India has come a long way during the last seventy-three years as a  Republic, but India has a long way to go . India is not there yet. India always drew strength from its multi religious and  multi-cultural mosaic .

India enriched itself with the wisdom coming from various faiths and the  people following those faiths. A multiplicity of faiths and their followers – may they be Hindus,  Christians, Jews, Muslims,  Sikhs- they all contributed to the strengthening of the Indian  nation. If  today India stands tall in the comity  of nations, it is because India is recognized as a nation of diversity – diversity of which India has always been proud. Indians proudly told the world how there was  unity in diversity in this great land where we were told to keep the doors and windows open to the freshness of new ideas and welcome new guests.

Indians gave to themselves a constitution which guaranteedJustice- social, economic , political; which guaranteed Liberty of thought, expression, belief faith, and worship; which guaranteed Equality of status and opportunity, and to promote them  Fraternity among all, assuring the dignity of the individual and unity and integrity of the nation.

But, unfortunately, over the years , the guarantees enshrined in the constitution of India are being eroded. India is slowly turning into a majoritarian state, through the backdoor. One can see today an undesirable exclusion of minorities from power and the blatant use  of  State power to suppress them. The Republic surely is in danger.

One gets reminded today of the midnight knocks during the times of the  British and,  even during free India in the times of  emergency which was imposed by Mrs. Indira Gandhi when she was the Prime Minister.

The example of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi should open the eyes of the people of India that   power hungry rulers can go to any extent to rob  the people of their freedom. They use the power of the State to not only rob the people of their freedom and liberty but also to suppress them.

Today one sees similar situations evolving in India .Some call it an undeclared emergency. Because one sees the same old methods of suppression,  the same old methods of creating fear in the minds of the people. But the rulers  that create fear with the help of State power  must  remember that this fear  not something permanent; it is only a fleeting feeling.

In the post emergency era when the elections were announced, onefound Congress flags fluttering atop every house in the state of Uttar Pradesh. But when the elections were held, Congress was routed in the State.

People were afraid and that’s why they put up those Congress flags  atop their houses. But deep down in their minds and hearts , they were very clear that they were not going to tolerate an oppressive regime.And when they got an opportunity, they voted that regime  out of power.

The rulers  who are now trying to suppress the liberties of minorities, people who are now trying to subvert the constitution should better take a lesson from history.

As for the people of India, let them all take a  pledge on this sacred Republic Day  that they  will uphold theConstitution of India , that they  will ensure that nopolitical power in this country robs them of the rights guaranteed to the people in the Constitution

It  would be  well to remember that it had been a terrible struggle to win for  ourselves those wonderful rights and privileges which the Constitution of India guarantees us.Let’s all pledge to protect them from  being taken away through ballot or bullet. Let us celebrate Republic Day of India as one nation, one people,  one fraternity, irrespective of the faith we follow, irrespective of the language we speak, irrespective of the  State we live in.

Long Live India!

Jai Hind!