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CHOICEST ESSAYS

LOOKING AHEAD TO THE


TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY
Standing on the threshold of the twenty-first century we cant write Jane
Austen novels any more. It is because the world intrudes. The T.V. is in the
corner. The crowd is on the street. Politicians are making decisions every day
that affect the daily lives (Salman Rushdie). It is in this mixed milieu of aspirations and apprehensions, both natural and man-made, that we look ahead (think
about what is going to happen in the future) to the twenty-first-century. Like the
legendary Pandoras Box, the onlet of the third millennium, may unfold a host
of shocks and surprises, angst and alienation, on the one hand, and stupendous
successes and monumental marvels on the other. Since the shape of things to
come is shrouded in mystery, it is always prudent to make surmises, but no
prophesy or prediction with certainty or finality.
While looking ahead to the new century, the question that should disturb
each one is: Are we entering the third millennium with a guilty conscience or a
clear conscience or with no conscience at all? In the closing years of the twentieth century, when we look back, we find the outgoing century was both volatile
and vigorous. It witnessed momentous events like the rise and fall of Marxism,
two World Wars, complete collapse of colonialism, formation of UN, the ferocious face of narco-terrorism, deadly AIDS; all these and other developments
both constructive and contentious, symbolising hopes and fears of mankind in
the past and their lingering shadows marching into the future.
If the saying dont count your chickens before they are hatched is relevant, so is the maxim Coming events cast their shadows before. Though the
future is always uncertain, there are always enough indications present from
which we can draw broad outlines of the international, economic and cultural,
secnarios taking place in the twenty-first century. The United Nations is likely
to become more democratic in functioning and the Security Council more representative in composition. For many years to come the world will have to bear
with the whims of the only Super Power, before it is challenged by RussiaChina together, and possibly by India too. The chances of total disarmament

CHOICEST ESSAYS

and complete destruction of nuclear weapons would remain a dream unlikely to


be realised in the initial stages of the next century. Poverty, hunger, disease,
malnutrition and many other socio-economic afflictions would continue to haunt
major parts of Asia, Africa and Latin America.
With consumerist culture ruling the roost, all other concerns, it is feared,
will have to take a back seat in the coming century. Our passions and pursuits,
madly moving in the direction to `get rich quick and kick every one else into the
ditch may make us prisoners of our making. Great causes that have shaped the
destiny of mankind since time immemorial may find very little space in the cold
calculations of people and nations alike.
The greatest challenge would be posed by globalisation which would undermine the social and moral values of Afro-Asian societies and bombard them
with alternative WEstern values through the sweeping reach of Western media
and entertainment. In this fast changing and highly challenging scenario, we
have to make concerted efforts to find out new synergies of institutional cooperation and technology upgradation and follow a highly professional approach
so as to face the onslaught of global competitiveness in an effective manner.
We can look ahead to the twenty first century with excitement because the
frontiers of Information Technology would expand in all directions with ramifications in areas like communications, entertainment, education, commerce and
industry. Cloning species would help to cure many a human genetic distortion
or informity. Science and technology would cross new frontiers by acquiring a
more humane face. Despite the fact that todays trends in the social domain are
dominated by the imperialism of pop music, nude models and lethal drugs, the
onset of the new century may relegate them to a state of non-entity. Pop on the
top, the atre taking a back seat, electronic media scaling new heights and making inroads in the traditional strongholds of folk lore and filial bonds, may not
hold much water when we make a tryst with a twenty-first century. The disturbing realities of today, where you can bust your brains before you find a book,
may not last long. Since the World survives on hope, it is everybodys wish that
the twenty-first century opens new horizons of care, concern and courtesy for
environment and an equally strong awareness that `turning a new leaf in ones
life is like half the battle won against all odds.

CHOICEST ESSAYS

EVILS OF TERRORISM
The menace of terrorism has been increasing over the years, though there
are spells of intense, widespread activity, followed by periods of relative calm
as if to give respite to the innocent millions and the governments oncerned. The
evils of terrorism are so obvious and the world has become so familiar with
them that it is perhaps unnecessary to describe them in detail. Even so, the
multi-faceted, pernicious consequences of this challenge to mankind need to be
fully known to all to facilitate the formulation of effective anti-terrorist plans.
Notable among these are a soul-killing sense of insecurity and instability, the
heavy loss of life and the erosion of confidence in the administrations capacity
to ensure safety.
Several countries, including the worlds mightiest Power, are affected by
the scourge of terrorism which has taken many forms bomb explosions, assassinations of selected people and sometimes indiscriminate killings, blackmail,
threats of murder if the demanded ransom is not paid and hijacking. While stray
shootings and explosions are a feature of terrorist activity within countries where
there is seething discontent among a section of the people, air transport is a
favourite target for international terrorism.
American experts have defined terrorism as the use of international violence by individuals or groups to achieve political goals. It is, in effect, a type
of war, though it is not openly fought. This definition applies to lawless acts in
the international arena; in the national sphere terrorism implies acts of violence
indulged in by politically motivated people who have some real or imaginary
grievances which have remained unredressed for some reason.
Both national and international terrorists believe in the cult of the gun
and the bomb. The funds which feed the terrorists come from various sources;
foreign supporters and collaborators, drug money, the yields of bank robberies
and stray looting of persons carrying bags containing cash, etc.
The usual aim of terrorists is to wreak vengeance against those whom
they regard as their enemies, oppressors and usurpers or otherwise acting as
obstacles in the achievement of their goals. It matters little to these elements
that their aims are unethical, illegal and disruptionist. Some of them aim at

CHOICEST ESSAYS

bringing about a social revolution and causing political upheaval. The terrorists
are in a minority, but they manage to terrorise large majorities and defy the
police month after month.
Terrorists recruit young people in their ranks. Idealistic fervour, apparently, inspires them to join the ranks.
In recent years many steps have been taken to fight terrorism. Sponsors
of resolutions in the U.N. against hijacking, terrorism and hostage-taking have
been trying to find ways to strengthen the machinery to counter the evil. Crackdowns on the centres of terrorist activity, tighter security at the airports, railway
stations and Government offices have been ordered.
Social analysts rightly assert that the ultimate battle against terrorism will
have to be fought by the people. Since there is widespread revulsion against the
ruthless acts of terrorists, the peoples cooperation is vital. But public enthusiasm to fight the evil must not be allowed to fade away for lack of effective
assistance by all sections of society and all wings of the administration.

CHOICEST ESSAYS

NATIONAL INTEGRATION
India is a huge country of myriad languages, a veritable babel of tongues,
with several faiths and religions; in fact, the diversities are generally more in
evidence than the forces of unity and harmony. But there are certain common
links and uniting bonds that some people seek to develop so as to achieve the
eminently desirable goal of national integration.
There has been much talk of national integration, especially since Independence. The highly commendable concept postulates communal unity, harmony and concord. It also implies sinking of differences in order to ensure the
emergence of one nation with a common approach to national problems and
widely shared goals, despite the communal, linguistic and other differences,
and the divergent political viewpoints. But genuine integration has proved elusive because of the intense social and economic differences which selfish people seek to exploit to serve their own selfish ends.
Among the issues thus exploited are those of culture, language, real and
imaginary social injustices, the atrocities committed in the name of caste, sect
and community. Linguistic fanaticism and chauvinism raise their ugly heads
every now and then. To these familiar factors has been added, quite recently,
another the activities of extremists and terrorists who seek to create fear as well
as a sense of uncertainty all round.
Some years ago the Central Government established the National Integration Council and also a Council for Emotional Integration. The former body,
comprising mostly of retired veterans, Ministers and officials, occasionally holds
meetings at different places and passes high-sounding resolutions emphasising
the need for promoting national integration in as many ways as possible. But all
such resolutions remain unimplemented. In fact, amidst the conflicts on various
platforms and the re-emerging fissiparous tendencies which seek to perpetuate
discord, these pious expressions are soon forgotten; they merely swell the official records in musty secretariat corridors.
The problem of caste, a relic of social strata in ancient Hindu society, is
acting as a disruptive force in the countryside today. The question of bounda-

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ries and distribution of river waters also continue to occupy a notable place in
Indian politics. Then, there are the problems of integration of tribes with the
national mainstream. Though they should participate in the process of economic development, their distinct culture should be maintained at the same
time.
The present state of economic backwardness provides fertile soil for imperialists to hatch their plans for secessionist agitations. The internal and the
foreign reactionary forces have been using the toiling masses and the demoralised, frustrated, angry, unemployed youth as their tools to serve their narrow
class interest. National integration can be promoted only to the extent to which
all round national economic development is assured. In this connection, the
historic accords, hike reached on the baffling issues of Punjab and Assam,
which had been major causes of disharmony in our body politic could pave the
way for greater integration.
Recent experience teaches us that all disruptive forces need to be attacked collectively and jointly, with full cooperation of non-official organisations, to achieve national integration. Piecemeal reforms do not go a long way
as each major problem is not only deep-rooted but also intrinsically connected
with many others. The administrative machinery should not only keep a watch
over forces of discord and suppress them with dedication, it should also work
towards creating a new social order that may give a sense of protection and
dignity to all ethnic groups, especially the minorities. It is essential that the
minorities should feel safe and secure, and also as proud of India as the majority.
Mahatma Gandhi gave his life for communal unity. Though there are
Punjabis, Kashmiris, Biharis, Rajasthanis, Bengalis, Maharashtrians, Dravidians
and several other groups in our country, the fact remains that, despite the divisions and distinctions, we have had a long common history and have lived
together for thousands of years. Those who regard the unity of India as a myth
and a dream are sadly mistaken. Of course, there cannot be uniformity of outlook, habits and dress in this huge country, but there is a basic link. Ours has
been the homeland of many religions. India may be described as historys function station, but some people forget this.

CHOICEST ESSAYS

DOWRY AND BRIDE-BURNING


The evil of dowry, with the ever-growing demands by greedy parents of
well-placed youth from the guardians of the bride, has assumed menacing proportions. Human greed knows no bounds. It is amazing that even well-educated
parents of young men do not hesitate to resort to downright extortion, the victims of such avarice being helpless parents of newly married girls who are
pestered, by their mothers-in-law in particular, to bring more money and sophisticated consumer goods of various kinds.
Brides are burnt alive by mothers-in-law acting in complicity with other
members of the family of in-laws sisters-in-law, brothers-in-law and others.
Nearly 900 cases of young wives being burnt to death are reported in the country every year! These include the suicides. Brides are of course not for burning,
whether they bring adequate dowry or not. Those who compel them to bring
more and yet more dowry, as if the hapless, badly cornered girls parental homes
are veritable mints or gold-mines, are human sharks who must be adequately
punished.
Those who defend the practice of giving adequate dowry to daughters
point to the fact that girls must have a share in their parents property; that they
must be fully equipped to set up a home when they start a new life; that society
would make derisive comments on the parents miserly habits if their daughter is not given various gifts, clothes, jewellery, TV, furniture, a refrigerator, a
scooter (or car) depending upon the social and economic status of the parents.
It is also contended that dowry giving is an ancient practice for which there is
indeed a case. Such people do, however, deplore the increasing greed of the
bride-groom and his parents, when they themselves become victims.
The dowry evil and bride-burning have brought much disgrace to this
country; foreigners ridicule us and wonder how, along with the all-round economic and political progress of this country, such callousness as the burning of
women for their inability to yield to extortionist demands for dowry, is increasing. How can our people claim that India is among the leading democracies of
the world? We preach sermons on how others should behave while at home we
indulge in practices that are disgraceful and unpardonable.

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Hindu society suffers from several evils, and dowry is among the major
ones. What sort of a country is this where there are rates fixed for getting
well-established bridegrooms like I.A.S. and P.C.S. officers, doctors and engineers settled within the country or abroad, the price of bridegrooms is increasing, just as the prices of everything else sold in the market are going up,
thanks to the inflation. What goes up in this sphere seldom comes down.
Of course, there are specific laws against dowry and heavy punishment is
prescribed for those who demand or give dowry. But such laws are among the
laws that are easily and flagrantly flouted. Thousands of cases of dowry extortion are reported every year, but very few people are punished. For lack of
evidence most of the guilty people escape scot-free. Most stringent laws are
planned, but laws on the statute-book any number of them will not have a
deterrent effect on the greedy people. Unfortunately, public opinion on this
score has yet to become effective. Public opinion and social boycott of the
offenders can go a long way in checking the menace of dowry.

CHOICEST ESSAYS

GOVERNMENT AND BUREAUCRACY


Bureaucracy means the rule of the bureau, meaning a table covered by
burel. The term connotes civil servants, whose number and overall strength
have been growing in every country. The term also refers to the methods of
work, the policies and attitudes of the vast body of State employees entrusted
with the task of running the administration. Initially, the bureaucracy was utilised by Indias foreign rulers, especially the British, to govern the country. But
the bureaucracy grows under both capitalism and socialism. Jawaharlal Nehru
correctly described the role of the bureaucracy when he said: The more socialist we get in this country, the more will bureaucracy grow. In the complicated
modern State, whether it is India or America, bureaucracy is unavoidable.
Government and bureaucracy have almost become synonyms; the common man comes into contact with officials, high and low, not with the top-level
policy makers, and he naturally regards the bureaucracy as the Government.
Ministers, headed by the Prime Minister, are supposed to constitute the principal executive. They take decisions at the ministerial level, but it is seldom that
Ministers frame policies without the advice and suggestions from the bureaucrats with whom real power rests. More often than not, the bureaucrats, especially the senior ones heading various departments, operating behind the scenes,
are the wielders of authority and the policy framers as well. For one thing,
Ministers keep on changing, sometimes like the weather; it is the bureaucrats
who provide the permanent machinery for carrying on the government from
day to day.
In fact, the sword of bureaucracy is power; this power is so effective that
it even overshadows the goals, idealism and political fervour of Ministers. Very
often, idealism gets soaked in the bureaucracy. Even where bureaucracy is not
power itself, it is the institutionalisation of power. Power flourishes behind the
curtain and bureaucracy seldom functions openly. The secrecy that characterises the actions of the bureaucracy often proves galling to the common man
who has perforce to accept what the power-obsessed officials dictate.
It is a moot point whether Ministers should, in practice, have the upper
hand or whether the bureaucracy should continue to administer the country

CHOICEST ESSAYS

10

without let or hindrance. Bureaucracy anywhere is hardly known for efficiency;


it is so firmly bound by the rules and established practices that it is often very
difficult to make the machine move. The former Prime Minister, Mrs Indira
Gandhi, often criticised the machinery of public administration for acting as a
stumbling block in the way of the countrys social and economic progress. She
preferred a civil service consisting of persons who would think and see that
certain things which are necessary for progress are implemented properly.
As for the lethargy and inefficiency of the administration we have the
interesting and tell-tale observation of Lord Curzon, Viceroy of India (18991905), who said the Government is like an elephant very stately, very dignified
but very slow in its movement. I am prodding the animal, he added, with
most vigorous and unexpected digs and it gambols plaintively under the novel
spur.
Political observers have rightly said that the democratic process is the
best protection against the bureaucratic disease in the art and practice of
government; the right to question and to criticise is, therefore, regarded as the
most potent anti-bureaucratic hygiene. Bureaucrats, of course, dislike those
who question their authority or cast aspersions on their methods and decisions.
It is the self-righteous posture that brings discredit to many bureaucrats.
Officials, understandably, prefer and help pliant Ministers; they make
things hot for those Ministers who overrule them and issue orders contrary to
what the bureaucrats regard as the correct line of action, that is, the line that
tradition, red tape and the rule book dictates. The rigidity that is associated with
an unsympathetic government is in reality imparted by bureaucrats who are
well-entrenched in their posts and who do not think very highly of Ministers
and politicians.
But, does democracy mean that the people should merely vote a party
into power (to form the government) every five years or so, but have nto access
to, or check over it, except through Parliament? This should not be so, but it is
precisely the experience of most people when they deal with the district administration. At that level their access to the government functionaries, that is, the
bureaucrats, is barred. The entire system of bureaucracy at the district or tehsil
headquarters has all along been such that the ordinary people are overawed by
the complex, elaborate and labyrinthine procedures, applications in triplicate,
long delays and heart-breaking apathy of the petty bureaucrats.
The Government of a country is what the bureaucracy makes of it. If the
instruments through which the party in power seeks to function are blunted, it
cannot ensure good government. Only a sharp, smooth and stainless bureaucracy can provide good administration. The link between the two is clear.

