This Independence Day…

The run up to the 61st Independence Day of India could not have been more ridden with strife and turmoil along with a dash of joy and glory. The past couple of months have been a mind-numbing rollercoaster ride. First the bomb blasts ripping across the cities along with the rising tension in Jammu and Kashmir over the Amarnath Land row. Then came the enraging breach of ceasefire by Pakistani soldiers who crossed to the Indian side of the LOC. And just when the Indian morale had hit rock bottom, along came a shy, young Olympian who made us all proud by coveting the first gold for India, an event that made history. More recently, we had the revision of the 6th Pay Commission Report, uplifting the salaries as well as spirits of the Civil Servants and the IPS, Army officers.
However, all is still not well; the region of Jammu and Kashmir still burns with unrest and ire of it’s people and the situation degrades as the days go by. The BJP is playing the well known game of dirty politics to consolidate it’s position by adding ghee to the fire and aggravating the situation. Pakistan isn’t helping (has it ever done so?) by passing snide comments on tactics employed by the Police and Army to contain the mobs. Even human rights organization like Amnesty and HRW are having a field day criticizing the forces on their crowd containing tactics. With all due respect, maybe these organizations should come over and try to stop thousands of civilians marching on to the streets with nothing effective enough to stop their progress!!! Then there is the un-success story of the Police departments of the various states (where the bombings took place) and the Anti Terrorist Squad, who still haven’t been able to track down the masterminds behind the blasts, giving us the clear message that after so many blast-episodes across the nation in the past years, we still are not equipped well enough to deal with Terrorism.
But like all our freedom fighters and the common Indian man as well as (more recently) our young Olympian shooter, Abhinav have rightly shown us, we all can always have hope!!! Hope for a better India, without strife and violence, with a peaceful and fulfilling life for every citizen. Thus as the sun sets and the Indian tricolour is lowered I take your leave with hope in my heart and a prayer on my lips for a better, more prosperous and a truly independent India