NE and I-Day
- Hueiyen Lanpao Editorial :: August 15, 2014 -
What does celebration of India’s Independence Day on August 15 every years means to the people of thwe country, particularly those living in Northeast?
Answer to this question could be given easily even by a toddler. It is a day of boycott, bandh, general strike or public curfew in the Northeast and this has been going on for the last many years.
Elsewhere in the country, security concerns over possible or perceived terrorist attacks are so strong that whether India has really awaken to life and freedom or fulfilled its tryst with destiny as envisioned by Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of the free country on that stroke of midnight hour of August 14 and 15, 1947, when the British finally left the country after more than 200 years of occupation still continues to haunt the mind of the people.
There may be flag-hoisting ceremonies, colourful parades and cultural events, but security concerns over possible terrorist attacks, calls for boycott of the celebration by separatist groups and triggering of bomb blasts in the run up or on August 15 have remained an indispensable feature of the Independence Day celebration of India over the years.
On the other hand, while people from affluent section of the society look upon August 15 as a day off from work for parties and family outings; for the multitude of poor people, it is yet another day of struggle for survival.
So, one could safely say that India is yet to redeem its pledge, not even substantially, forget about wholly or in full measure as Pandit Jawarharlal Nehru had proclaimed in his famous soul stirring ‘Tryst with Destiny’ speech in the Indian Constituent Assembly, the precursor of the present Indian Parliament, on that midnight hour of August 14 and 15.
Even after 68 years of celebrating Independence Day, there is so much discontentment all around, and the manifestation of this discontentment is becoming more pronounced with each passing year of celebrating Independence Day in the northeast region, which is connected to the rest of the country by a narrow strip of 20 to 40 km wide land known as Siliguri Corridor or Chicken's Neck.
Apart from its extreme location, people in the region continue to feel neglected and alienated, not just in terms of developmental disparity but also in the mental outlook of mainland Indians towards them. People in the Northeast region's eight States with more than 200 racial groups also continue to struggle with underdevelopment, unemployment, communal strife, ethnic insurgencies, separatist movements, illegal immigration and myriad other issues, many of which could very well traced back to the birth of India as a nation itself.
But none of the political Netas and Babus, who have warmed the hot seats at Delhi in the past as well as who are occupying the coveted seats presently, have been sincere enough to solve any of these problems with the seriousness they deserve.
Use of military action without understanding the true nature and the root causes of all the problems has only further alienated the region and its people, who are living like strangers in their own country. So sad.
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