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11

CRIME AND VIOLENCE IN INDIAN SOCIETY


There are differences in the way violence is discussed. In the West, it is
seen to threaten the smooth conduct of a civil society, where race, drugs and
crime are the main problems. In India, media glorification of violence is seen to
endanger not only a patriarchal system but also an authoritarian Statea State
which tries to impose order on a society caught between the allure of modernism and the tentacles of old traditions.
You can slam one manhole cover shut, but the force of the sewage will
push up somewhere else, and Bernard Inghams. If in the good old past, violence and crime were treated with contempt, they have become a way of life
with some individuals, groups and gangs. Ironically enough, one feels helpless
when people who take to crime as their natural pursuit are respected a lot and
the locals of all hues give them all the help they need. These are the times when
the criminals have begun to think they will not get caught. If caught, they will
not be convicted. If convicted, it will only be a light sentence. Looking back we
can see that is is, in fact, the common man who has played a big role in allowing
the criminals to take charge of his surroundings.
If insurgency, secessionism and militancy have spread their wings far and
wide and posed a serious threat to the polity. The perpetractors of such violence,
crime and mass killings, were able to find safe haven among the local people. In
a way, both violence and crime receive the much despised and publicised sustenance from those who either prefer to remain indifferent or from those who aid
and abet them in their nefarious designs and dubious deeds. The dons of the
under-world attribute much of their sway and success to institutionalised corruption and criminalised politics. If violence in the name of caste, community
and ethnicity has gained ground and private armies have flourished and flouted
all rules of the law book, the fault lies with the political patronage that criminals
and other of their ilk have come to enjoy in the land of Buddha, Nanak and
Gandhi.
A report of the CBI that the incidence of total cognisable cases in India
during 1995 has crossed the mark of five million, or so, proves beyond doubt
that both violence and crime, including economic crimes, have registered a steady

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12

increase in our rural as well as urban areas.


Pelf, power and prestige, no matter what means are adoptedd and how
many emotions are crushed, have bcome the obessive motives of those who can
manipulate the levers and reach the top. In some cases, even the use of bullet,
where ballot is the valid way to wrest power, is openly propagated and practised. Organised violence and pre-planned crime on a big scale had been the
bane of many a carnage. How many culprits, criminals, rioters and the like have
been punished is still a matter under investigation and litigation. In the absence
of quick trial and adequate punishment to the actual perpetractors of these perversions and their masters behind the curtain, the chain or the vicious cycle of
crime and violence, whether individual or collective, cannot be controlled, much
less erased from the Indian State.
Erosion of time-tested values like care, concern and compassion for others and an abominable absence of moral and ethical teachings and ideals among
our career conscious youth, are some of the major factors that have brought us
to the present painful pass. Brides being burnt or tortured for dowry, female
child killed before or after birth (infanticide), harassment of women at home
and at their work-place, employment of children in hazardous industries violation of human rights, use of third degree methods by police, long detention of
undertrials and such other aberrations are both symptoms and symbols of violence and crime that have afflicted the Indian psyche with all their virulence and
venom.
The `great causes have gone out of our lives and in their place only cold
calculations and career-chasing have become our possessive passions and pursuits. There is an abhorrent absence of such ideals as can inspire us to see beyond our nose so that we may feel motivated to create such social climate as is
conducive, constructive and creative for a more humane social order. Still all is
n ot lost. In order to rejuvenate the Indian minds and stir their sullen soul, the
message of Tagore Kicks raise dust, not crops has to be instilled and injected
into their psyche. The place of causes in the national goals and targets has to
be recognised and a relentless crusade against dehumanisation of perceptions
and proclivities has to be waged before the rising deluge of violence, vulgarity
and crime overtakes and finally overwhelms us all.

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13

COMMUNAL HARMONY
Thousands of communal riots have taken place in the country since the
attainment of Independence in 1947. The earlier suspicion that communal discord was caused by the British rulers in pursuance of their policy of divide and
rule has proved partially obsolete. It is true, however, that the seeds of disharmony among the various communities were sown by the British Government.
Factional demands were encouraged and all efforts to bring the Hindus and
Muslims together were purposely thwarted to consolidate foreign control.
Communalists of various shades and categories have consistently harped
on the differences and encouraged divisive trends. This has been especially
noticeable in the highly sensitive and vulnerable regions where the timber had
only to be ignited by a match-stick; the embers remain hot. Even a minor and an
apparently innocuous incident has sufficed to arouse communal passions and
provoke rioting.
The habitual offenders, the anti-social elements who thrive on disorder,
the selfish politicians and others of their ilk are, however, incorrigible. They
revert to disruptionist tactics whenever there is an opportunity. The call of
religion in danger often proves irresistible to the illiterate masses. Such tactics
of mischievous exploitation queer the pitch for those who draw up high-sounding programmes for promoting communal harmony in the country.
Article 51-A, which lays down the fundamental duties of the citizens of
India, inter alia, stresses the importance of amity. According to clause (e) of the
Article, it shall be the duty of every citizen of India to promote harmony and
the spirit of common brotherhood amongst all the people of India, transcending
religious, linguistic and regional, or sectional diversities... Further, clause (i)
enjoins upon all citizens to safeguard public property and to abjure violence.
And yet these duties are blatantly ignored and recklessly flouted by people in
India.
The countrys national traditions and the dictates of real Indian culture,
all point to the importance of maintaining communal harmony. In fact, the basis
of Indian culture is peace, brotherhood and amity. Culture is the result of centuries of evolution and of the growth of ideals and disciplines. In fact, dishar-

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14

mony in any sphere of life is the very antithesis of true Indian culture. Certain
pre-requisites are generally mentioned for Indias distinctive culture a common
approach to most of the basic problems, a broad vision (as against sectarian
viewpoints), similarity of conduct, behaviour and attitudes and sharing of ideas,
ideals and traditions. But far more important is an essential unity of outlook
despite the numerous diversities of language and dialect and the tradition of
tolerance. While the basis of all culture, as T.S. Eliot suggested, is religion, a
true concept of it never seeks to create disharmony.
The distinctive mark of Indian culture, which is based on Hindu philosophy, is tolerance. Religion must not be a matter of exclusive dogma but should
be characterised by a wide tolerance respect for the faith and beliefs of others
and a generous attitude of understanding the approach of other people to the
challenges of life. It is this sense of tolerance, charity and broadmindedness
that imparts harmony to the inner life of cultured people in India. Mahatma
Gandhis concept of tolerance was indeed comprehensive. After long study and
experience, he wrote, I have come to the conclusion that all religions are true,
all religions have some errors in them; and all religions are almost as dear to me
as Hinduism. His own veneration for other faiths was the same as that for his
own faith.
Indian culture has encouraged a continuous synthesis even when it was
confronted with contrary philosophies. The desire to absorb and assimilate has
persisted and it accounts for its survival over the centuries. The pity is that
Indians, by and large, have forgotten the teachings and precepts of our saints
and sages. Promotion of harmony is the most important duty of each true citizen. The countrys salvation depends upon it. Harmony is creative, disharmony
is essentially destructive. If the nation wishes to make sound progress and consolidate its gains in the social, economic, political and scientific spheres, harmony has to be ensured all round, not only as a transitory phase but as a
permanent feature of life.

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15

COMMUNAL HARMONY, TOLERANCE AND


SURVIVAL OF INDIAN DEMOCRACY
India, as we all know, is a mosaic in which different pieces retain their
identity while contributing to a colourful collage. Our tradition teaches tolerance, our philosophy preaches tolerance, and our Constitution practises tolerance. Unity in diversity is our heritage and respect for all faiths and religions
has been our innate strength and a source of survival against all odds and
obduracies. When so much positive and potential exists in our civilisation, as
also in our psyche, why do some of the conscience keepers of the polity remind
us so often that without communal harmony and a general atmosphere of tolerance, democracy cannot survive for long in India? The fears of some who feel
and think for India, are not fake but factual and are based on the happenings
nay tragic traumas that have resulted from communal conflicts and an intolerant
atmosphere of hostility and hatred created by the enemies, both within and outside the country. The concern that Indian democracy may falter and succumb
before the evil designs of caste and communal politics, demands that introspection and corrective action at different levels are the crying need of the hour.
There is no denying the fact that democracy in a country like India, should
aim to accommodate reasonable mores and modes of living of all communities,
ethnic, religious and cultural groups so that no one feels ignored or pushed out
of the mainstream. Democracy and division of power from top to bottom are
like twins that survive in an atmosphere of debate and discussion. If in a fit of
euphoria or inflated egos (personalised politics), the ruling elite tries to inflict
discretion in place of deliberations, confrontation instead of compromise, the
citadel of democracy is likely to tumble down. Under no circumstances, the
rulers and the ruled in India can afford to fan the fires of communal distrust and
intolerance towards any group or community. The philosophy of `political
untouchability is as devious and dangerous as the cult of communal violence
and virulence. The policy of `ostracization or political isolation of any group or
party is fraught with deadly dimensions.

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16

Difference of opinion and diversity in view-points on socio-economiccum political issues are a natural nuance of democracy. Unless political parties
put across their views vociferously, democracy cannot hope to become vibrant
and viable. So long political parties remain committed to the rule of law and
refrain from fuelling flames of communal frenzy for electoral gains, the future
of democracy in India is squarely safe and secure. Even in the face of grave
provocation, if political parties and their rank and file adhere to the path of
tolerance, democracy would not suffer any subversion or sabotage. It is only
when people begin to settle scores in the streets and communal passions have a
better of peoples patience and tolerance, democracy feels the pangs of mindless onslaughts on its fragile personality. After every communal or casteist clash,
the clock of peace and progress moves in the reverse direction. In fact, it is not
only democracy but also economic progress and social stability that are entirely
dependent on the maintenance of communal harmony and practice of tolerance
by one and all.
Democracy is neither a game of only numbers nor is it a trade of tricks. In
the context of Indian situation, democracy is the only form of government that
suits the tone and temper of its people. The policy of `give and take can work
wonders in this context provided both the intent and intentions of the conflicting
parties or groups are clear and candid. There is no place for fanatics and diehards in our multi-racial and multi-religious milieu. Only those who are mentally, emotionally and politically convinced of the relevance and resilience of
democracy to Indian problems and prospects, can ensure the survival of democracy in India. Prejudices and puerile perceptions have no place in our democracy. The temptation to communalise politics or to garner votes in the name of
cast or community, is the negation of principled politics. The earlier we cleanse
the Augean stables of communal politics, the better for the health of Indian
democracy.
Democracy, like a delicate plant, fails to strike deep roots in the heart and
minds of people if an atmosphere of distrust and intolerance makes inroads in
the day-today relations between communities. Digging out the past distortions,
real or imaginary, can play havoc with the sensitivities and sensibilities of people sharing the same heritage and history. Unlike the West, where democracy
faces no such problems of communal tensions and intolerant public perceptions, in India we have to live with these dilemmas all the time. In short, if
ddemocracy is to survive in India, we as Indians, will have to get over our phobias and prejudices against each other. Irrespective of our religion or ethnic
affiliation, we must learn to live, think and behave as members of a joint family
called Indian.

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LINGUISTIC FANATICISM
Emerson wrote decades ago that language is a city to the building of
which every human being brought a stone. But language is much more than a
city or a nation; it is a link that forges unity even across the seas. English is used
by nearly one-fifth of humanity. Language implies a manner of expression, a
medium of conveying ideas, thoughts and concepts from one person to another
or to a large section of society. Language is, thus, the dress of thought.
The great author Webster was, however, on a weak wicket when he said
that language, as well as the faculty of speech, was the immediate gift of God.
The very fact that there are people who do not know any language because they
were not exposed to human sounds shows that language is very much an ability
inculcated and developed by human beings to serve as a means of purposeful
communication.
A living language, to quote Nehru, is a throbbing, vital thing, ever-changing, ever-growing and mirroring the people who speak and write it. A language
is infinitely greater than grammar and philology. It is the poetic testament of the
genius of a race and culture, and the living embodiment of the thoughts and
fancies that have moulded them. The best way to encourage the growth of a
people is through the language they speak, and a language ultimately grows
from the people; it can hardly be imposed by any external agency.
Unfortunately, language, which is supposed to promote unity and cohesion, has often become a highly controversial issue. Many people, working
under a wrong concept or impelled by exaggerated notions, have become linguistic fanatics. They have fought bitter battles in the name of language; they
have killed people in linguistic riots; and they have made many sacrifices in the
name of their languages as if it were a god or goddess who would be appeased
by bloodshed and destruction of private and public property. The principle of
linguism has been exalted to high dogma, which has been the bane of Indian life
in first 50 years of independence.. Linguistic chauvinism seems to be the governing factor.
Thus, language, which was evolved to serve a vital need and provide a
vital link between man and man, has often brought about destruction and wrought

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havoc. In Andhra Pradesh a noble man starved himself to death for the cause of
a linguistic State. Similarly, in Punjab an earnest, well-intentioned person, fasted
unto death for the sake of Punjabi Suba. The Government of India was virtually
compelled to appoint a States Reorganisation Commission to suggest demarcation of boundaries of States and to make proposals for creation of new entities,
if necessary, on the basis of language.
In several regions language has created discord and divisive trends instead of serving as an eminently useful link to establish links and promote
harmony. Language, and sometimes the script issue, thus feeds fissiparous tendencies, even threatening to disrupt society and the State. Exponents of a particular language, apparently, develop an obsession, which indicates bias and
prejudice. In many parts of India, and also in some foreign countries, sustained
campaigns have been conducted for official recognition of a particular language as the State language. Linguistic controversies, for instance, raged for
quite some time in Bangladesh for priority status to Urdu as against Bengali,
and in Pakistan for Urdu as against Punjabi.
In India language controversies were carried on for years in U.P., West
Bengal, Punjab and other areas. Before partition the Congress itself advocated
the formation of linguistic States. The J.V.P. Report may be said to have started
the process, which turned out to be vicious at certain places. Article 343 (1) of
the Constitution of India lays down that Hindi in Devanagari script shall be the
official language of the Union. But there is a provision that English shall continue to be used during the transitional stage. Because of the strong opposition
of the Southern States to Hindi, the use of English is continuing and is likely to
continue for many years. There are Hindi-speaking regions in the North (U.P,
M.P., Haryana and Himachal Pradesh) which, backed by the Centre, want the
cause of Hindi to be propagated and this language made the national language
without further delay. But the Central Government has assured the people that
there will be no imposition of a particular language and no switch-over without
the consent of the Southern States.
Interestingly, English-medium schools are still popular in the country, and
students seeking bright careers opt for English as the medium of instruction for
the post-graduate courses. Consequently, the political leaders initial fervour
for switching over to Hindi has cooled off, for the present. Other controversies
and developments have engaged the prior attention of the politicians and political parties.
Thus, there is less of linguistic fanaticism in the country now than a decade or so ago. This is all to the good. After all, language should be used for
every-day communication, official work and literary pursuits, and it must not
be exploited for ulterior or extraneous ends.

