A 'JAI HIND' IN THE REAL SENSE

A 'JAI HIND' IN THE REAL SENSE

While it is necessary to press on with the declassification movement for the unravelling of the Netaji disappearance mystery, it is of greater moment today to reflect on Netaji's ideology and to act on it to prevent the fracturing of the highly polarised polity. The solidarity of the nation that is intrinsic to its sovereignty must be preserved by practising real secularism and not a pretentious one either way by way of delivering high-flown speeches amounting to nothing or by appeasement of the minority community that can only spell the future danger of secessionist forces gathering strength to break up the nation.

Under no circumstances would Netaji have brooked opposition to his cause of strengthening the nation through the implementation of his plans and programmes, if necessary even by harsh subjugation of secessionist anti-national forces. At the same time he would surely not have pretended patriotism by quoting Tagore and singing and dancing to the tunes set by him or by routinely naming a host of seminal greats of the past by way of appeasement of all sections of the citizenry who would be likely to vote for the concerned party. Neither would Netaji have allowed special reservations for any state indefinitely or prized civic privileges on the basis of being deemed a religious minority.

Netaji's entire life is a commentary on his perfectly nationalistic approach to politics and patriotic service, and, as such, he would hardly have done anything stupid to rupture the delicate balance of societal forces already existing. His would have been the thrust on non-communal politics and the working out of the common denominator of national interest in terms of

(a) strengthening of national defence

(b) population control

(c) separation of the state and religion

(d) abolition of special religious civic privileges

(e) treating every Indian as an Indian and not as belonging to a particular religion or caste or class and

(f) strengthening of the economy and the reduction of disparities of wealth that would amount in effect to India being a true welfare state as opposed to merely an intended one ever.

These are some of the issues that are to be brooded on today and what better a way to do so than to highlight Netaji's ideology in every phase of national life and, especially, by its introduction in our academic system along with that of Swamiji's.

Written by Sugata Bose