(Image courtesy: narendramodi.in)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s call to
citizens to take a pledge for a New India has overwhelmed as well as dazed me.
Overwhelmed because it has kindled a new light at the end of dark tunnel. And
dazed because I realize that virtually all ex-PM foresaw ‘New India’ during
their respective tenure.
With the promises and pledges for New
India galore, I find myself in a whirlpool of dreams. I find they have not led
the country near the promised Utopia.
The other day, I instantly became Bhavuk
(overwhelmed) when PM saw a New India in the mandate that BJP got in recent
State assembly elections.
PM ordained: “On the NM Mobile App http://nm4.in/dnldapp, take the pledge and express
your commitment towards building a new India.”
He added: “A new India is emerging, which is being powered by the strength &
skills of 125 crore Indians. This India stands for development. When we mark 75
years of freedom in 2022, we should have made an India that will make Gandhi
Ji, Sardar Patel & Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar proud.”
I look at the heaven and ask did they not
feel proud when Parliament unanimously passed ‘Agenda for India’ to mark 50
years of Independence?
At the risk of being branded as
anti-national by Modi Bhakts, I must confess that I am hesitant to join Mr.
Modi’s Eureka moment. And the cause for my disillusionment is a long history of
forgotten, failed or partly achieved dreams of New India promised by several
ex-PMs, political parties and even entire Parliament.
If we diligently count the number of
versions of New India promised by our political leaders since Independence,
they would outnumber many times the versions of Windows software.
How do I assure myself that Modiji’s
dream of New India is a real one? How do I convince myself that it is not a fad for great men to
say “I have a dream….” Don’t forget, PM
talked of his dream for India in June 2016 when he addressed
joint session of the US Congress.
Will the latest imagination be different
from all previous ones? Would PM tell
citizens why ‘New India’ visualized in the BJP’s 1998 manifesto for Lok Sabha went
unimplemented? What happened to Bharat Ratna Atal Behari Vajpayee’s ‘Agenda for
Building a Proud and Prosperous India’?
We should perhaps wait for Modiji to detail
his vision for New India and how he intends to achieve it. In the meanwhile, I
would like to share with him the country’s forgotten dreams. This perhaps might
lead him into asking whether ‘New India’ is a mere political rhetoric that is
spun when powers that be hit cloud nine.
Everyone would agree that Pandit
Jawaharlal Nehru envisioned New India without using this term in his famous ‘Tryst
with Destiny’ that he gave on 14th August 1947. This vision was perhaps not
shared by Finance Minister, R.K. Shanmukham Chetty.
Referring to bloodbath that resulted
from the country’s partition, Mr. Chetty stated in his budget speech for
1948-49: “The way ill fortune has dogged our heels makes one doubt whether our
people had made a tryst with disaster rather than with destiny.”
Such setbacks did not dilute Nehru's
passion for New India.
On 12th April 1954, he thus
gave a clarion call to all citizens “to join in this might adventure of
building up new India. It is a way of showing that we shall stand on our own
feet and not allow ourselves to be uprooted by the strong winds that blow in
upon us from any quarter.”
Mr. Nehru articulated his vision on
several other occasions too. For instance, at the opening Nangal canal on 8th
July 1954, he stated “The major thing is
making a new India, building a new India, a prosperous India, putting an end to
the poverty of India….”
Mr. Nehru’s successor, Lal Bahadur
Shastri, too had a great vision for India.
Like Modiji, Mr. Shastri, in his
broadcast to the Nation on 19th October 1964, invited “all my countrymen to join together as brothers and sisters in this
great and challenging task of building up a new, awakened and strong India.”
Like Modiji, he too asked the citizens
to “pledge yourselves anew to the dedicated service of our motherland”.
All subsequent ex-PMs have had vision
for New India though some of them did not use the term ‘New India’ in their discourse.
The day-dreaming for New India appeared realizable when Parliament drew up
‘Agenda for India’ on the golden jubilee of the Independence.
The Agenda specified ‘minimum tasks’.
Some of these are: attain marked improvement in the quality of life of all
citizens in time-bound manner with focus on basic minimum needs; all political
parties to launch national campaign to “combat
economically unsustainable growth of population, recognising that such growth
lies at the root of most
of our human,
social and economic problems”, provide universal
primary education by 2005, decriminalize politics, undertake meaningful
electoral reforms, preserve dignity of Parliament through good conduct by MPs
in Parliament and outside and promote scientific temper in the country.