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DEMOCRACY AND PUBLIC OPINION


Democracy, commonly interpreted to mean the rule of the people by the
people, is in effect an institutional arrangement which ensures free participation of the people in the process of controlling ultimate political power. But
rule by all the people is a political myth; nor can we discover the essence of
democracy by merely counting heads. Political parties, an extra-constitutional
growth in almost all democracies, are the vehicles of ideas, and plurality of
ideas involves multiple parties. In fact, parties act as the bridge between social
thoughts and political decisions in a democracy. But there are certain vital
conditions on which democracy and the democratic method of government
depend. These are : co-existence of ideas and also of political parties; universal
adult suffrage (a limited or selective electorate inhibits a democratic order and
hence must not be allowed; and, what is equally important, the right to free
discussion and periodic elections without which the people cannot indicate
their political opinions and preferences).
Public opinion, therefore, is vital to every democracy. MacIver, the famous political scientist, said the incessant activity of popular opinion is the
dynamics of democracy. Governmental decisions in a democracy are the function and outcome of public opinion rather than of force; and just as the means
for the expression of opinion, like constitutionally guaranteed liberties, elections, political parties, etc., are available, the role of public opinion in government comes to be recognised.
But what is public opinion? What concrete form does it take as a determinant of Government policy? And how is it formed, articulated and effectively
expressed? Most definitions of public opinions imply a record of facts, a belief
and a will; opinion postulates valuation; it also asserts a course of action. In the
field of politics, public opinion is intended to produce a concrete governmental
policy. In short, public opinion is the opinion of the community and of the
people. The views of a section of society in a democratic set-up cannot be
described as public opinion; that is the view only of a minority. The theory of
public opinion, derived from democracy as a form of government, and the
broad assumptions of this theory, are that the public is interested in government

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(the interest increases and takes adequate shape with the spread of education
and enlightenment), that the public knows what it wants, that it has the ability to
express its wishes (this, again, is ensured by education) and, lastly, that the
publics will would be enacted into law. There are obstacles in the implementation of these processes, and what is more, conditions differ from region to
region. But, broadly, these principles are applicable to all democratic societies,
irrespective of size, quality or standard of living.
It has also to be noted that democracy in most cases is government by the
majority, and, therefore, it can be said that public opinion is the opinion of the
majority in such a set-up. Bryce, the famous author of works on democracy,
said: The term public opinion is commonly used to denote the aggregates of
the views men (and women) hold regarding matters that affect or interest the
community. Rarely is there unanimity on every issue, or even on most issues, in
a democracy, whether direct or indirect; hence it is correct to say that public
opinion is seldom unanimous; actually, democracy implies dissent which, in
turn, means that opinions will continue to differ. But there must be tolerance of
dissent and all differences of opinion, otherwise democracy becomes meaningless. So we can say that opinion can be described as public when it is accepted
by a majority, if not by most of the citizens. Then the majority view must be
accepted by everyone; this makes democracy practicable.
In the modern world, however, certain changes have been noticed in the
concepts of majority opinion and public opinion. Since in most cases it is indirect democracy that prevails, and since the people elect their representatives to
act and frame laws on their behalf, to all intents and purposes the final decisions
are taken not by the people or the public as a whole, not even by the duly
elected representatives of the people in a legislature, however large, but by the
Ministry, a small team led by the Prime Minister, the First Among Equals. In
fact, on many occasions it is the Prime Minister who acts according to his/her
own judgement without consulting the legislature, or even all his or her Ministers. Thus, modern democracy has come to mean government by a small number
of persons, the Ministers or the Cabinet. Of course, the leaders who take the
final decisions in a democracy must continue to command the confidence of the
majority; otherwise they would be thrown out, or rather voted out of power,
because the use of force for a switchover of the rulers from one to another is
ruled out in a democratic order. So the position can be summed up thus : Democracy is based on public opinion; an enlightened, educated electorate is
necessary for proper and faithful implementation of public opinion, and that it
is, in effect, the opinion of the majority commanding the confidence of the
community.

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DEMOCRACY AND ILLITERACY CANNOT


CO-EXIST
Democracy, which postulates enlightenment, is, by and large, a blessing,
and illiteracy, which implies ignorance, is a menace. How can the two co-exist?
Democracy assumes that there is a high degree of political consciousness, a fair
degree of education and intelligence, a continuous interest in public affairs and
a full, abiding realisation of the duties and responsibilities of true citizenship.
No less important, there is tolerance of dissent and a willingness to accept the
verdict of the majority. For all these qualities literacy is indispensable; where
there is illiteracy the basic conditions for the success of a democratic set-up do
not exist.
Again, democracy is government by discussion, response and consent.
Where there is no discussion, no free exchange of views and no freedom of
expression which enables uninhibited exchange of views, there cannot be real
democracy. These factors also presume the existence of literacy; how can there
be discussion, debate and a free exchange of views on public affairs when the
people are not literate and do not possess the basic qualifications, as well as a
fair standard of intelligence which come with literacy and education?
There cannot be any democracy where there is no education, though there
can be education even a high degree of it even where there is no democracy, as
in countries where there is dictatorship, arbitrary and authoritarian rule under
which there is blatant denial of the peoples fundamental rights.
Dissent there always will be, wherever there is a sizable society comprising people of different shades of opinion, having different approaches to life
and sharp inequalities social, economic or political. Democracy assumes that
the people are fully aware of the value of dissent and differences of opinion,
and they also know that all forms of non-violent dissent should be tolerated in
a democratic order. If I claim the right to hold and express any opinion, I must
in all fairness recognise and respect the corresponding right of others to hold
any views they prefer. Such tolerance of others opinions is essential in a de-

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mocracy, while dogmatism, suppression of dissent and intolerance cannot be


allowed in a democracy. If these are allowed, then democracy comes to an end
and arbitrary rule (the very antithesis of democracy) replaces it, even when
outward forms and pretences are kept up. Voltaire, in his famous letter to
Rousseau, is reported to have said : I do not agree with a word that you say, but
I will defend to the death your right to say it. That is the true democratic spirit.
Of course, there are inequalities of all sorts in every country. Whichever
country, socialist or capitalist, claims that everyone there is equalphysically,
economically, socially and politicallyis merely putting forth a false and totally untenable claim. The lack of education, that is, illiteracy, creates more
inequalities than any other factor. In this sense also, lack of education and
democracy cannot go together. Either the people must become literate and knowledgeable, and possess a sense of discrimination between right and wrong and
the fake and the genuine, or they will stand to lose every pretension to democracy.
Democracy can flourish only in a society where there is equality in law
and where discriminations on various grounds such as sex, religion, caste and
economic status are illegal. Fundamental rights are exercisable where there is a
full sense of responsibility, because absolute freedom of action or expression is
absolute nonsense. So there must be reciprocity, for which also there should be
an educational background, that is, a fairly high standard of literacy.
The Indian masses, it may well be argued, are, by and large, illiterate, the
percentage of literacy being only 36 per cent. Thus, the vast majority of the
people in India are not illiterate, and even out of those who are somewhat
literate the standard of intelligence and of the awareness of what democracy is,
and what it stands for, is very limited. And yet, India is the worlds largest
democracy and a fairly successful one too, as has been shown by the series of
general elections held in the country since the attainment of Independence.
How do we reconcile these apparently contradictory phenomena democracy
and mass illiteracy if we assert that they cannot co-exist?
The explanation lies in the fact that democracy itself is education; the
process is a teacher and an instructor in the art and responsibilities of citizenship. The masses of India have by now acquired experience of the democratic
system, especially of elections during which they exercise their right of vote.
They cannot be described as politically immature; they have given ample proof
of their sense of discrimination by voting wisely, by rejecting falsehood and
inefficiency and also by punishing through a rebuff at the hustings of those who
are known to be corrupt
In 1977 the Indian masses, notably those in the North who had suffered
heavily in various ways through arbitrary rule and gross misuse of power (in the

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family planning excesses, for instance) by Mrs Gandhis henchmen, rejected


her and her party and gave a chance to the Janata alliance, for a change. But
when the Janata leaders proved to be inefficient and incapable of working together for the nations welfare, the same illiterate voters rejected them, bringing
Mrs Gandhi back on the scene and entrusting her with even greater power and
responsibility. The conduct of the Indian electorate won the admiration of all
democratic and other people in the world.
So we can say that even if 100 per cent literacy is not ensured, democracy
can function. It is true, however, that in such cases democracy suffers from
several deficiencies and faults, as in India. In the U.S.A., Britain, Germany and
Japan, where literacy is almost universal, democracy is more successful; about
this there cannot be any doubt.

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ARE WE SECULAR?
India is a Socialist, Secular Democratic Republic pledged to secure to all
its citizens justice, liberty and equality, and to promote among them all fraternity, assuring the dignity of the individual and the unity of the nation. This is
stated in the Preamble of the Constitution itself. Actually, while the word secularism is rather vague, and was introduced by the 42nd Amendment in 1976,
Articles 25 to 30 of the Constitution relating to the freedom of religion and
freedom to manage religious affairs are more specific. They contain the clear
directive that no religious instruction shall be provided in any educational
institution wholly maintained out of State funds.
There is also the further provision in Article 28(3) that no person attending any educational institution recognised by the State or receiving aid out of
State funds shall be required to take part in any religious instruction that may be
imparted in such institution, or to attend any religious worship that may be
conducted in such institution or in any premises attached thereto, unless such
person or, if such person is a minor, his guardian, has given his consent thereto.
Thus, complete religious freedom, with the absence of any compulsion
whatsoever in religious matters, is legally guaranteed by the supreme law of the
land. India is, therefore, rightly described as a secular country in which the
State has no religion, nor does it seek to promote or discourage any religion or
religious belief. It is obvious that the Government and people of India are secular, that is, there is no official religion. That is the legal position. The State
stands committed to a policy of non-interference in religious matters. Religion
is a matter of personal beliefs and con victions.
In January, 1948, Jawaharlal Nehru spoke of secularism thus : We shall
proceed on secular and national lines in keeping with the powerful trends towards internationalism ... India will be a land, as in the past, of many faiths
equally honoured and respected, but of one national outlook, not, I hope, a
narrow nationalism living in its own shell but rather the tolerant, creative nationalism which, believing in itself and the genius of the people, takes full part
in the establishment of an international order.
The goal of One World is still far, far away, but since independence the

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Government of this country has undeniably kept itself aloof from religious
controversies, not taking any side and taking all possible measures to ensure to
every citizen full religious freedom in accordance with enlightened opinion all
the world over, except in the Islamic countries where the tenets of Islam are
enforced by law and the whole polity is declared as Islamic, not secular in any
sense. In fact, Islam, like most other religions, regards secularism as a dangerous challenge.
But how far are we, the people, secular in thought, word and deed? When
we look around us and examine the working of various non-government institutions, the various political parties, especially national parties, which are supposed to be have thrown their membership open to all communities, we find
that the spirit of secularism is being flouted day after day. We are not completely secular in our approach and attitudes. There are cases where admissions
to educational institutions are decided on a basis that is anything but secular. If
we review closely the working of our political parties, we shall find that candidates for elections are often chosen on communal considerationsHindu candidates for constituencies having a predominantly Hindu electorate, Muslim
candidates for areas where the majority of the voters are Muslims, and so on.
There are exceptions here and there but, by and large, the observation made
above is well founded. The voting in elections is often on communal lines;
Hindus voting for Hindu candidates, Muslims for Muslim candidates and Sikhs
for Sikh contestants. Political parties are not formed on a religious basis, but
how is it that there are some distinctly communal parties in this secular country?
Again, how is it that in the selection of Ministers of various ranks, adequate representation is generally assured to members of various communities
and even castes? There are vote banks in the rural areas where the caste
factor plays a dominant role in determining the decisions of the village
Sarpanches and leaders of the various clans, (and even sub-castes) in directing
their followers to exercise their franchise for a particular candidate. Jats and
non-Jats, Brahmins and non-Brahmins, Scheduled Castes and non-Scheduled
Castesthese considerations, undeniably sectarian and narrow, determine their
actions.
In an ideal, well-established, modern polity religion should have no
connection whatever with politics. But is that really so in India today? Why do
communal riots take place with such disconcerting frequency wherever members of both communities live in parts of the same city or town? Why are there
so much destruction, ruthless killings and callous indifference to the plight of
people of another community? Outbursts of communal frenzy are totally incompatible with true secularism, and every well- educated community should

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have no narrow considerations of religion and caste in worldly matters. And


yet, there are tensions, strains, fears of the impact of liberalisation on a particular religion, the inward hostility and suspicion towards other religions, and the
lack of tolerance. All these point to a state of affairs where genuine secularism
has taken a back seat.

