Are We Free?

We, the Indians, got freedom on 15th August 1947. We the Indians wrote our own constitution and adopted it on 26th January 1950. We became sovereign, democratic, republic nation based on the principles of justice, liberty, equality and fraternity. Our constitution talks about fundamental rights, directive principles, fundamental duties, the quasi-federal structure of our union of states, the executive, the judiciary, the parliament etc. It provided basis for all the governmental, political and judicial institutions which exists in India today. So the framework was laid, the goals were set, the principles were decided way back in 1950. Then what went wrong? After 58 years of adopting our constitution, how much progress we made? Is that progress sufficient? Are we still on the right path to achieve our constitutional goals?
In the 19th century when British started ruling India, India was already in a social mess. Strongly compartmentalized society with absolute lack of unity would have never transformed into a single nation and would have never raised any challenge to British Empire. But still India was a huge region; it was not easy to rule India. Britishers needed feudal lords to oppress the mass-political rebellion and a strong steel-frame bureaucracy to implement their agenda of economic drain. In 1857 they survived the feudal revolt and after that they came in good terms with them. They needed a bureaucracy and for that they started an unique education system. This system produced some pseudo intellectual people and through them they started a process of denting Indian psyche. These newly-educated people were talented, but fell prey to the British policies. British government apparently tried to make laws against practices like Sati. They started technical education, postal/telegraph services, railways etc. The newly educated Indian intelligentsia was impressed with that. This class then started criticizing everything that was Indian. From this class came the leadership of Indian National Congress. This class though wanted a political independence, was not ready end the feudalism as the feudal lords were the main source of finance to these politicians. These leaders were all foreign educated and have impressive academic record. Their narration/writing skills were excellent and they always able to influence the educated class people which in turn influenced the common masses.
But they did not understand what price India paid for British education and economic policies. With British education Indian minds were enslaved and with the economic policies the Indian Economy was strangled. The Indian small industries were taxed heavily. The raw material export was promoted and finished goods import was made tax-free. This broke down the Indian industries and all those people who got unemployed took shelter of agriculture. The situation worsen to such a level that 90% population of India became dependent on agriculture.
So the Indian scene was like this: 90% uneducated unskilled poor people who could not think much about their situation and 10% of middle and rich class people who vehemently supported the British policies and were psychologically slave of western world.
But there was one leader who talked very basic and raw things. His thoughts and actions came directly from the ancient Indian culture and traditions. His organizational skills were explempary. When he came up to Indian Politics, his appeal was huge to Indian masses and soon he became the biggest leader of Congress and India. He was none other than Mahatma Gandhi. He proposed and implemented his own unique theory of protest called Satyagraha. His principles of truth and non-violence took the political struggle of Indian masses to new moral heights. The whole India united under his Congress Organization. The spirit of oneness started flowing across the sub-continent of India and a process of nation building started.
What Gandhi had was native intelligence and he proposed some unique ways to tackle socio-economic issues. He strongly protested the bookish British education system and advocated the education in vernacular language. He strongly opposed the communist model of economic development and proposed the model of trusteeship and cottage industries. He was not against technology, but was in favor of technology which suits the economic needs.
But unfortunately he was just used by the Congressmen. Once congress came to the power, he was sidelined. All the foreign educated intellectuals became part of the government and the new Indian saga started. India adopted then popular socialistic pattern of development. It was obvious. 70% of the ministers in Cabinet were students of London school of economics. They were trying to implement the economic model which suits to industrialized and low man-powered countries. But the big industries were non-existent in India. The sign of then developed countries viz. Top grade technological institutes, Top grade research institutes, Big hydroelectric projects, Big Dams/reservoirs, heavy industries were all absent in India. The government started developing these "signs". The leadership forgot the fact that majority of India is dependent on agriculture. Many of them are landless laborers and small farmers. They can not be employed in big industries as they don't have any technical skills. The process should have started with providing vocational education to these people in their own language, but instead of that British education system prevailed. To get the vocational education, the pre-requisite was to go through 10 years of education and after successful completion of that the vocational education would be provided but that will be mostly in English. This policy decision was fatal and India still faces scarcity of skilled industrial workers and this has became a major reason why industries did not develop to its full potential in India (or why they developed only in certain pockets in India). The lack of growth in Industrial sector could not helped Indian economic development as still many of the people still remained in agriculture.
With the current educational system India has produced around 2 crore graduates of which 23 percentage are unemployed and 50% work in the field which is not a subject of their specialization. Most of these graduates are employed in the service sector. Those who earn well are completely under the influence of western culture and lack the belief in their own system. This section of people, who should have taken up the burden of carrying India over their shoulder and guiding rest of the Indians, are busy in somehow attaining their own individualistic goals. Also they do not have the confidence to lead the Indian masses.
The one who lead India in political sector come mostly from the feudal class. They generally are busy in retaining their sway in their constituencies by hook or crook. They transfer their political power to their children and the chain goes on. Thus we can find such leaders very autocratic and are always surrounded by the bunch of sycophants. Right from the top Indian leadership to small village level leadership this tradition is followed.
With the nexus with bureaucracy and few industrialists these leaders virtually are looting the Indian people. The principles of truth and non-violence which led the political movement in the pre-independence era are replaced by corruption and violence in the independent era.
The law enforcement agencies like Police and Judiciary still work in the mode which was devised in the British rule to subjugate Indians. There are around 1 million Indians who are in jail without any FIR filed against them. To get the justice from the current judiciary one has to be rich and influential. The common man does not even dare to approach police and runs away with the name of court cases.
The common Indian masses are far away from the field of technology and sciences. The Indian literature could never develop in terms of scientific literature simply because the language in which science and technology is taught is non-Indian. India has become a biggest importer of technology. Indians have excelled only in using technology and not inventing any. This has resulted in adoption of foreign technologies in India ignoring its other domestic implications.
The traditional knowledge is in the process of extinction. Once rich in chemistry, biology, mathematics, astronomy, medical sciences, architecture, literature and textiles, India has adopted a complete new form of educational system which did not even try leveraging the existing traditional knowledge but on the contrary created a mindset of scoffing at it.
It has created a mindset which accepted the western supremacy. The attitude of thinking freely without any preconceived notions is conspicuously absent in the Indian intelligentsia.
India is treading a path which other countries devised for themselves. If Indian leadership does not take corrective measures, India will never ever achieve its constitutional goals.