Old lady, do we know you at 75?

Our old lady turned 75 today and it’s beautiful to be celebrating something bigger than us, something every Indian resonates with for a change. When I read about our lady’s history, it tells a thousand different stories in a thousand different ways in a thousand different dialects. Something which fascinates and pains at the same time is the fact that the freedom struggle went on for 200 years, so easy to say but how many generations did we lose ? Two years of pandemic and it feels like a whole new generation has come up , for a fact 200 years of struggle has the power to recreate a whole new races, what race have we built or have been made into ?Do we keep the courage to know the roots ourselves or do we entangle ourselves in the thousand “isms” created by those  who caused those 200 years. That is why I believe the old  lady’s celebration should not go just in exaggerated glorification, which has its own importance but rather into analyzing the anti imperialist struggle and how those processes may take us forward or pull us back even today. Rakesh Sinha rightly outlines the importance of rigorous and consistent efforts to interpret and unravel the historical events as it strengthens the power to deliver a message to the posterity with that sidelining hegemonic writings making icons of a few actors.

History does not explain but it has to be explained and understanding the freedom struggle forms the basic paragon for post colonial India as well. British brilliantly always had their image painted whilte as milk not just physically but also mentally as the flag bearers who talk on the table for a better generation to come, free from abhorrent leadership exhibiting feigned sympathy for the colony.It nullified any feeling or picture of demonic intentions lying behind. 

For a long time this gave them space to socialise with the elites and the progressives which I believe in turn led to us leading the freedom struggle in the way they had designed for us, for a great time. But, soon there was a counter influence of the masses against the ideologies of the mainstream leadership which did survive and played their role of nationalsit grassroots. For example, despite the approval of Mahatma Gandhi, the masses rejected his silence on the hanging of Bhagat Singh.Having said that, both Gandhian and revolutionaries had their own understandings of bringing about a common goal but as said history must unravel time after time.

As the revolutionary Frantz Fanon says that colonialism was not a thinking machine but the state of brute violence “When we revolt it’s not for a particular culture. We revolt simply because for many reasons, we can no longer breathe.” There are countless painful incidents which are not even found on the footnotes of the pages we turn on these days but they still stand to be interpreted.

On November 22, 1966, Atal Bihari Vajpayee expressed anguish over the imprisonment of Mohan Ranade, who fought against Portuguese colonial rule in India, and was awarded 25 years imprisonment after being arrested. He asked why the government at the time of Goa’s liberation sent back 3,500 Portuguese prisoners without demanding Ranade’s repatriation.”Gandhism was frequently and fervently quoted, but rarely practised.”, it seems.

Old lady’s quest for staying evergreen lies in our hands and the understanding starts from how she took birth. Could not be more happier to see children and adults feeling the celebration all around, I hope we can take this celebration even further for posterity by adding those innumerable incidents on the footnotes as a start. Happy Independence Day!