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PORTRAIT OF THE INDIAN POLITICIAN


Politics is much too complex a phenomenon for anyone to think of it or
describe it in straight lines, and since the vast and ever- growing tribe of politicians practise this art, they too seldom act or plan straight. They are not what
they seem, and they seem what they are not. Jawaharlal Nehru was himself a
politician, apart of course from being a great statesman, thinker, philosopher
and a man of letters. But he was frank enough to concede that politicians usually hide their real reasons and talk pompously of religion, justice, the truth and
the like. And still the great majority of the people are taken in by the soft,
deceptive talk of politicians. No wonder, this tribe generally proves a roaring
success in todays gullible India, where the vast majority of the masses are
illiterate and highly credulous.
The typical Indian politician is a man without principles and without scruples of any kind; he is an opportunist par excellence. He changes his colours
like the chameleon. Loyalty, sincerity and honesty are as far removed from him
as the earth is from the sky. It is true that a politician has to deal with human
beings and not with stones and steel; even so, there is no end to the trickery, the
sham and the hypocrisy which the Indian politician symbolises.
Cartoonists generally present pot-bellied, Khaddar-clad people as politicians. Khaddar has, of course, nothing to do with real Indian politics. Mahatma
Gandhi insisted on khaddar and the typical cap as symbols of purity and sacrifice; but the age of sacrifice and of principles has apparently gone. Nor is every
politician in the country a habitual wearer of khadi.
The Indian politician is supposed to serve the masses and be their servant. Earnest and devoted service of the masses is, however, rare in this country;
instead of selfless service, there is exploitation through deceptive and heartmoving oratory; and instead of promoting social welfare there is promotion of
ones own interests and those of ones nephews and nieces, and feathering of
ones own nest. Lincoln defined politicians as a set of men who have interests
aside from the interests of the people and who are generally many steps re-

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moved from honest and scrupulous men. Cynics, in fact, assert that politicians
and scruples are poles apart. A scrupulous person may never become a successful politician, and a politician will never have anyhe cannot afford to have
scruples, otherwise he will not, generally, be able to practise the subtle art that
is politics.
Defection and desertion of party or group whenever he gets a higher
price elsewhere, are the Indian politicians favourite pastime. Hypocrisy is closely
associated with politics, and in this sense Plato, the inventor of the Royal Lie,
is often described as the first hypocrite. O, men of Athens, he said centuries
ago, If I were engaged in politics I would have perished long ago and done no
good either to you or to myself. Just as Plato did a lot of good to himself, so
the modern politician in India believes in doing everything for himself; it is his
interest that is uppermost in his mind; why bother about the roofless, the
shelterless, the foodless and the waterless? It is enough to fight in their name, to
seek power in their name and to occupy seats of prestige in their name.
And yet, politics and politicians are indispensable, just as political parties are, whether the type of polity is Capitalist, Socialist or Communist. They
are the functionaries, the messengers, the wielders and the self-appointed protectors of the weak and the helpless. We just cannot keep them out of society
because almost everything in India today is mixed up, in one way or the other,
with politics. There is politics in religion, in education, in culture, in the arts
and the cinema, in the home and in offices. Where there is politics, there are
inevitably clever practitioners of the complex art. Thomas Jefferson, the great
American statesman-politician, advised everyone to shun politics. Politics is
such a torment, he said, that I would advise everyone I love not to mix with it.
But even he must have known that, like pure air and unadulterated truth, politics-free life has become a virtual impossibility.
It would not, however, be fair to paint every Indian politician with the
same black brush and condemn him (or her, because there are some women
members of the tribe too) squarely. There are black sheep, cheats and dishonest
people in every profession, it is said. That may well be, but certainly there are
more dishonest men and hypocrites among politicians than among any other
class of people. The exceptions are so few (even though they may be outstanding), that they make little difference to the generality. Moreover, truthful, honest and principled politicians cannot last in a society such as Indias where
straight-forwardness and fair play are at a discount. Just as a lawyer and a
diplomat has necessarily to tell lies as a part of his profession, whatever his
motives, similarly a politician in India, which is no longer the land of saints,
sages and spirituality, politicians are men who do not command credibility.
They are quick to make tall promises and give high-sounding assurances at

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election time, but once they are elected to a legislature for five years or so, they
concentrate on safeguarding their own interests and ensuring their own future.
In advanced countries, such as the U.S.A. and Britain, politicians do not
specialise in dishonesty, falsehood and make-believe. They play fair and accept
defeat in the sporting spirit. The people, it is said, get the Government they
deserve; perhaps it is correct to say that a country also gets the politicians it
deserves. For, after all, politicians are a part of ourselves, our own kith and kin.
The profession of politics and the politicians can undeniably be reformed, and
perhaps the day is not far off when, with the spread of all round education and
enlightenment, honest and principled politicians would emerge and gradually
eliminate the black sheep from society.

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VIOLENCE AND POLITICS IN INDIA


Politics has come to acquire a bad odour and generally implies unfair,
underhand dealings, exploitation of the poor and the ignorant, though it need
not necessarily be so. Since it generally involves the attainment of certain objectives, such as the seizure of power by all available methods, violence often
becomes a part of it. Of course, violence need not be a vital or essential part of
politics even in the most ill-governed country, but there is no doubt that unscrupulous politicians seldom hesitate to resort to violent methods to achieve their
aims. Whenever the practitioners of the art of politics find that normal and
socially acceptable methods and practices have not brought them the desired
achievements, they stoop to unethical methods, including incitement of sensitive people to violence.
It is a tragic reflection on civilisation that with the much-publicised
progress in various spheres of human activity the resort to violence has also
increased. In fact, one of the dominating factors in the post-war years is the
growth of the spirit of violence. Even in India, where the apostle of peace and
non-violence, Mahatma Gandhi, preached that violence is both degrading and
derogatory to human beings, the menace has been increasing. Proof of this
dismal phenomenon is found in the sharp increase in violent crimes in the country, including murders, stabbings and other manifestations of cruelty. The concept of might is right is being practised with a callousness. That is highly
disgraceful and a sorry reflection on civilisation.
It is poor consolation that violence has been on the increase not only in
India but also all the world over, even in the most civilised countries, such as
the U.S.A. and Britain. Naked, unabashed violence has even been glorified in
certain continents; the number and intensity of armed clashes between various
classes of people is yet another proof; and so is the increasing number of communal riots, many of which have their roots in politics. In fact, there would be
no communal disturbances in the country if the spirit of non-violence were
universally accepted as a guiding factor of human life.

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It is indeed a sorry reflection on the state of our civilisation that more


politics has come to imply more violence; what is worse, violence begets violence. When one party adopts violent means to achieve its objectives, the other
follows suit in the firm, though unwarranted, belief that the only answer to
violence is greater violence, not peaceful overtures or non-violent satyagraha
which Mahatma so earnestly advocated.
Yet another tragedy of modern civilisation is that politicians refute by
their actions the sound principle that a State based on force and violence is built
on foundations of sand. There can be no social, economic or political stability
where the entire polity is based on force and violence, not on the peoples freely
expressed and frequently affirmed (through periodic elections) support and
consent. Ousters of one group by another are sometimes accompanied by force
and violence, together with reprisals in various forms. Violence in politics also
takes the form of coercion, which is another form of compulsion, and compulsion involves or implies the use of force or threat of force.
It is not surprising in such circumstances that politics of peace is becoming uncommon, and politics of war is replacing it gradually but surely. Some of
those who are very much in politics, and seldom hesitate to adopt violence as a
means to an end, quote Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru. Even though
moral force is more effective at times, the Mahatma conceded that in certain
circumstances, the refusal to fight violence adequately might smack of cowardice. Why does India maintain a large police force and ever-expanding military
forces? The State has to use force to quell riots of various types and has to be
in a constant state of preparedness to meet aggression by hostile countries.
Violence then becomes inescapable. Ironically, both peace and politics have
become difficult to ensure without adequate preparations for fighting violence.
This genuine peace in politics has become uncommon and the spirit of violence
is abroadlike an infection that has seeped into all areas of human activity.

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PEOPLE THE ONLY CENSORS OF


GOVERNMENTS
There are governments of men who are sincere, honest and true, just as
there are governments run by self-seekers, demagogues, power-obsessed tyrants. There are monarchies, oligarchies, dictatorships and democracies. Who
serves as a check on all types of government, good, bad or indifferent? Who
acts as the final arbiter and the ultimate determinant of their worth and performance? The plain answer is the people. The will of the people is the only legitimate foundation of any government. The legal sovereign, that is, the authority
constituted or set up by law, may have a will of its own and may enforce it for
some time, but it is the political sovereign (who lies behind, and limits, the
legal authority) that ultimately prevails.
During the 16th and 17th centuries the doctrine of popular sovereignty
emerged as an expression of resentment of the people against the despotic authority of kings and their reliance on the theory of Divine Rights. The concept
of popular sovereignty attributes ultimate sovereignty to the people. Rousseau
was its great exponent, and it became a slogan of the French Revolution. The
American Declaration of Independence and the U.S. constitution incorporated
this principle in the preamble by affirming that Government derives its authority from the consent of the governed. Popular sovereignty has since then become the basis and watchword of democracy.
The General Will and popular sovereignty are admittedly vague, indeterminate and diffusive concepts, but these do convey the basic idea of who is
ultimately supreme. Since the electorate sits in judgement over the performance of the Government at the time of elections, it is called the final censor and
the real sovereign.
A President, a Prime Minister or a dictator may establish any number of
organisations, small or big, to create the impression that his policies and actions
are approved by representatives of various sections of society. But this is just
for appearances. How can handpicked men and loyalists speak up for the people as a whole? When the time comes for the final censor the people to have

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their say, nothing else counts. What is more, their assessment and censorsip is
sound and effective. Of course it is the final word.
Significantly, the peoples judgement is mature and fully warranted even
when they are largely illiterate. The people know how to punish and teach a
lesson to leaders who abuse their authority and power and who tend to become
arrogant and arbitrary in their conduct. When Mrs Indira Gandhi and her colleagues abused their power and betrayed the trust reposed in them, the people
threw them out in the March, 1977, general elections and gave an opportunity
to the Janata Party, even though it was a conglomeration of irreconcilable constituents. When the Janata leaders fell out among themselves and proved inept,
inefficient and unfit to govern the country well, the people firmly rejected them
thus asserting themselves once again, and in an unmistakable manner.
The Indian electorates rebuff to Mrs Gandhi affirmed the dictum that
censure is often useful, and praise may at times prove deceitful and misleading.
There is also a grain of truth in Swifts comment that censure is the tax a man
pays to the public for being eminent. It is the eminent people whose actions,
which have a direct impact on the people, are subjected to final censorship by
the ultimate arbiter. A government whose actions are repeatedly censured by
the people does not last long, because every government is ultimately answerable to the people. A censured, rejected government loses all credibility.
The universal acceptance of this principle prompted a great philosopher
to assert that the voice of the people is the voice of God. Another one put the
same idea in different words the will of the people is the best law. Then we
have the view of the American statesman Jefferson (1787) that the people are
the only sure reliance for the preservation of our liberty. The people indeed
are the only effective censor and sovereign of any country, and no one can fool
them for all time.
Public opinion is a great force far more powerful than any other. In fact,
public opinion has been described as much stronger than the mightiest Power
on earth. As time passes and as education and general enlightenment spread,
public opinion becomes more and more influential and decisive. The Press
reflects it, faithfully in most cases. In the West the ouster of the Shah of Iran a
decade ago is quoted as a notable example of public opinion acting as the final
arbiter of the destiny of a powerful, arrogant Shah who thought no one could
harm him and that he was destined to rule his country for ever.
If public opinion is well organised and clearly articulated, it acts invariably as a mighty censor. There is, however, the danger of public opinion being
misguided in the heat of the moment. Calm and cool judgement is sometimes
not given by the public when, for instance, they are swayed by momentary
passions, anger and deep resentment over a specific act. So the public voice too

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has its limitations and all public verdicts need not necessarily be perfect or
unexceptionable. But such exceptions apart, the general proposition that the
people alone are the final censors is well-founded and universally accepted.

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THE ROLE OF THE MEDIA TODAY


The magic of the printed word and the mesmerism of the visual media,
though appearing or seeming to vie with each other to occupy the paramount
position, are the two facets equally relevant and revealing in the fast changing
world of today. Without cutting into each others area of operation, the media
best serves the interests of those who see them, not as crass competitors but as
comradesin-arms seriously committed to expose and explore those areas of human strengths and stupidities that comprise the entire gamut of life.
Like the mighty human mind, medias reach is vast and its role vigorous.
In the context of present-day realities, both pleasant and painful, the question
that troubles most right thinking persons is: Does the media today fulfil the role
of Sanjaya, describing the state of affairs to a population as blind and helpless
as Dhirtrashatra? Is the media the ring in the nose of the bull, being used to lead
the masses in the direction people in power want them to be led? Working under
constraints, the media does play the role of separating the wheat from the chaff
and the resultant exposure does cause a few ripples in the murky waters of polity, whether the scoop relates to corruption, violation of human rights, exploitation of the weaker and dispossessed segments of society. Judicial activism may
be attributed to some extent to investigative journalism or visual capturing of
sordid scenes that the media publishes or transmits, as the case may be. Many
skeletons in the cupboards see the light of the day simply because some persons
challenge the power-that-be and come out with startling secrets that have b een
allowed to remain hidden or concealed under the wraps.
The role to inform, educate and stir the conscience of the masses is unique
and unequal. Journalists and others associated with the media may find their
role cut out for them in the fields of news, views and reviews, but their functions
or contributions in the large socio-economic and socio-cultural context have
changed manifold. In free societies, the media is supposed to meticulously meet
the challenges thrown up every moment, with courage and conviction. Of course,
there is no denying the fact that on many occasions the danger of their freedom
being curbed or conditioned by subterfuge or subtle dangling of carrot and stick

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policy, keeps hanging over their heads.


Media, even when it has now become an industry like any other, should
never lose its missionary character. It is always up against many odds, at home
and abroad, and, like a consistent crusader and campaigner, it has to fight many
a battle on many fronts such as political and economic hegemony of some nation-States, environmental degradation, drug-trafficking and terrorism, preservation and protection of democracy and human rights.
Undoubtedly, the media needs celebrities and vice versa. Though the law
allows the media to burrow, pry, expose public personalities, its role to indulge
in scandals for fun or money, or both, is highly questionable and even immoral.
Such an attempt on the part of `paparazzi in recent times has already brought a
bad name to the media. Money-making in an age of consumerism is not the end
for which the media has acquired so much power and prestige. Its role is not
confined to yellow journalism and sensational scoops only.
The media does not function directly as an instrument of social change
its primary role is to observe and describe national and international issues objectively, accommodating diverse views without being dictatorial. Like any other
mirror, the state of the media reflects the condition of the times. The media
cannot construct societythose who believe this labour under an illusion. If the
media follows a progressive path, being critical of traditions and history, it must
have a clear mental picture of where its slant will take it and how this will
influence the people.
If dress makes a man, extraordinary events make the media. Where even
angels fear to tread, some media men rush in to covereventy like bloody scenes
and armed confrontations, even at the risk of their lives. It brings into focus
those sore points of a society that have remained utterly neglected as a result of
some default or design. Because of its global network, the media brings to the
people the immediacy of what is happening within and outside the national frontiers. If the visual media shows the events and whets the curiosity of viewers, the
pring media informs and satiates peoples oppetite for more information and
knowledge. All successful persons have to curry favour with the media, because
it is the only channel, if properly cultivated, that can go a long in ensuring their
longevity on the political, cultural, sports and other horizons. None should dare
antagonise it. It is the all-powerful and all-pervasive deity that demands attention and adulation for its unique role in the lives of one and all. Its influence is
like that of an icon, and those sitting pretty safe in their ivory towers of glory
and grandeur can ill-afford tooffend it.

