Our Leader in Indian Newslink August 15, 2022, Digital Edition
In a tribute to the Indian Nation on the occasion of the 76th Independence Day (or the 75th Anniversary of Independence) former diplomat and current academic, Dr Mohan Kumar said that India’s ambitious programme of ‘Aatmanirbhar’ should not be mistaken for closed doors.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched ‘Aatmanirbhar’ or the Road to Self-Reliance to promote the country’s status as a self-preserving and self-sufficient society.
Dr Kumar said that it is not the kind of self-reliance which India arguably believed in and practised in the early years of its independence up until the 1970s and 1980s. “It is easy to state what it is not. It is certainly not autarchy; it is certainly not inward-looking, and it is most certainly not stopping imports and making every product at home. It may be more prudent to think of Aatmanirbhar as Self-Reliance 2.0,” he said.
The World is a Family
According to him, Mr Modi meant that rather than being self-centred, India will open up even more to the world outside, guided by its motto: Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam or our Earth is just one family. Aatmanirbhar will stand on five pillars: Economy, Infrastructure, Technology, Demography and Demand. The raison d’être should prepare India for participation in global supply chains. This is a battle India cannot afford to lose.
India is perceived as a land of plenty, rich in natural and human resources, a country of entrepreneurs who are at the forefront of takeover bids from multinationals, a nation that has contributed to the progress of science and technology in the US and Europe and a society of people who have demonstrated the ability to preserve and promote democracy through their 75 years of political independence.
Leaders in India realise that no nation can improve unless its people, no less, journalists and analysts, subject themselves to honest introspection. In such a mood, we would discern the difference between what has been achieved and what could have been achieved; and the level of performance against the potential.
Don’t get us wrong. We are not judgmental or cynics who decry reality. True, there is poverty, disorderliness, illiteracy and all the ailments of society in every country of the world, including the US and even the oil-rich Arab countries. We believe that India can reach greater heights of prosperity if its people would be self-critical and seek solutions to a myriad of problems that confront the nation today.
Proactive elite
Its intelligentsia should become more proactive and lend their calibre to cleanse the polity and society of corruption that is eating into the vitals of political and other institutions, participate in lifting literacy standards and foster progress.
Marching towards its chosen destiny, India disparately needs its sons and daughters to promote the ideals of their forefathers, freedom fighters and leaders to make it even a greater nation. The country needs men and women who would not just do lip service but contribute to its continued progress and prosperity.
Hours before the dawn of independence, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru (later to become the first Prime Minister of independent India) made his famous ‘Tryst with Destiny’ speech at the Constituent Assembly of India in New Delhi.
“Long years ago, we made a tryst with destiny and now the time comes when we shall redeem our pledge, not wholly or in full measure, but very substantially. At the stroke of the midnight hour, when the world sleeps, India will awake to life and freedom. “A moment comes, which comes but rarely in history when we step out from the old to the new when an age ends, and when the soul of a nation, long suppressed, finds utterance. It is fitting that at this solemn moment, we take the pledge of dedication to the service of India and the still larger cause of humanity.”
India’s tryst with destiny has inspired the world.
It should inspire the Diaspora as well.
On the occasion of the 76th Independence Day of India, we wish our people good health and continued prosperity. We salute the Nation on its steadfast belief in democracy.
