in Sri Lanka, or Alexander tried his best to win over India. Different dynasties and people like Shaka, Hun, Ghulams, Khalji and Mughal rulers were ‘part’ of the subcontinent. Sectarians see this as an attack on ‘our’ civilisation while those who struggled for the Independence of India from the British saw it as an intermixing of historical processes; leading to the foundational diversity of the country. Jawaharlal Nehru most aptly describes it as, “some ancient palimpsest on which layer upon layer of thought and reverie had been inscribed, and yet no succeeding layer had completely hidden or erased what had been written previously.”

As per the RSS chief, the aggressors wanted to demolish our souls by demolishing our temples. The temple destructions in Medieval and late early India were purely for the sake of power and wealth. The earlier attacks and conversions of Jain and Buddha places of worship were due to reaction from Brahminism. To demonise particularly the Muslim rulers, this formulation of temple destructions and many other myths have been propped up. Two examples will suffice: While Aurangzeb destroyed nearly 12 temples, he also gave donations to nearly hundred Hindu temples. The eleventh-century ruler of Kashmir, Raja Harshdev, appointed a special officer to uproot the idols of gods and goddesses, which were made of gold and silver or studded with diamonds and rubies.

Bhagwat and his ilk see the country through a narrow Brahiminical prism. It was during the colonial period that Indian boundaries emerged. It was the colonial period which was a period of slavery. The previous conquerors settled here and became a part of our national and cultural life. The British ‘Policy of Divide and rule’ planted the notion of earlier rulers being plunderers and temple destroyers. The previous rulers who ruled did not take away our wealth outside, while the British plunder project led to the impoverishment of India. The slavery was imposed by the British and the struggle against them was the freedom movement which culminated in Independence on 15th August 1947, with our Constitution being implemented on 26 January 1950.

Those deviating from this date are the followers of nationalism disguised as religion, who are uncomfortable with the Constitution’s values of Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity, which emerged from the freedom struggle.

Bhagwat needs to introspect what the countries like Japan and Israel achieved by demolishing old holy places and building the ones of their religion. He also needs to know that after the Ram Temple movement picked up India’s growth and unity saw a downward trend. There is a consistent fall in the various indices related to health, nutrition, and educational status with an increase in poverty levels.

The massive foundations for economic, educational, scientific and industrial prosperity were laid much before the divisive politics of Ram Temple got a boost in the decades of 1980 and 1990s. Bhagwat’s statement totally ignores the massive anti-colonial movement. The reason for this is that those who stood for Hindu and Muslim nationalism were not part of it. In a way, his statement is a great insult to all those who sacrificed their lives for the freedom of the country from the clutches of colonialism, the period of our slavery.

——–

Ram Puniyani is an eminent author, activist and former professor at IIT Mumbai. The views expressed here are personal and Clarion India does not necessarily share or subscribe to them.

Share post:

Popular

More like this
Related

‘Completing the Genocide’: What is the US-Israeli Endgame with Gaza Takeover Plan?

WASHINGTON - US President Donald Trump’s controversial statements about...

‘Election Commission Is Dead, Will Have To Gift Them White Cloth’, Says SP Chief Akhilesh

Clarion India NEW DELHI - After allegations were levelled by Samajwadi...

PM Modi’s Speech in RS Full of Lies, Half-Truths, Says Congress

Clarion India NEW DELHI - The Congress on Thursday...