India Tomorrow
NEW DELHI—On the occasion of Independence Day, Forum for Democracy and Communal Amity (FDCA) organized an online discussion. People from across the country participated in the discussion.
“We have got this freedom after a lot of struggle. Lakhs of people made sacrifices to achieve this goal. One question which is on every lip, why did our ancestors give sacrifice? Just our self-respect is not trampled with,” India’s former foreign secretary and FDCA president Prof. Muchkund Dubey said while addressing the online gathering.
Quoting Bal Gangadhar Tilak, he said, “Freedom is our birthright”. “No self-respecting country can be deprived of this right,” he said.
Prof. Dubey said the leaders knew that there could not be social and economic progress in this country without freedom. “Pandit Nehru had given a historic speech on the occasion of Independence Day on august 15, 1947. One can understand the challenges the country had to face through his speech,” he said.
Prof. Dubey said, “Dr. Ambedkar, while presenting the draft Constitution before the Constituent Assembly, stated that if we fail to implement the economic and social provisions of this Constitution, its political provisions will become useless and our democratic system will fail.”
Prof. Dubey further said that when Subhash Chandra Bose was the President of the Congress, he formed a committee to consider the matter and make recommendations. “The committee recommended equal rights for minorities, religious freedom, and liberty to practice their customs. And those were later enshrined in the Constitution,” he said.
Mr. Dubey said freedom fighters always kept the flag of communal harmony flying high. “It was the basic principle of their life. Gandhi Ji gave his life for this cause,” he said.
Expressing concern over the new laws targeting minorities, Prof. Dubey said, “They are being deprived of their basic rights through laws, violence, and harassment by the police and investigation agencies. All this is happening according to a set policy. This has been an agenda of the ruling party for a long time. The present government is practically implementing it. No prudent person can believe that laws related to cow protection, love jihad are being passed in the states without the consent of the central government. The government is pursuing a policy of division. Social and economic progress can never be achieved due to it.”
“Minorities are being oppressed. Minority community members are jailed. Lips of top officials are sealed, and they do not say anything when minorities are being targeted,” he said.
He said the ruling party is dividing the people. “It is not a partition of the land, but the partition of hearts. It is the biggest partition post-1947. Given this partition, there will never be social and economic prosperity,’ he said.
Making some suggestions during his speech, Prof. Dubey advised, “The wave of communalism must be stopped. For this purpose, the minds and hearts of the people should be changed and the path of Gandhi has to be followed. This requires education, training and research. The Indian nation needs to be given a direction that is different from the communal and fanatic image. There should be a fundamental change in economic policy. Old institutions have to be developed. People related to the healthcare sector have to be trained and encouraged. It can be done only in the public sector. Under the Foreign Policy, India must first create friendly relations and a cordial atmosphere with its neighbours.”
Prof. Dubey said new thinking is taking roots in the world that India is not a secular country. “There are curbs on independent thinking. India’s ranks are falling on many counts. We will not get respect just because Prime Minister is touring the world. It is our glorious past, traditions, and our contribution that give us respect,” he said.
National General Secretary of FDCA Professor Muhammad Saleem Engineer congratulated the people on the occasion of the 75th Independence Day. He thanked Dubey for his heart-touching speech.
“We will take this plea to the government that this country should be run as per the principles set by the forefathers of our Constitution. This country should be run on the basis of the rule of law, justice, peace, harmony, and love,” he said.