20 years later, we find that MPs have exhibited
rare collective aversion to even mention the Agenda by mistake in public
discourse. This might well have emboldened Modiji to set sights on platinum
jubilee of the Independence as the target for transforming the country.
We have to wait and see whether Modiji
would incorporate this forgotten agenda in his dream for New India. We also
have to see whether he enlightens citizens as to why his Government failed to carry
forward BJP’s past resolve for New India.
According to BJP in its 1998 Lok Sabha poll
manifesto, “As the adage ‘Raja kaalasya
kaaranam’ (The ruler is responsible for the times) reminds us, the blame for
this sad of State of affairs rests with the Raja and not the Praja. The BJP
pledges that, when it is in power, the people will see a qualitative change in
the culture of governance. There will be a marked change in the mindset and
behavior of those in Government. Their duties and responsibilities will take
precedence over their perquisites.”
The Manifesto called for a change in the
mindset and behavior of citizens in their daily lives for building a strong,
prosperous and proud nation.
It stated: “On the occasion of the Swarna Jayanti of our Independence, therefore,
the BJP makes the following appeal to every Indian to inculcate the spirit of
the Freedom Movement:
1. We,
the people of India, shall not discriminate on the basis of caste, creed,
class, gender, language, or region in any of our actions and decisions in life.
Instead, we shall behave with all our compatriots in the belief that we all are
equal children of Bharat Mata.
2. We,
the people of India, in whichever profession or vocation we are in, shall work
with honesty, dedication and discipline in the spirit of a New Work Culture.
3. We,
the people of India, shall always give priority to our patriotic duties and
responsibilities over narrow self-interest, even as we zealously strive for the
realization of our rights enshrined in the Constitution.”
BJP created a new tune for New India in
its 1999 Manifesto. It stated: “This is
the moment to look ahead, to a new, resurgent India. Let us hold hands and walk
together to build a resurgent, modern India. Let us throw away our old prejudices.
Let
us put an end to divisiveness. Let us have a moratorium on contentious issues.
Let
us bind ourselves with bonds of trust and friendship.”
The Manifesto continued: “We want an India which we all feel part of,
in whose future we all have a stake. And we want to enter the new millennium
with confidence; not with divisive feelings. This is our call for
reconciliation and it is part of our commitment to the minorities.”
Compare all these highfalutin offers
with the ground realty to understand why BJP consigned its different versions
of New India to archives.
The all-mighty BJP has even forgotten to
realize Mr. Vajpayee’s vision for New India that he articulated through his
speeches.
A speech that should be etched in the
mind of anyone who talks of New India is the one delivered on 15th
August 1999. In his Independence Day Address to the Nation, Mr. Vajpayee
stated: “I have a vision of India: an India free of hunger and fear, an India
free of illiteracy and want. I dream of an India that is prosperous, strong and
caring….Come, let us build an India in which we have balanced development that
benefits all regions and all sections of society....”
He continued: “Come, let us build an India in which Dalits, Adivasis, and Backward
Classes are not only freed from economic deprivation, but also enjoy the fruits
of social justice....Come, let us build an India in which our nari shakti - our
women - are able to realize its full potential - from shaping the future of
their families to shaping the future of the nation....Come, let us build an
India in which the minorities fully enjoy the fruits of national development,
while having full opportunities to contribute to it. Our country belongs to all....”
The speech that he gave after BJP-led
National Democratic Alliance was voted back to power in October 1999 also
deserves recall.
In his discourse titled ‘Agenda for
Building a Proud and Prosperous India’ broadcast on 16th October
1999, Mr. Vajpayee stated: “India needs a
Government that will reach out to the last person in the last row....With the
help of a billion people proud of being Indian: There is nothing that we cannot
achieve; No problem we cannot tackle; No challenge we cannot face; and No
opportunity we cannot seize.”
If we add up the vision of all ex-PMs
for New India, would Mr. Modi have anything new to inspire the masses? Yes, if he visualizes and implements fully a vision
for New India in which the gap between political promises and performance is
zero.
Modiji, I confess I have a dream in
which I foresee our great leaders act like fakirs. They walk the talk on duties and
sacrifices that they expect the citizens to make. This is the utopia I have
been dreaming ever since I understood Indian politics.