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ADVERTISING
Advertising, though a close companion of market economy, is an unpleasant feature of modern life. Watching from the sidelines, the glut of consumer
goods and the crass craze for something quick and queer, the conscientious
critic sees the menace and mesmerism that advertising has brought about in the
lives of all. To be taken in, or taken for a ride, the confused consumer is always
at his wits end on how to sift the chaff from the grain. Besides the bewilderment
that advertising causes in many a case, sometimes strange but sensational commercials on TV can cost heavily to ones pocket or even to ones life. Recently
an innocent student tried to imitate the acrobat of the youngman in a commercial ad and lost his precious life, for nothing.
Advertising and consumerism have reached a stage in America where
critics are demanding adequate checks and balances, because it has begun to
influence even human relations on an everyday basis. In some cases, advertising
has started to erode individual provacy. In the name of educating and enlightening the consumer about his rights to choose the right product, the magazines,
television and movies keep dinning into the ears that material things and sensual
pleasures are what life is about. The happiness lies in automatic appliances and
automobiles churned out in various forms and colours. When this instant gratification does not get translated into reality, the world seems to fall apart. Gradually, the voices of sanity and restraint are being raised to rein in the wild animal
within all and sundry, before it becomes too strong to stop in the face of temptations let loose by the awful agent called advertising.
There is no denying the fact that advertising has invaded every aspect of
human existence and this is being reached and achieved through sponsoring of
events, especially sports, on a global basis. In everyday life, we find advertising
aims at selling goods and services, exploring new avenues and markets and,
finally, reaching out to those people and places that have remained untouched
by its ever-expanding shadows and shades. Propagandaa cheap or inferior
form of affecting peoples minds and influencing their thinking and psyche
too plays a vital role on certain occasions and situations where static senses and

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sensibilities have to be stirred and stimulated to new ideas and ideologies. In the
words of Jacques Ellul: Propaganda by its very nature is an enterprise for
perverting the significance of events and insinuating false intentions....The propagandist will not accuse the enemy of just any misdeed; he will accuse him of the
very intention he himself has and of trying to commit the very crime he himself
is about to commit.
It is now recognised that solving complex social issues is a managerial
task. Communication and advertising find a crucial place in this new approach.
The Green Revolution could not have come about in India without the help of
radio and TV advertising, says an expert. Advertising sells not only goods, it
sells ideas as well. Ideas like national integration and communal harmony have
been spread through advertising. Advertising flourishes in an environment which
is freean atmosphere which encourages a different point of view, an environment where people can disagree without being disagreeable.
In addition to commercial advertising and ideological propaganda there
is social advertising, which refers to the advertisements which deal with social
causes and are aimed at the welfare and well-being of the people. Its target
audience is not specific class but the masses who can be educated about socially
relevant issues like health, family welfare, literacy, national security, to mention
a few issues only. The importance of such advertisements has reached such
heights that even the government falls back upon them quite often to highlight
the issues to immediate concern. Undoubtedly, in todays context, carrying out
compaigns through social communication is of paramount importance. The society, the economy, the politics and the media exposure are bringing about changes
which are so radical and dynamic that they are creating dissonance and upheavals. In order to withstand the negative effects of changes, we certainly need
these kinds of campaigns through advertising or propaganda, for sustaining communication with the masses at large. In short, advertising not only influences the
buyers perception but also his responses to social problems. It has its negative
effects but the positive side far out-strips the negative side.

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WE TALK MORE, WORK LESS


Undeniably, there are millions of people in India who think little, act
even less but talk too much. Indulgence in idle gossip, disgruntled attitudes,
bitter criticism of all and sundry, frustration over their sorry plight, fate and
kismat, have in fact become national pastimes. The number of those who can
claim that they keep their tongue within their lips and never talk in vain is
limited. The talk of the common people, mostly irresponsible, creates the impression that they have little to do. Indians are indeed typical of the people of
the Orient who have nothing worthwhile to say, and yet contrive to spend the
longest time in saying it.
Those who have endless time on their hands are great babblers. Thinking
and reflection postulate a certain degree of education and intellectual development. About 64 per cent of the people in India are illiterate; so they have not
developed the qualities of thinking and reflection. Montesquieu truly said that
the less men think, the more they talk. India is a land of myriad tongues. The
1961 census listed 1652 languages as mother tongues spoken in India, and the
1971 census, retaining the number, presented a somewhat more realistic picture. Judged by any standard, India is a babel of tongues, perhaps the largest in
the world. This babel has been the outcome of a cumulative process resulting
from the influx of various races into the country through the centuries.
Talkers are never good doers; this explains the proverbial sloth, idleness
and complacency of the average Indian. Our material output, our productivity
and production, our net contribution to the countrys Gross National Product
(GNP) are all far too low. While people should learn to use their hands and to
be active all the time (like the Japanese who have raised their country to the
pinnacle of glory despite the havoc done to their economy during World War
II), we have mastered the technique of whiling away time talking and talking,
doing little positive, constructive and concrete work.
Jawaharlal Nehru, in a speech way back in 1952, said he was tired of
people who merely talk about various things. However wise you may be (in
India the number of truly wise, sagacious men and women is limited), he said,
you can never enter into the spirit of a thing if you only talk about it and do

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nothing. We do not know the value of time; so we do not mind spending precious hours in idle gossip. In part the disinclination to be up and doing all the
time is the result of our fatalistic beliefs and attitudes. Most of us tend to believe that what God has ordained cannot be averted. What will be, will be; so,
they argue, why needlessly waste energy in thwarting Gods will?
Besides, there are many among us who believe that flattery is the shortest
route to success in todays India. The great talkers, the wily, garrulous politicians who sway audiences through their loud talk, all manage to mislead the
people and promote their selfish ends. A flatterer is in the excellent company of
imitators because imitation is considered the sincerest form of flattery. The
easiest weapon adopted by flatterers and sycophants is smooth talk, not work.
A ready and glib tongue has at times proved to be a more precious weapon than
gifts of cash and kind. Through a facile tongue the flatterers continually create
illusions and a world of make-believe. Almost all great talkers are great flatterers; praise inevitably becomes their forte.
Then there are those whose talk mostly comprises advice to all and sundry on everything on earth. Like air and water, advice too can be had free. Selfappointed advisers are great talkers; they talk their way into your hearts and
they even drive away rationality, good sense and the quality of discriminating
between chalk and cheese. Adking for advice is to tout for flatterers. And flattery feeds the ego and is exhilarating. Most talkers become bores. But let it be
said in defence of the growing tribe of talkers that they do manage at times to
relieve boredom. A quiet gathering at which all those present are serious-minded
people deeply engrossed in thought and philosophy would appear to maintain
the silence of the graveyard. The talkers relate funny incidents, describe lively
experiences and entertain their credulous listeners, quieten and comfort the
people, for hours together. There is no tax on talk and gossip. So the idle, endless talker flourishes at the cost of the silent, constructive worker. It is the latter
who can help ensure national progress, not the ceaseless twisters of the tongue,
even though the latter manage to find credulous audiences. True, sincere and
genuine workers cannot stand non-sensical postures, including nonsense talk.
But work does not lie in marching up and down the streets, shouting slogans
and lodging protests. Many of us tend to resort to strikes and work stoppages.
Undeniably, our future amongst nations, and the good name of our country,
depends entirely upon our work and work alone. Much valuable work can be
done silently and without becoming noisy or indulging in aimless talk. If everyone realises the truth of this dictum, the salvation of the country would not be
far off.

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LIBERTY WITHOUT DISCIPLINE


Liberty denotes absence of restraint; in fact the word liberty is derived
from the Latin word liber which means free. It implies freedom to do what
one likes, regardless of the conditions, the environments and the postures of
leaders who rule the land with or without the peoples consent. In many regions,
especially those under authoritarian rule, individual liberty in the real sense is
still an ideal to be achieved. It is only in genuine democracies that there can be
true liberty for the individual. Liberty or freedom means doing or acting without any restrictions; where there is restraint or restriction, liberty is limited to
that extent.
But liberty does not, and in effect cannot, mean licence to do or act as one
pleases, regardless of the consequences for others. Liberty is a highly cherished
and much valued privilege; it implies that we can go where we like, do what we
like, and work as and where we like. But absolute liberty, like absolute rights, is
absolute nonsense, because everyone lives in society and living in society means
we have all to observe certain rules and regulations. That is where discipline
comes in. Discipline involves a restraint on liberty but it is a necessary and vital
restraint in the interest of society. Ever since the origin of man and society,
discipline of some kind has been found necessary for both individual and social
welfare. Discipline and restraint were deemed essential in prehistoric times
also, and as society has become more and more complex, the urgency and
importance of discipline has been felt all the more.
Actually, discipline is not only desirable but indispensable. Wherever
discipline and regulation of human conduct are absent, moral and material deterioration has set in. And where such deterioration starts the nation falls a
victim to aggression by better organised and more disciplined people from
outside. So the absence of discipline and restraint often means decay; to prevent such decay, discipline has to be imposed in the common interest and for
the common good. Such discipline may be internal, that is, accepted without
demur or protest by the people themselves, or it may be external, in which case
it sometimes means the rule of the jack-booted commissars, as in Communist
countries. Discipline has, therefore, to be distinguished from dictatorship under

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which individual liberty is rapidly taken away, supposedly in the interest of the
State but in reality to promote the interests of the dictator. History has shown
that dictators are firmly opposed to the grant of basic rights and liberties to the
people. They want blind, unflinching obedience instead; the people are blandly
told that theirs is not to reason why but to do and die as and when they are told
all in the interest of their Fatherland or Motherland. That was Hitlers technique in Nazi Germany and Benito Mussolinis technique in Italy.
The truth, repeatedly affirmed by human experience over the ages, is that
it is discipline that enables all the people to enjoy their liberty while living in
the community. Thus liberty and discipline are not contradictory or mutually
exclusive terms; they are very much complementary and both are indispensable. One, in fact, feeds and reinforces the other. When we say that discipline is
essential we mean discipline in all walks of life, social, economic, political and
industrial.
In social life the enjoyment of liberties and fundamental rights becomes
possible only through due regard for the corresponding rights and liberties of
others. Whoever disregards the corresponding rights of others becomes a law
breaker and an offender, making himself liable to action under the law Do as
you want to be done by is a golden rule.
Discipline means full realisation of the sense of responsibility, and where
there is irresponsibility there is confusion, chaos and worse. It has been well
said that we can have discipline without liberty but we cannot have liberty
without discipline. When there is discipline, liberty is not endangered, but when
there is liberty or rather excessive emphasis on liberty alone, it will soon be
lost. This leads us to the conclusion that a proper and reasonable balance has to
be struck between liberty and discipline or restraint. The restraints must of
course be designed for the social good, and it is obvious that excessive restraints will inevitably lead to the erosion of human liberties.
It is this sound reasoning that prompted law-makers to assert that law is
the essential condition of liberty. For instance, if I claim the liberty to rob, kill
or injure another, or defy the traffic rules and drive my car or scooter on the
wrong side of the road, I endanger myself as well as others, besides making
myself quil of defying the law and discipline. If everyone thus defies the laws
and rules, designed to ensure discipline and smooth living, what will become
of society?
Those who describe laws as restraints on liberty and hostile to individual
freedom apparently fail to understand the true concept of liberty and discipline.
It is the State acting through laws that ensures justice and equality of opportunity to all, especially the weaker sections of society. So it is true to say that
discipline ensures justice and fair play. Is it not a fact that the law which pun-

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ishes the murderer, the thief, the robber and the violator of rules and regulations is thereby promoting the rights and liberties of others? The truly free man
is he who, while living in society, invariably observes discipline and accepts the
limitations on his actions imposed for the common good. Thus discipline is as
necessary as liberty itself. Each reinforces the other.

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OUR STRUGGLE FOR INDEPENDENCE


Indias struggle for freedom can be said to have started soon after the
battle of Plassey in 1757. The Indians, since that time, cherished a burning
desire in their hearts for driving away from their country the new alien conquerors who had won that historic battle, not through fair combat but by a treacherous tactical fraud.
However, the flame of patriotism remained largely suppressed till 1857
when Indians Hindus, Muslims and sikhs, all united made the first organized
attempt to drive away the British from India. It was our first battle of independence against the alien rulers. Though British historians have tried their best to
dub this national uprising of a righteous and patriotic people as a mere mutiny
of the Indian sepoys, latest researches made by impartial historians reveal that
the 1857 movement had its seeds in the patriotic urge of the Indian people to
make their motherland free. Had it not been purely a national movement, it
could not have united the people of various religions and sects. As the famous
Indian historian, Sir Jadunath Sarkar has said, The revolt had been secret and
well organized. It was much more than a mere mutiny of soldiers. It spread
rapidly and assumed the character of a popular rebellion of the masses; it was
not confined to Delhi alone as most of the British historians take the view; it
spread all over the land now known as U.P., Central India, Bihar and Bengal.
Essentially it was not a religious or sentimental outburst. It was a national rising
in which Hindus and Muslims took equal part.
A highly significant feature of life in India after 1857 was the emergence
of the middle classes as a political force. The first impact of Western political
thought, numerous reformist movements in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, growing economic and political discontent, the arrogance of the new
rulers, improvements in the means of transport and communications, the introduction of the printing-press and several other factors stimulated the growth of
a well-organised middle-class opinion. The first sign of political organization
in India was the formation of the Indian Association by Surendranath Bannerjee
in 1876.
But in course of time, it was the Indian National Congress which came to

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spearhead the national freedom movement. The party owed its origin to the
inspiration provided by Surendranath Bannerjee and A.O. Hume, a retired British civil servant who suggested forming an organization for the mental, moral,
social and political regeneration of the people of India.
The first session of the Indian National Congress was held in Bombay in
December 1885 under the Presidentship of Mr Woomesh Chandra Bonnerjee.
To begin with, the Congress started as an organization committed to the use of
constitutional means only for securing certain rights for Indians. This stage in
its career as a political party lasted from 1885 to 1905. During this period, the
party leadership pressed modest demands through prayers, appeals, petitions,
deputations etc. It shunned all extra-constitutional or agitational approach.
But gradually extremist elements inspired by revolutionary nationalism
in Europe found their way into the Congress. Prominent among extremist Congress leaders were Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Bipin Chandra Pal, Aurobindo Ghose
and many others. Tilak hailed from Maharashtra. It was he who first gave the
call Swaraj is my birth-right. Extremism held sway from 1906 to 1918. It was
the second stage in the life of the Indian National Congress.
Another wave of nationalistic fervour swept India when the British Parliament, at the end of World War I, passed the notorious Rowlatt Act. It was an
oppressive measure designed to invest the government with unbridled power to
arrest and imprison suspects without trial and to crush civil liberties. This was
the reward India got for having collaborated with Britain in the pursuit of the
latters war aims. The Indian people felt outraged. Mahatma Gandhi who had
upto that time maintained that the Congress should serve the country only as a
social and moral reformative organization declared that it should give a tough
(non-violent) fight against this lawless law. Inspired by Mahatma Gandhis
patriotic idealism, millions of Indian patriots came forward to protest against
this gross injustice. British imperialism used barbaric means to suppress the
movement. The Jallianwala Bagth tragedy the worst act of inhumanity done by
the British administration in India shocked the entire civilized world. Men,
women, children and old men were shot dead by Gen. Dyer specially deputed
by the British Government to teach the Indians a lesson.
The Jallianwala Bagh incident proved to be a milestone in Indias fight
for freedom. It marked the beginning of the Gandhian era in Indian politics.
Mahatma Gandhi gave a new direction to the national freedom movement. He
adopted a policy of progressive non-violent non-co-operation to agitate political issues. It was a novel technique which had not been tried anywhere else in
the world. It envisaged surrender of titles, boycott of legislative bodies and
courts and foreign goods, resignations from nominated posts etc. To crush the
movement the Government resorted to a policy of repression which provoked a

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call of civil disobedience from Mahatma Gandhi.


