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Whose Independence Day?
Sach Kanwal Singh
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When it came to August 15, not one newspaper, not one TV
channel, not one politician, not the Sardar Sahib who climbed
the 52 steps leading to the ramparts of the Red Fort had a word
to say about the mayhem, the killings, the massacres, the riots,
the looting, and the uprooting of Punjabis this day 62 years
ago. Why does the Indian nation state forget so much so soon? |
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 In
a bout of misplaced ultra nationalism dumbing all sense of
proportion and propriety, a newspaper that calls itself Punjab Di
Awaz went tricolor this August 15, its enthusiasm to be seen as a
chip of the establishment completely in consonance with the way the
Indian polity, academia, intelligentsia, media and vast swathes of
urban-centric civil society mark the day.
Such a complete
loss of propriety strikes a quom only when it forgets to hear the
deafening noise of silence of what is not said, what is omitted from
the national orchestra, what is removed from the debate, from the
newspaper pages, from the cackle on the TV.
Punjab Di Awaz
was no different, and no more guilty.
Indian
newspapers and TV channels devoted reams and hours to showcase the
bravery of Indian soldiers in the Kargil war just weeks ago. The
hysteria was built up despite the fact that it was poorly affecting
the efforts being made on the peace front with Pakistan. But days
down the line, when it came to August 15, not one newspaper, not one
TV channel, not one politician, not the Sardar Sahib who climbed the
52 steps leading to the ramparts of the Red Fort had a word to say
about the mayhem, the killings, the massacres, the riots, the
looting, and the uprooting of Punjabis this day 62 years ago.
 The
Red Fort Sardar Sahib was not really expected to remember that a
brave quom was deprived forever from its heritage of Sri Nankana
Sahib and much more, that the entire Sikh Nation was forced to
include a prayer to be able to have darshan of the gurughars left
behind in
Pakistan
in its daily Ardas. Sardar Sahib himself hails from the sleepy
village of Gah in Pakistan but that perhaps no more pulls on his
heart strings.
But does he not
know that there isn't a Sikh alive who has not cried at the first
sight of Sri Nankana Sahib?
Partition is
already a forgotten tale in Indian political lore, but the worse
part is that even the Akali Dal politicians seem to be faithfully
echoing the familiar Delhi political line. So, the so-called
Independence Day was an occasion for them to promise more
development, which, as per their interpretation of development,
meant more shopping malls, air conditioned bus stands, international
airports, wider roads, flyovers, hospitals that will remind one of
five star hotels and of course, that favourite of the Kaka variety
of politicians -- surplus power production!
Thank you very
much. Happy Independence Day to all for whom it is an Independence
Day. As for those who cannot erase from their memories the sight of
the blood and pain of hundreds of thousands of dismembered Punjabis,
and who cannot bear to witness so much blood and shared pain going
waste amidst corporate din and crafty politics, our appeal is to
never stop hearing the deafening sound of silence.
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Indian media could have used the August 15 occasion to delve
back in history in the light of the explosive material thrown up
by the Transfer of Power documents and many later works
impinging on the last weeks leading to August 15, 1947, and
could have brought out the role of Lord Mountbatten in
Partition, delay in announcement of Radcliffe award and the
consequences that the brave people of Punjab bore. It could have
started a debate in earnest about the history's increasingly
clear verdict as to the role of the so-called leading lights of
Indian freedom struggle. |
In a rather
anti-people model of development that the neo-liberal lover
establishment in India has chosen, it is best not to engage with the
aspirations of the minorities or issues of consciousness about
heritage. Indian media could have used the August 15 occasion to
delve back in history in the light of the explosive material thrown
up by the Transfer of Power documents and many later works impinging
on the last weeks leading to August 15, 1947, and could have brought
out the role of Lord Mountbatten in Partition, delay in announcement
of Radcliffe award and the consequences that the brave people of
Punjab bore. It could have started a debate in earnest about the
history's increasingly clear verdict as to the role of the so-called
leading lights of Indian freedom struggle.
But no, it was
busy telecasting the theories and the content spun out by the
establishment. So, the larger picture was oh-so-rosy that you would
almost blush at the amount of progress India has made.
Sixty-two years
after the so-called Independence, India continues to treat its
minorities with disdain, tramples over their aspirations,
discriminates against a whole class of teeming millions that it has
reduced to lowered castes, attacks religious places like Sri Darbar
Sahib and Sri Akal Takht Sahib, does not spare places like the
Hazratbal shrine, lets off the hook those guilty of demolishing a
mosque sacred to its Muslims, fails to prevent atrocities against
Christians, creates amiable space for hate agendas and blesses those
who carry out yatras aimed at spreading hatred.
Of the 500 plus
districts in India, more than 200 are today directly affected by
naxalite violence; violence at the roots of which are poverty,
discrimination, stupid development policies, a stubborn refusal to
understand that other ways of life and living style exist,
officialdom’s apathy, and the Indian state’s decision that
everything can be handled by its security forces.
 In
the north, Kashmir has been in ferment for so long that no Urdu
poetry about the Dal Lake brings joy anymore. The north-east has
been smouldering for decades. In India’s west, entire swathes of
Gujarat and Maharashtra are swamped in rank communalism. In times of
high-decibel talk of unprecedented development, the poor farmers who
grow food grains are dying of hunger and poverty. Hundreds of
thousands are dying simply while trying to cross swollen rivers in
rickety boats; hundreds die because buses roll over into khuds
regularly. Millions sleep on hungry stomachs when grain godowns are
bursting at the seams. Official India does not hear the cries. It is
dumb and deaf and blind but not helpless. New Delhi talks of cell
phone density while landless labourers are unable to understand why
every inch of India’s visible skyline suddenly supports huge
hoardings asking everyone to buy foreign brands, wear Gucci shoes,
sport Chanel bags, and ad lib.
The state has
turned on against its citizens so that a few can have a good life.
The state has obliterated the concept of human rights, has given up
the idea of welfare, has turned
into an
oppressor. Official India has taken a side, and it is not in favour
of the millions of oppressed, poor, deprived, and discriminated
against. On August 15, it would have been better if anyone with any
pretense towards being the Punjab Di Awaz had taken a side other
than the tricolor one.
19
August 2009
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