Happy Independence Day 15th
August 2013
Many congratulations and good wishes to all my fellow
Indians on our 67th Independence Day. I wish you all prosperity and
growth and development in all spheres of life. There are many topics I wish to
discuss with you. There are my issues on which I want to share my opinion and
get yours. I intend to ignite a spark that creates an environment where youth
of the nation get involved and realise the responsibilities of running a
nation.
We the people of India, solemnly resolve to constitute India
into a SOVEREIGN SOCIALIST SECULAR DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC. And every educated,
learned, knowledgeable Indian has a greater responsibility to do so.
Today’s India is rapidly becoming an India of haves and have
not’s. This ever increasing, widening gap
between rich and poor is concerning. The rich must realise that they cannot
stay rich for long if they do not share some of their riches with others. There
is a quote from Bhagwat Geeta that in essence, teaches us all to take as much
as is need. Taking anything beyond would lead to ill and turn into poison. The
perfect man is a man who has control on his desires and knows how to share with
his brethren. Unless we work towards such purpose, I foresee greater conflicts,
revolts and uprisings. On the other
hand, poor must know that the path to progress goes through education and
awareness. Democracy’s strength lies in its people. More they are educated,
knowledgeable, responsible and actively contributing, stronger is the democracy.
Today we celebrate 66 years of freedom, liberty and independence.
The same should reflect in our mentality. Modern and free thinking begets from
the principles of equality and freedom of speech. I want to see an India where
no longer do we have quotas and reservations on the basis of castes or regions.
I aspire to see an India where every Indian is equal and where talented,
sincere and hardworking people are justly rewarded, no matter what family they
are born in, and regardless of which part of the country they were born in.
When it comes to education, job, opportunities, the only criterion should be
talent and hard work. Coming to freedom
of speech and expression, if India wants to stand among the tallest of the
nations in the world, we need to have a free and fair exchange of dialogues.
The voices of poor and destitute must not be curbed and free speech should not
be punished. Twitter and Facebook have become new modes of expression of youth
and persecution of people for their candid comments on similar social media
must be stopped. Our government should be such that it should invite its
criticism so as to understand what must be done in order to help the hurt.
In today’s India, honestly and patriotism seems to have become
most hard to find commodity. We must not forget that we celebrate today’s day
in name of people who personified these virtues, who got us our Independence.
Honesty must be rewarded and the voice that stands against corruption and
wrong-doing must be supported. How is it acceptable that honest IAS officers
are being punished by the government for standing up to mafia and the
government is still in power? There is only one explanation. We have closed our
eyes, ears and mouth to all that is ill around us. We have become so numb and
insensitive towards corruption that it has become a part of how we live. We
need to stop somewhere, open our eyes and stand up against corruption. This is
our nation, if we can corrupt it, we can also clean it. All it needs is 51
willing people out of every 100.
We have general elections this year. I implore all my fellow
Indians to vote and be a part of this celebration of Loktantra (democracy). This year, vote fearlessly, vote sincerely
and vote not for short tern benefits but vote with the thought of your
motherland in your heart. At the same time, I implore all political parties to
contest a fight worthy of this great nation. Let it be fought on matters of
development and growth. Let us restrain from digging dirt on others and focus
on policies that are for Lok Kalyaan
(social good). Let us have an honest contest where the leaders stand tall on
the pedestals of sincere intentions to make life of every Indian better over
the period of next 5 years. History would not remember you just because you
achieved power, history would remember you for what you did after achieving
that power. And for every Indian, let me quote Mahatma Gandhi –
“Be the change that you wish to see in the world”
Jai Hind
Shivank Kaul
Shivank Kaul