The civil disobedience movement passed through many vicissitudes but
ultimately it forced the British Government to have a second look at the working of its administration in India. Meanwhile, the national movement also had
entered a new phase. At its annual session held in Lahore in December 1929
under the Presidentship of Jawaharlal Nehru, the Indian National Congress had
passed a resolution declaring complete independence to be Indias goal. During
the next decade or so, it was a see-saw battle between the resurgent forces of
Indian nationalism and British imperialism. The British introduced half-hearted
measures to increase Indians participation in the task of administering the
country but continued to be allergic to the idea of conceding independence to
India.
The breaking out of World War II in 1939 had a profound impact on the
political situation in India. When the war broke out, popular Congress ministries were functioning in eight provinces but as India had not been consulted
before war was declared on behalf of the country by its British rulers, the popular ministries resigned. The British Government did not take much notice to
begin with, but when in 1942 the Japanese advance became a real threat to
Indias borders, it sent Sir Stafford Cripps with a package of constitutional
reform measures which were found unacceptable by the Indian political leaders.
The next high point in Indias struggle for freedom was reached in 1942
when Indian patriots were active on several fronts. Mahatma Gandhi launched
the Quit India movement within the country. He demanded immediate end of
British rule and sanctioned a non-violent mass struggle on a wide scale to achieve
the objective. A revolutionary upsurge swept the country from one corner to the
other and the Government used its entire machinery to crush the rebellion by
ruthless measures and wholesale arrests without trial. Subhash Chandra Bose,
popularly and affectionately known as Netaji escaped from British captivity
and organized the Indian National Army the first organized and trained army of
nationally-inspired and patriotic Indians. The soldiers of the Indian National
Army fought against the British and American forces in Burma, Malaya and at
other places. The revolt of the Indian members of the naval forces in Bombay
and Cochin was a pointer that the Indian soldiers and sailors had also been
drawn into the freedom struggle and could no longer be depended upon by the
British.
The plant of independence which sprouted in 1947 was the culmination
of more than a century of sacrifices offered by numberless patriots at the altar
of national freedom. We are today free, but we have to preserve our hard won
freedom. For this we have to keep alive in our hearts the sacred memory of

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those great martyrs who made tremendous sacrifices for the attainment of freedom. From their memories we can derive inspiration to work hard to consolidate the freedom we have won at such great cost.

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THE NEED FOR ENVIRONMENTCONSCIOUSNESS


Today, there is now a premium on fresh air and there even are bars in
Japan where people can buy whiffs of oxygen. If we continue to play foul with
the environment and interfere with the already disturbed eco-system, the day is
not far off when we shall rue over the mind-boggling progress and excessive
exploitation of nature to feed our follies and glorify our greed.
It is neither a fad nor a fashion to show our concern for the environment.
It is a feeling for the fast deteriorating milieu, both natural and man-made, that
pricks the conscience of some who take upon themselves the rigorous but moral
responsibility of creating an awareness among the people, to preserve the delicate balance in the entire eco-system that has been disturbed beyond repair and
recognitiion in many cases. Since the problem of environmental degradation is
global, a concerted effort needs to be launched to infuse environment-consciousness among all and sundry before it gets too late to mend the matters.
In its mad race to make miracles and bring about a complete metamorphosis in the living styles, modern human kind seems to have failed to appreciate the inherent worth of animal and plant life in totality. In ancient times nature
held our respect, perhaps due to religious or supernatural associations. Now
that we have a scientific grasp of nature, we have lost sight of its wider aesthetic,
spiritual and complementary value. With the onslaught of industrialisation, nature has been through a rapid exploitation leading to pollution and depletion of
its resources. The destructive trend can be slowed down, if not completely reversed, if collective care and concern for environment-consciousness is created
through different media, education, visual and performing arts.
Science and technology, glitter and glamour, speed and successthese
are some of the telling traits of human condition today, at the cost of degraded
eco-system, near extinction of some forms of life, global warming, and the like.
In order to feel secure, without having a clear conscience of the environment, is
like walking waywardly on a land mine. The impression that conservation of the
environment is an elitist concern of some individuals and groups, should be

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dispelled through every possible means.


Naturerather environment or ecologyin all its moods and manifestations represents harmony and deep power of joy that can enable us to see into
the life of things and thus escape from the sinister sway and swing of materialistic mores that have made most of us strangers and aliens to the life sustaining
forces on this planet. The urgency to take stock of the current status of biodiversity
is the crying need of the hour. It is because of lack of awareness on our part, of
the many species of flora and fauna, that they are being lost by us unknowingly. How to bring such facts close to the consciousness of the people should
be the foremost task of all those who have the good of the earth in their hearts.
No matter how we manipulate the achievements of science and technology, the moot question would always stare us in the face. If we fail to create
constructive consciousness towards environment, in our work culture, developmental activities will end in allied areas of action and inter-action. We shall
be heading for an impending catastrophe that a highly polluted environment is
going to unleash on one and all.
Our ancestors were more environment-conscious and conscientious that
us. Their common needs did not go beyond fuel collection, flower plucking,
fruit gathering and the like. They did not indulge in wanton destruction of forests nor did they resort to hunting and poaching in an unscrupulous manner.
Unlike the plunder of today, where the governing passion is to explore and exploit the known and unknown sources of wealth, the attitude of our forefathers
towards life and its mission was live and let others live. Willy-nilly, planners,
policymakers and wheeler-dealers of political power have allowed the things to
drift and degenerate for long. It is time now that we should sit up and see the
writing on the wall. The warning signals are ringing all round.

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GAMBLING WITH SURVIVAL


We, the worlds people, want to survive, but more than that, we want a
satisfactory life for all of us and for our descendants. To achieve that goal, we
need a new kind of development and we must learn to live differently.
We depend on the resources of the earth to meet our basic and vital needs.
If they are diminished or deteriorate, we risk our needs and those of our descendants. Because we have been failing to care for the earth and living
unsustainably the risks have become dangerously high. We are today gambling
with the survival of the civilisation.
We need not ose. We can eliminate the risk by ensuring that the benefits of
development and distributed equitably.
Our civilisation is at risk because we are misusing natural resources and
natural ecological systems. We are pressing the earth to the limits of its capacity.
The unprecedented increase in the human numbers and activity have had major
impacts on the environment. The capacity of the earth to support human and
other life forms has significantly diminished. In less than 200 years, the planet
has lost six million square kilometers of forests, the sediment load from soil
erosion has risen three-fold in major river basin, and by eight times in smaller,
more intensively used ones, and eater withdrawals have grown from 100 to
3,600 cubic kilometres a year.
Atmospheric systems have been disturbed, threatening the climatic regime to which we and other forms of life have long been adapted. Since the mideighteenth century, human activities have more than doubled the methane in the
atmosphere, increased the concentrations of carbon-dioxide by 287 per cent
and significantly damaged the stratospheric ozone layer.
Most astonishing to all, the 5.5 billion people now on earth are already
using 40 per cent of our most elemental resourcethe energy from the sun,
made available by green plants on land.
Despite this vast takeover of nature, hundreds of millions of people struggle in poverty, lacking a tolerable quality of life. One person in five cannot get
enough food to support an active working life. A quarter of the worlds people
are without safe drinking potable water. Every year millions of children die
from malnutrition and preventable diseases. Such conditions are grossly unjust.

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They also threaten the peace and stability of many countries, and of the whole
world, eventually.
Learning to live sustainably and caring for the earth is the need of the
hour. For a start we will need to understand and accept the consequences of
being part of the great community of life and to become more conscious of the
effects of our decisions on other societies, future generations and other species.
We will need to perfect and promote an ethic for living sustainably.
Living sustainably must be the guiding principle for all the worlds people, but it never will be when hundreds of millions live without the basic essentials of life. Today, we need a new kind of development that rapidly improves
the quality of life for the disadvantaged.
The earth has its limits. With the best technology imaginable the limits are
not infinitely expandable. To live within these limits and see that those who now
have can soon get more, two things are needed to be done: population growth
rate of the world must be reduced, and the rich must stabilise, and in some cases,
reduce their consumption of resources. Ways exist to do this, without reducing
the real quality of life.
Sustainable living must be the new pattern of living at all levelsindividuals, communities, nations and the world. To adopt a new pattern will require a significant change in the attitudes and practices of many people. We will
need to ensure that education programmes reflect the importance of ethics of
living sustainably and that information campaigns are mounted to disseminate
it.
Local communities are the focus for much that needs to be done in making the change to living sustainable, but there is little that they can do it if they
lack the power to act. Subject to vital interests of the larger community, they
must be allowed to manage the resources on which they depend and to have an
effective voice in the decisions that affect them.
Progress towards sustainability has been slow because of the belief that
conservation and development are opposite. Legal, social, economic and technical measures, aimed at sustainability are to be integrated in planning and aimed
at all levels, particularly in national governments.
The framework already exists for the cooperation, monitoring and management of resources, but programmes are poorly coordinated and rearly integrated. A new alliance of all the countries, to affect the reforms and improve the
quality of life, should be the agenda to save the possible oblivion of the earth.

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PROHIBITION ITS IMPACT ON OUR


SOCIETY
Drinking is a curse. A nation, addicted to drinking has its future completely doomed. A Government which fattens its purse by selling alcoholic
drinks to its people makes prostitution of its sacred function, of making its
people morally better and spiritually elevated. A nation of drunkards is a morally and spiritually dwarfed section of humanity.
Indeed, drinking has all along been the worst misfortune that has ever
befallen mankind. It has been a damned curse which is responsible for the utter
ruin of many a nation. The great Roman Empire, the mighty Mughal Empire
and many others had been cast into oblivion of sheer degeneration under destructive and damaging impact of drinking. In almost all the religions of the
world Hinduism, Islam, Christianity, Buddhism drinking has been condemned
as a sin. According to Islam, a drunkard has no place in Paradise and that his
place would be in the worst part of Hell, where he would be cast into eternal fire
of torture. He can never expect to be forgiven by God.
Prohibition implies banning of alcoholic drinks. It was first introduced in
America in 1923 but due to certain unavoidable reasons it failed completely.
Then it was experimented in China, where the Government laid special stress
on banning of opium. The scheme which operated in the country for a period of
three years had a partial success. The Indian National Congress, even before
Indias independence had made it one of their basic features of programme to
launch a country-wide campaign for prohibiting intoxicating drinks. Satyagrahas
were offered for the same purpose and our leaders had to court imprisonment
for picketing wine shops during the British regime. Immediately after independence when the Congress formed Government at the Centre and in all the
States (then known as Provinces) excepting Punjab and Bengal, prohibition
was experimented and in most of the States it did have a substantial success. At
the All India Congress session of 1953 it was unanimously resolved that in
some States there should be complete prohibition. The Constitution (Article
47) enjoin on the State to endeavour to bring about prohibition of the consump-

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tion of intoxicating drinks and drugs. In December 1954, the Prohibition Enquiry Committee was appointed to suggest a programme and machinery for the
implementation of the Directive. The Committee recommended that schemes
of prohibition be integrated with the countrys development plans. This was
affirmed by a resolution in the Lok Sabha on March 31, 1956.
At present there is complete prohibition in the States of Gujarat and Tamil
Nadu only. There is ban on drinking in the public places and partial prohibition
in most other States.
Now let us recall a brief history of drinking. It is thought that during the
Ashokan period of Indian history, indulgence in drinks and drugs was considered to be a crime something contrary to the principles of religion, i.e., Buddhism. According to Magasthenese who visited India during the reign of
Chandragupta Maurya, the Government strictly supervised the manufacture
and sale of intoxicating drinks. Most of the Muslim rulers in India had put strict
restrictions on sale of intoxicating wines even though they themselves lavishly
indulged in drinking. It was, however, during the days of the East India Company that Indias cultural and national progress suffered a heavy loss. The alien
rulers in their anxiety to find more money from India to fill their own countrys
coffer, introduced liquor-revenue and revenue on exploit-drugs. Since the British came to India there has been an unending chain of public-spirited propaganda for prohibition. All the Indian reformers, whether social or religious,
condemned drinking in unequivocal terms. Men like Raja Ram Mohan Roy,
Keshab Chander Sen, Dr Annie Besant, Tagore, Swami Shardanand condemned
the evil of drinking and accused the British Government of committing a public sin.
In India, the story of prohibition, properly speaking, begins with Mahatma Gandhis campaign against this injurious habit. Gandhiji regarded it as
one of the causes that demoralized the world, because it had brought the downfall of many a mighty empire. However, prohibition through legislation was
introduced in India after the countrys attaining independence.
Prohibition creates certain difficult problems. The first problem is unemployment. In Andhra, Bengal and Assam there are lakhs of people engaged in
the production of Tari, a kind of intoxicating drink. In the event of introducing
complete prohibition in these States, all these men would be thrown out of their
source of earning livelihood. Then there is the toughest problem to check illicit
manufacture and sale of intoxicating drinks. The report of the All India Prohibition Committee revealed the fact that in most of the dry areas there have
been floods of illicit wine. It is a pity and a matter of disgrace, too, to note that
police and excise officials and their staff, deputed to make the scheme a success, most miserably abused rather prostituted their basic functions, thereby

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making prohibition an utter failure in some States.


