Do we need to celebrate I-Day?
We are on the eve of the 77th year of our Independence from the British. The colonial rulers have all gone but we still continue to remind ourselves of the shackles of bondage that we bore.
One thinks it is time to introspect whether we need to ‘celebrate’ Independence Day. In a rational perspective if you analyse there is no need to celebrate August 15, since we are only making the British feel good about it.
For the people who called us ‘natives’, refused us permission to wear our national dress for public events and entry into some establishments and put up notices at the entrances of reputed clubs that – ‘Dogs & Indians Not Allowed’, we are giving them an opportunity to slyly smile and say – ‘Look, the ‘natives’, continue to remember us!’ At our expense they will feel good. Do we need that? The other thing is that so many years have passed, more than three quarters of a century, so where is the relevance of Independence. Most people today in the country were born after Independence so technically they were ‘born free’. It is minuscule percentage, who were alive around 1947, and just for them to relive old memories and recount old tales, it may not be necessary to ‘celebrate’ Independence Day.
For our freedom fighters and to preserve their memories people now hardly know and remember them. And if their names are taken now it is only to insult them and question their actions mostly by our politicians and the present political dispensation, who may not even be aware of the contributions of our founding fathers and our freedom fighters, but still feel free to denigrate them. And these are the people who played no role in our fight for Independence down to questioning our flag, the Tricolour. As for our youth we need not impose fetters on them of the reminders of colonialism that we underwent. Let them go forth in the world with a free and uncluttered mind and achieve laurels according to their abilities which is well respected today. We continue to ‘celebrate’ Independence Day to this day just to satisfy our politicians who need yet another event to remind people of their presence and extract mileage and money out of it.
Thus it is best not to ‘celebrate’ Independence Day but celebrate the birthdays of persons of eminence who have contributed to Indian society and culture like Swami Vivekananda, Rishi Aurobindo and the like. This will help bind our people and our youth together around the lives of these eminent people whom they may try to emulate.
Srinivas Kamat, Mysore
Not really free
Our Mother India is celebrating 77th year of Independence from British rule. On this occasion, our elected leaders will make eloquent speeches about the achievements of the government and political parties in particular Central as well as State governments will announce welfare schemes which may appear on paper and not in deeds, they will also lay foundation stone’s.
But will our leaders publicly admit that corruption is rampant in our country from top to bottom? The newspapers are full of corruption related stories almost daily which are difficult to digest but most are true. The main cause of this evil is greed. People in power under some pretext or the other, lie, loot and siphon public money to acquire more wealth which will be enough for generations together without worry. When greed takes control of the person’s heart, the person’s heart becomes hard and accumulation of riches becomes the only goal in life. The insatiable desire drives out honesty, accountability, sense of decency, compassion for the poor. Referring to greed I can just remember the words of one great leader Mahatma Gandhi, the father of the nation. He said and I quote: “There is enough in India for everyone’s need, but not for everyone’s greed.”
Diomedes Pereira, Corlim
Crackdown on drug trade
It has emerged that a banned substance was the key reason for a 23-year-old student from Delhi getting brutally murdered at Baga beach on Saturday.
It is learnt that Director General of Police (DGP) Alok Kumar has reportedly given clear instructions to senior police officials to crack down on drug menace in the State.
The ease in which narcotics are available in the State is causing societal damage besides sullying the image of tourism. Most cases are connected to local as well as foreign tourists who are drug addicts. However, now the drug trade in the State has seen a significant shift towards Goan involvement with recent data reportedly showing approximately 42% arrested allegedly dealing in the first half of this year being locals.
In the recently concluded Assembly session, some legislators had raised the issue pertaining to availability of drugs near schools. The growing trend is of school children being attracted towards substance abuse due to ‘social status’ as they see it as an ‘in-thing’ to do. Goa needs to be made a drug-free State. Locals along the coastal belt need to provide information to the police of the alleged drug peddlers in the area. Unless the drug menace is not nipped in the bud, Goa will have to face a monstrous task of cleaning up the State from the drug trade since Goa is a preferred tourist destination.
Adelmo Fernandes, Vasco
