YOUTH VOICE

Towards a Fair Society – 

What Went Wrong with India?

Respected judges and friends 

I’m in a quandary… Should I speak on the topic ‘Towards a Fair Society – What Went Wrong with India’ or should I rephrase the topic and ask, “Is there anything at all that has gone right with India?”

NO, NO… I’m not a cynic… But when I take stock of the situation that has been prevalent in Independent India, I wonder if there is anything at all that we can be either proud or hopeful of… 

Think about this…

Ours is a nation where pizza arrives before an ambulance does. Ours is a place where no one cries when a war widow is made to survive on a pension of Rs. 80 a month, but many blatantly celebrate the release of criminals guilty of bribery, scam, rape and murder. Ours is a country obsessed with getting money from Swiss banks but has turned a blind eye to 56  Indian soldiers who are still held captive by Pakistan from the 1971 War. I ask you, “What has gone wrong? Is there anything that is right?”

John F Kennedy once said “A nation reveals itself not only by the men it produces but also by the men it honours, the men it remembers.” Let’s see whom we have honoured… Sourabh Kalia, was the first Indian officer to detect the Pakistani intrusion into India and inform the authorities about it. What was the price he paid? He was captured by Pakistan and after 22 days of torture, was ultimately shot dead. It’s a matter of shame and disgust that this unparalleled bravery was never compensated, but on the flip side, we have managed to spend 60 crores on a man who held our whole nation to ransom, Ajmal Kasab. 

Friends, I ask you, “What Went Wrong? Is it fair?” 

The answer is, as W.B. Yeats said, “Things fall apart and the centre cannot hold…The best lack all conviction, while the worst are full of passionate intensity.” The answer lies in the words of Wilfred Owen, “None will break ranks, though nations trek from progress.”

The truth is… none of us are prepared to take up the issue if it does not concern us… (If legislation fails to ensure justice, we throw our hands up and ask helplessly, “What can we do?”)

We always blame others for problems –first the Mughals, then the British and after independence, Politians. But think about it… who is to be blamed? 125 Crore Indians or 540 MPs? Many of us do not even bother to vote and then criticize the people who are elected on vote bank politics. This INERTIA is the root cause of many of our problems and we are to be blamed equally. 

But is everything lost? Is the doom’s day near? No, I’m an optimist. I do not question the age-old adage which states that every cloud has a silver lining. For the first time in India, we have had a people’s movement which is the anti-corruption movement. [I do not want to get into the quagmire of politics and discuss if Anna Hazare’s party should get into politics or not… My focus is on the strength of the common man. Isn’t ours a democratic nation which claims to have governance by the people, for the people and of the people?] When people get together, they can achieve wonders… Moreover, in every individual lies tremendous scope for good. 

Think of how Rajendra Singh of Rajasthan, the Magsaysay Award winner, known as the ‘water man of India’ changed the barren village of Kishori into a ‘white zone’ single-handedly… Think of Pradip More of Maharashtra who has put up a brave fight on behalf of the manual scavengers, to restore their dignity… These are common people, fighting for common people with uncommon determination… These are the real heroes of India… If we cannot be one of these heroes, let us at least show our solidarity with them. Friends, then and only then will India be fair and only then we can echo the spirit of Tagore and recite the lines, “Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high, unto that heaven of freedom my father, my country has awoken.”

Akanksha Hebbar

III rd BCom, St Agnes College

This is the prize winning speech at the Elocution Competition held to commemorate the release of 150th issue of I & C. -                   Editor