Prohibition is a measure of social reform, which has a moral basis. Mere
legislative sanction cannot make it a success, though it can be enforced with the
aid of law. For making prohibition a genuine success, the first and foremost task
is to give special type of moral and social education to the masses. People must
be morally convinced of the evils of intoxicating drinks. They should be taught
to hate intoxicating drinks through a conviction and mere lip services will not
make prohibition a success. Prohibition has to be enforced gradually and not all
of a sudden. People must co-operate with the Government in making prohibition a success in the real sense of the term.

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COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
The advent of freedom released a number of forces making for radical
changes in the rural areas of India. The introduction of Universal suffrage is a
revolutionary measure which has placed a powerful weapon in the hands of the
traditionally under-privileged sections of our population, i.e., the village dwellers. They have awakened from the deep sleep of prejudice, illiteracy and degeneration. With the addition of another great factor of national re-construction
Panchayati Raj they have been inspired to develop themselves as healthy and
self-supporting community.
The Community Development Programme, which had its august inauguration in 1952 six years after the independence of our country is a land-mark in
the history of the development of rural India and, at the same time, it is a
dynamo of inspiration for our future village constructors and social reformers.
The scheme, in a nut-shell, aims at providing first increased employment
and increased production by the application of latest methods of agriculture,
including horticulture, animal husbandry, fisheries etc. and the establishment of
subsidiary and cottage industries; secondly self-help and self-reliance and the
possible extension of the principle of co-operation, and thirdly, the need for
devoting a portion of the vast unutilized time and energy in the countryside for
the benefit of the village community.
There were in 1960, more than two thousand Community Development
blocs each one consisting of a hundred villages and they were expected to
serve about 194 million villagers all over the country. By now, virtually all of
Indias 560,000 villages have come under the Community Development Programme. A huge administrative machinery, engaging hundreds of officials including the Gram Sevak units at the base has been created. Villagers are beginning to be aware of the fact that there is a Governmental organization charged
with the responsibility of rural development.
Our Indian villagers have been suffering from a chronic disease indebtedness which has been one of the major causes of their economic miseries. According to the Community Development Programme arrangements are made
for giving loans to poor and deserving cultivators to be paid back conveniently
by easy methods. This had a remarkably encouraging effect. The Indian culti-

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vators, who from ages had been squeezed and exploited by money lenders and
zamindars, are now having a sigh of relief. It is natural that economic well
being leads to social well being. Being economically unworried and unburdened, they can now look to other avenues of their progress social, cultural and
moral. Again, backward groups, like Harijans, who were throttled by the high
caste moneyed groups, have been greatly benefited by the agricultural loangiving system.
The Development officials, in their understandable eagerness to achieve
the set targets and to show quick results have been compelled to ignore the less
tangible but more important aim of teaching the villagers to help themselves.
The peasants have to be taught that there are resources at their disposal such as
their own capacity for hard work, their skill, initiative and loyalty to the community and the region. This objective can be realized only by proper local
leadership. Panchayati Raj has already been introduced in a number of States,
like Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Punjab and U.P.
Indias villages have been changing for well over a hundred years. This
fact has been obscured by the myths which educated Indians and foreigners
have perpetrated about them. Since Independence, the Government has launched
a vast programme of developing the country as a whole and agriculture in particular. The gigantic hydro-electric projects as well as the minor irrigation works,
the development of transport facilities, the determined effort to industrialize
the country, the Community Development Programme and the policy of decentralization will ensure that in the not too-distant future Indias villages will
change radically.

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OUR STRENGTH OUTSIDE DEPENDS ON


OUR STRENGTH WITHIN
The statement is true of individuals as well as of nations. It emphasizes
the quality of strength which is an attribute essential to the life of both, a person
as also a nation. It goes on to point out the dependence of the external aspect of
strength on its innate content.
Strength is, in fact, a basic condition of life. We have to be strong in order
to exist. The smallest catastrophe will annihilate a weakling but the biggest
tragedy will bring out hidden reserves of strength in a person made of sterner
stuff, and leave him the stronger for having faced it bravely. We need strength
to be able to resist attacks on our freedom, our honour, our possessions and our
person; because strength alone knows conflict. Weakness is born vanquished.
The weak live in a state of constant fear and have to pay dearly for protection.
Finally, we need strength to enjoy life in all its glory, and to enrich it with
achievement.
Our strength in relation to outside signifies the physical and moral force
which we can bring to bear on our actions in relation to outsiders. It consists in
our capacity to make room for ourselves, to gain our rightful place, not giving
any chance to others to push us about. It lies in our ability to uphold and enforce
the law for everyone, without fear. It is something which helps us to attain a
position where we become a source of strength for all on the side of the right,
so that we are sought after in friendship, and do not have to go about looking for
friends.
In its negative aspect, our strength in relation to outside means that we
should be able to inspire in the hearts of the evil and the wicked the sort of
respect they feel for the gun or the tiger. We should have the capacity to make
them realize that our calmness in the face or provocation is an aspect of the
power we command, and that our forbearance implies strength. They should
know that we have the capacity and the will to punish the wrong- doer.
Out strength within means that innate strength which enables us to stand
on our own feet and thus endows us with self-respect. If we stand on borrowed

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feet, we shall have to mortgage our heads and hearts. In that case we cannot
have any pretensions to strength; and hence to self-respect. Strength within
also denotes the ability to hold our own against opposing forces so that neither
a powerful outside foe nor the inner foes of passions and temptations can pull
us to pieces. Inner strength also signifies that soundness of mind and body
which enables us to think and act straight without feeling the necessity of resorting to subterfuge or being overwhelmed by vacillation which is the hallmark of the weak.
Unless we are strong within and make determined efforts to consolidate
and augment that strength, we stand exposed to aggression, and all other humiliations which are showered on the weak.
A reference to the history of India will very aptly illustrate the truth in
whatever has been stated above. Whenever India was weakened by internal
conflicts and dissensions, she fell a prey to foreign depredations, so much so
that we forfeited our freedom, and had to suffer foreign domination for centuries. But as the brave freedom-fighters instilled in the masses a burning desire
for freedom and the national movement gathered strength, our foreign rulers
were left with no other course but to quit the country. Having broken the chains
that bound us, it was our duty to consolidate our freedom, to augment our
strength. But once again we forget the lesson of history. While designing neighbours were keeping a keen eye on how we went about the business of consolidating our freedom and augmenting our strength, we were keeping ourselves
occupied with party politics and with bids to capture the moral leadership of the
world. The enemy could easily find the chinks in our armour. The result was
the Chinese attack of 1962 in which the Indian Army was worsted for the first
time in recent history. As a result of this fresh humiliation which we had to
suffer, we lost face in the sphere of international politics. As our internal weakness stood exposed, the hollow prestige we had built up vanished into thin air,
and we were left almost friendless in the world.
To-day, we go about seeking the help and protection of others. Except in
so far as it helps to advance the interests of the powerful nations, our friendship
is worth nothing. We are ridiculed, snubbed and patronized. And it has to be so,
because the world knows that we do not possess that inner strength which can
help us to lay claims to respect in the international sphere.
It cannot, therefore, be gainsaid that our strength in relation to outside
depends on our strength within. Weakness is a sin. Just as it is the moral duty of
everyone to maintain and preserve good health, it is the bounden duty of nations to build up enough inner strength, so that they can exist in this violenceridden world with self-respect. It is only innate strength which can help them to
win their rightful place in the comity of nations.

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INDIA AND THE CONCEPT OF


SELF-RELIANCE
Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it.
Thomas Paine.
The 1965 Indo-Pak conflict has been beneficial to India in more than one
ways. It has helped us to realize the need for a reappraisal of our foreign policy,
and also for some much-needed rectification of attitudes towards the countrys
economic problems. Perhaps the most significant trend it has unleashed is a
universal demand for making India self-reliant in every respect, particularly in
the spheres of food and defence.
There is nothing new in the concept of self-reliance which is just another
name for economic freedom, always regarded as a necessary concomitant of
political freedom. In fact, the two types of freedom are complementary to each
other. Without one, the other is incomplete and meaningless. People who rely
on their own strength and know how to help themselves cannot be held in
bondage for long. Conversely, a nation which, though free, depends on other
nations for anything it needs, whether it is food, weapons or machinery, must
always be subject to pressures, and so, stands perpetually in danger of losing
its freedom.
The imperative need for making the people of India realize the value of
self-reliance for the purpose of acquiring political strength was always keenly
felt by the leaders of Indias national movement. That was the idea behind the
cult of Swadeshi which Mahatma Gandhi propagated. Self-reliance was, in
fact, the corner-stone of the constructive programme he advocated. But while
the call for throwing out the British struck a responsive chord in every Indian
heart, the significance of the campaign in favour of self-sufficiency was never
fully appreciated.
Even after we had attained independence, our outlook in this respect did
not undergo any change. Though we had become politically free, we retained
our preference for things foreign. We were free to build our national economy
as we liked. The choice was between a Gandhian approach based on intensive

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development effort starting from the grass-roots level on the one hand, and
adoption of large-scale industrialization on the other. While the former presupposed maximum self-reliance at every level and in every sphere, the latter
had to be based on foreign aid. Adoption of the former course meant very hard
work and slow progress, while resort to latter held the promise of quicker and
more spectacular result.
Those in power at that time opted in favour of large-scale industrialization with foreign aid. They had their reasons for taking that decision. Firstly,
they felt that if the world was to be made a better and happier place to live in for
the whole human race, the more advanced nations owed it to the under-developed countries not only to help them in winning political freedom but also to
assist them in getting rid of poverty and other basic ills that plagued them.
Secondly, they believed that if India was to keep pace with the modern world, it
was necessary to import and adopt the latest techniques and to develop the most
modern sources of power.
In Indias case, foreign aid was readily available. In fact it was pressed
upon her from almost all directions. It came to us in the form of international
grants, foreign exchange loans, rupee credit technical aid, private foreign capital investment etc. At the time we accepted such aid, we told those who gave it
to us and also assured ourselves that it had to be and was sans political strings
of any sort. In keeping with our policy of non-alignment vis-a-vis the rival
power blocs, we accepted such help from both sides.
Undoubtedly, such generous foreign assistance contributed a lot to the
economic development of India. It enabled us to build a nucleus of heavy industries which, with the passage of time, may help us to progressively reduce
our dependence on foreign aid. But while this in itself is enough cause for
satisfaction, we cannot possibly ignore the other side of the picture, which has
been so clearly brought into focus by the 1965 armed conflict with Pakistan.
The shape of things as it had emerged shows that acceptance of foreign
aid has definitely not been an unmixed blessing. Along with the advantages it
has brought us, it has also produced quite a few undesirable results. First of all,
we must know that we have been gradually developing an attitude of dependence on foreign aid. This will be evident if we have a look at our trade balance
position. Obviously, we have been living beyond our means. But it is only one
of the many results of the dangerous mental attitude we have been developing.
It has also served to kill initiative. It is only now when ruination stares us in the
face that we have been obliged to think of import substitution and finding indigenous alternative for imported materials. Furthermore, it has prevented the full
utilization of technical and scientific talent available in the country. Whereas
on the one hand we have been complaining of a serious brain-drain through

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Indian scientists preferring to make their homes abroad, on the other we have
been persistently and pathetically dependent on costly foreign experts to advise us on matters well within the competence of indigenous talent. This overdependence on foreign technicians has hampered and even discouraged the
building us of a base of indigenous scientific, technological and managerial
manpower so necessary for a developing country. It is also the reason why very
few really important industries have been started without foreign collaboration.
The sense of urgency now felt about self-reliance as the national goal
should also help us to realize that our habitual dependence on help from abroad
has also prevented us from making the best use of assistance given to us. We
must admit that we have not been able to secure the maximum possible growth
in those sectors of our economy where dependence on foreign aid could have
been eliminated by now.
Besides all this, in the light of recent events, it cannot be gainsaid that our
pet assumptions about all foreign aid being without strings have also been proved
wrong. It has been proved beyond the shadow of a doubt that the part of it
contributed by the western nations was aimed at gaining political leverage in
this part of the world. While we believed that they were just helping us to
overcome our initial difficulties, they were trying to use economic aid to lure
India into joining the string of defence pacts with which they were planning to
surround Russia and China in a bid to contain communism. When they failed
in deflecting India from her chosen course of non-alignment, they began to
strengthen her arch-enemy, Pakistan, with liberal arms aid. The Indian leaders
naturally protested against this, but they were assured that Pakistan would not
be allowed to use those arms against India. We have seen how much those
assurances were worth.
In 1971, while Pakistan was butchering the people of Bangladesh, and
India was facing the huge influx of refugees from that part of Pakistan, the
U.S.A., fishing in troubled waters, was secretly supplying ship loads of lethal
weapons to Pakistan (in Padma and Sunderbans the two Pakistani ships) in
spite of their earlier commitment and assurance to our Foreign Minister, not to
give any arms to Pakistan till the situation in Bangladesh had become normal.
After the 1965 Indo-Pak war also, in their anxiety to placate Pakistan,
and to retain her on their side, they had stopped aid to India to pressurise the
latter into compromising her sovereignty and territorial integrity. Britain clamped
a ban on even commercial purchases of arms by India; and the U.S.A. tried to
tie up deliveries of foodgrains under the P.L. 480 agreement with certain political objectives she was anxious to achieve.
All this has convincingly demonstrated that we were seriously mistaken
in placing any reliance on foreign aid. Such reliance not only undermines our

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freedom of action, but is also capable of endangering our very survival. The
present upsurge in favour of self-reliance signifies a realistic appreciation of
the obligations of free nationhood. It is an expression of the national desire to
invest our political freedom with a more positive content by achieving economic freedom as well.
Over the years, in a changing context, the implications of self- reliance
for India have also undergone profound changes. When India was a slave country, the word had a connotation quite different from what it has now when we
are free and have to hold our own in a community of nations largely guided by
self-interest rather than by any desire to make this world a better place for
mankind as a whole. We have, therefore, to co-relate our concept of self-reliance with our changed situation and understand clearly what it means.
Judging from the extent to which we have hitherto allowed ourselves to
become dependent on foreign aid, we have to go a long way before we can
hope to become self-reliant. We have to lift ourselves up virtually by our bootstraps. It will require a truly Herculean effort and however inspired we may be
by a sense of urgency, we can at best hope to achieve the ideal only over a
period of time. In spite of the earnest efforts put in during the last eighteen
years to remove want and poverty from this land of ours, we have not so far
been able to touch even the fringe of the problem. There is quite a big gap
between requirements and means and it has to be bridged. We are up against a
formidable economic issue and unless we adopt a practical approach in tackling it, we shall be seriously jeopardising our chances of achieving success.
Much confusion is created by the common assumption that self- reliance
and self-sufficiency are synonymous terms. It will be wholly wrong to believe
that, granted the most strenuous effort, we can become completely self-sufficient now or in the near future. Even the most advanced nations have not been
able to achieve that goal. In the complex modern industrial society, it is just not
possible. No country in the world can turn its back on international co-operation without endangering its own progress. It is, therefore, obvious that we
cannot hope to ban all imports for all times.
What we have to do immediately is to see in what spheres, to what extent
and how soon we can progressively reduce our dependence on imports. The
main items which are at present being imported are capital goods, certain essential raw materials and oil. It should be obvious to anyone that the import of
oil is a recurring drain on our meagre resources. At the same time, oil being one
of the necessaries, our dependence on other countries for it exposes us to unhealthy political pressures. Therefore, we have to strain every nerve to make
ourselves self-sufficient at least in respect of our requirements of oil. We can
do it by increasing production, reducing consumption and eliminating waste. It

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would not, however, be possible to do without imports of capital equipment


and essential raw-materials. But by making better use of the assistance we receive, by applying our minds seriously to import substitution, and by utilizing
indigenous scientific and technical skill and talent, we can hope to reduce such
imports considerably. For achieving a real break-through towards self-reliance
in this sphere, however, we shall have to concentrate on the creation of a large
and exportable industrial surplus by which we should be able to pay for everything we may have to import.
In the final analysis, the attainment of self-reliance mainly involves
riddding ourselves of the dangerous attitude of dependence which we have
developed. That the need for it has been realized augurs well, but the path is
certainly beset with difficulties, and only sustained and well-directed efforts,
combined with the practice of maximum austerity on a national level can pull
us through.

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POVERTY IN PLENTY
Poverty in plenty may be an expression of contradiction, but as far as
the human race is concerned we have more poverty to see and suffer around
than any other phenomenon. Whatever achievements of mankind may have been
in the areas of development over the ages, the one eye-sore that has remained
abhorrent and abominable by all standards is povertyeconomic, intellectual
and ethical (moral). There is no denying that poverty is a curse for those who
suffer it and a blessing for those who sermonise on it. Notwithstanding the fact
that religions generally have sung the praise of poverty, and promised the poor
the kingdom of heaven, it is a virtual hell that they undergo in their lives spent in
slums, hovels, gutters and the like.
Though the modern Messiah, Mother Teresa, loved the poor, she consistently refused to address issues of social justice. Her belief that poverty was a
desirable state, non-criticism of the world-order that perpetuated poverty, runs
counter to the ground realities that are further compounded by the tortuous trinitypoverty, population and pollution. This tyrannical triangle eloquently tells
why South Asia is universally acknowledged as a place of the most wretched,
demeaning poverty in the world. When we eulogize the success stories of those
who go up the ladder from rags to riches, we indirectly berate poverty as
despicable and dehumanised state of human existence. Who in his senses would
covet such life as holds pompous promise of Gods grace in heaven but yields
virtually no place, pelf and prestige on this planet. Surely, poverty for a political-cum-economic thinker like Marx, was an object state of helplessness heapedd
upon those who have nothing to lose but eheir poverty, if properly united and
organised under one banner.
The State of poverty that legendary figures like Raja Harishchander, Mahatma Buddha, Mahatma Gandhi et al and an entire tribe of Indian saints and
sages, embraced, is entirely different from the depressing depths of deprivation
and degradation that millions and millions below the poverty line in India and
elsewhere face. Having led the life of self-abnegation himself, Gandhiji was of
the firm conviction that there was enough in the world for each mans need but

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not enough for even one mans greed.


Catchwords and conferences cannot banish poverty. Had it been so somple
the garibi hatao slogan of 1971 would have accomplished in one country what
the United Nations set out to dor for the world at the summit for social development in Cophenhagen. The summit was intended to come up with a programme
of policies, actions and measures towards eradication of poverty, full employment and social integration of the dispossessed and underprivileged. Today in
the world, more than a billion people live in miserable poverty, eight million
children die every year from curable diseases and at least a third of the poor
States population is undernourished. The British charity organisation, Action
aid, has warned that by the end of the century, a quarter of the words population
will be living in abject poverty. The countries where domestic discord prevails
in the form of civil wars, riots or other disturbances are the worst hit.
It is a meaningless exercise to discuss poverty eradication and full employment at national and international conferences without reference to who
will pay for it in an unequal world. The issue of raising the estimated $ 235
billion needed to take over one billion people living in abysmal poverty, to a
level where their basic needs can be met, in the next five years, does not figure
in the declarations; nor does the issue of creating jobs for the 120 million people
unemployed in the world. With economic liberalisation programmes concentrating on a consumer-oriented global market, it is hard to imagine how the
problems of global poverty and unemployment are going look like in future.
The resources are not scarce but they are cornered and controlled by the
rich. In the opinion of some knowledgeable persons, it is the unsustainable consumption levels of the rich nations that have resulted in the poor being denied
access to resources. Who can deny the fact that less than a quarter of the global
expenditure on arms would be enough to finance a programme for universal
primary health care, vaccination against killer diseases, drinking water and primary education. Too often assumptions are made about what the poor want or
their views are interpreted to such a point that they bear little relationship to the
development priorities originally identified by the poor. (Juan Somavia)
All said and done, let us remember what Rishi Vasishtha tells Rama in
Yoga Vasishtham: Poverty is a curse. A very poor person is hardly alive. I see
no difference between a poor man and a dead man. Removal of poverty is
indeed the prime duty of all rulers at all times.

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FUTURE OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE IN INDIA


Opinions about the role and future of the English language in India have
varied with the years. Before the attainment of independence both English and
Englishmen were condemned as foreign and hence hostile to the national interests. Mahatma Gandhi, though admittedly a good, effective writer in English,
expressed the view that English education has emasculated us, constrained our
intellect, and the manner of imparting this education has rendered us effeminate. He felt that English education put a severe strain upon Indian students
nervous energy and has made us imitators. Many others have also held the view
that among the many evils of foreign rule, the blighting imposition of a
foreign medium of instruction upon the youth of the country will be counted by
history as one of the greatest.
Nobel Prize winner Rabindranath Tagore, whose writings in English and
Bengali won him international fame, however, paid a deserving tribute to the
contribution which English literature made. It nourished our minds, he said,
and even now conveys its deep resonance to the recesses of our heart. The days
and nights of educated people of those times were eloquent with the stately
declamations of Burke, and Macaulays long-rolling sentences. Jawaharlal
Nehru, himself a master of the English languagge, while admitting that we
cannot educate millions of people, (Indias masses) in a totally foreign language, contended that English will inevitably remain an important language for
us because of our past associations and also because of its present importance
in the world.
English cannot become a common all-India medium of communication
but it is, and will continue to be, the principal medium for us to communicate
with the outside world. English education widened the Indian outlook and
horizon. It developed an admiration for the unique English literature and institutions. It is to English education that the country owes a debt for the emergence of a new class of liberal-minded people in the professions and the services.
English is among the worlds greatest and richest languages. It is estimated that next only to Chinese, which is spoken by nearly 800 million people,

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English is the most popular language in the world. About two-thirds of the
scientific and technical books in the world are published in English. For the
people of India English is perhaps the easiest foreign language to learn. There
are other important languages too, but because of the educational set-up already established in India by the British, English has some foundations which
would be difficult to establish for any other language.
Article 343(1) of Indias Constitution lays down that the countrys official language will be Hindi in the Devanagari script. The second clause of that
article provides for the simultaneous use of English, initially for a period of 15
years from the commencement of the Constitution in 1950. In conformity with
the demand of the Southern States, the provision for the use of English for
official purposes of the Union has been extended several times. All indications
point to the continuation of the status quo for an indefinite period, even though
the Founding Fathers of the Constitution and millions of other people, especially in North and Central India, regarded the provision for the use of English
language as essentially a transitional measure.
The English language, instead of being gradually discarded and replaced
by Hindi, has become more popular. This is evident from the number of students opting for the English medium for school, college and university instruction. Families belonging to the middle and the affluent classes take pride in
sending their children to schools where the medium of instruction is English.
They believe, and with considerable justification, that the careers of their wards,
in government and also in private offices, can be built only on the basis of
education in the English medium.
English at present is the language of the elite, who form a small section of
the people, and it will continue to be so. The efforts to popularise the use of
Hindi as a national language for official work have succeeded only partially. As
a result, work in Central Government offices is done in English, which continues to be the only acceptable link language for communication between the
Centre and the States and among the States themselves. Moreover, there is
widespread recognition of the fact that scientific and technical knowledge can
be acquired only through books and journals published in English. Technical
books translated into Hindi and other Indian languages have not proved popular for various reasons. English has several advantages precision of expression,
worldwide popularity and a rich literature. These ensure for it a bright future
despite the loud protests by language fanatics and the anti-English pleadings in
the name of patriotism. While English cannot become Indias main language,
its use as a second language is beneficial to the country.

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SHOULD ENGLISH QUIT?


When the British left Indian shores it was hoped that English also would
leave this country at a no distant date. The most sanguine of its protagonists
could only expect that even if it stayed on in some form it would forfeit its
predominant status. The view was reinforced by the unequivocal declaration in
our Constitution :
The official language of the Union shall be Hindi in Devanagari script.
For a period of fifteen years from the commencement of this Constitution, the
English language shall continue to be used for all the official purposes of the
Union for which it was being used immediately before such commencement.
The Constitution commenced in 1950 and English should have been replaced even as a link language in 1965 but by an irony of circumstances this
language goes on as merrily as, if not merrier than, before. The number of
public schools, of Convents, of Montessories, all English medium institutions
has registered a steep rise. Cases have come to light where the use of a Hindi
word in a class is punishable with a fine, if not a slap. Every middle-class family
prides itself on sending its children to these schools. Not only government
officials, even ministers who cry themselves hoarse on our duty towards
Rashtrabhasha do not feel any qualm in patronising these schools. Et tu, Brute.
All sorts of arguments, quite a few of them specious, are advanced in support of
the retention of English and even the status quo. The most vehement of these is
that it is our doorway to the west, and opens up vast vistas of science, technology and literature. It is the most widely used, spoken as well as written. It has
subtle nuances and shades of expression which makes it an ideal medium of
communication. If nothing else, we should retain it for its beneficent role in our
movement of freedom and democracy as well as its contribution towards our
cultural renaissance.
Even the most ardent advocate will have to admit that the role of English
has been that of a catalytic agent. When the experiment is over, only a fool will
cling to the catalytic agent. And there is the irregutable argument from statistics. English, today, touches only a fringe of our population. In fact, it is the

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language of our elite or on lower levels, the petty officials, the quill-drivers who
move the juggernaut of bureaucratic administration. More than eighty per cent
of our people residing in villages do not understand it, except for a word here or
a word there which they have picked up during their visit to the town. At a
modest estimate it might take two centuries to make this language our lingua
franca. With our huge democratic Leviathan waking up out of the slumber of
centuries English cannot remain our medium of mass-communication. Apart
from this argument of non-feasibility there is the question of national self-respect. Already a good deal of damage has been done. Our schools, colleges
and universities have been greatly handicapped by the use of English as a compulsory subject. How much of our talent has withered and rotted. The sooner
this tyranny is over, the better for the country.
Withthe lucidity and precision characteristic of him, Gandhiji put the
issue in the correct perspective. English should go as the medium of instruction
and be replaced with the mother-tongue. Gandhiji was no English-hater. In fact
he wrote in an English which even the Englishmen envied. But as a patriot his
heart was sore at what harm this language had done. It is my considered opinion that English education in the manner in which it has been given has emasculated the English educated Indians, constrained our intellect and rendered us
effeminate.
English has no legal or moral right to occupy the pre-eminent position it
did during the British regime. Its place might well be in the eighth schedule of
our Constitution.

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LANGUAGE AS UNITING AND DIVISIVE


FORCE
Language, as Samuel Johnson said, is the dress of thought; it is only the
instrument of science, and words are but the signs of ideas. When the ideas are
good and constructive, language promotes unity and cohesion, but when the
ideas are basically faulty, ill-conceived, deceitful and subversive, language has
the contrary effect. Instead of promoting harmony and serving as the means of
purposeful communication between human beings, it begins to corrode the mind,
feeding the base instincts of man and encouraging tendencies that inevitably
lead to divisive and fissiparous tendencies. It then breaks up society into warring factions, each fighting for its own linguistic rights and preferences. So
language does not necessarily ensure unity and harmony. Bernard Shaws witty
saying that England and America are two countries separated by the same
language carries a subtle meaning. Language controversies also developed in
Pakistan (Urdu Vs Punjabi), Bangladesh (Urdu Vs Bengali) and other countries.
Much, of course, depends upon the quality and content of a language; a
living language, Jawaharlal Nehru used to say, is a throbbing, vital thing, ever
changing, ever growing and mirroring the people who speak and write it. It has
its roots in the masses, though its superstructure may represent the culture of a
few. Both language and the faculty of speech are immediate gifts of God,
and language should do anything it is told, undertake any job required and not
be a stubborn one-idea thing.
Trouble arises when language and those who speak it develop a one-channel mind. When language becomes an obsession and when some people think
their own language is the best in the world and must have primacy over others
even if such primacy is not in the national interest, there is endless discord,
disharmony, even violence and riots, supposedly in the name of a good cause.
But no religion and no language propagates the cult of violence and murder.
Those who quarrel and kill in the name of language or religion do a distinct
disservice to both.

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Linguistic controversies on a national scale (mostly about the advisability


of adopting English or Hindi or both for education and administration) and also
in the various regions (in Punjab, West Bengal, U.P. and elsewhere), have done
havoc in India. The decision to create States on a linguistic basis, following
prolonged agitations in several parts of the country, beginning with Andhra
Pradesh for which there was a fast unto death more than three decades ago in
the name of language and linguistic States separating the Telegu-speaking areas
(to form Andhra Pradesh) from the Tamil-speaking areas. As a result we had a
Linguistic States Commission many of whose recommendations for splitting
up certain regions into separate and small States had a distinctly divisive sequel. The divisions thus effected had a far-reaching effect and at times even cut
at the roots of national integration.
The J.V.P. Report on linguistic provinces, sponsored by the Congress many
years back, was most unfortunate in many respects. It laid down certain conditions under which re-drawing of provincial boundaries could be undertaken.
The creation of Andhra Pradesh for the benefit of the Telegu-speaking people
constituted an unfortunate precent which has been exploited to justify the splitting up of several States and the redrawing of boundaries in many cases. In all
these cases language has served only to divide, not to unite.
Article 343(1) of the Constitution of India lays down that the official language of the Union shall be Hindi in Devanagari script. The provision for the
use of English (Article 343 (2)) has all along been interpreted by the founding
fathers, and countless others, as essentially a transitional measure. But the southern States of the country strongly oppose any Central measure that smacks of an
intention to impose Hindi on them. Every time there is talk of promoting the use
of Hindi for administrative purposes at the Centre and in Centre-State communications in accordance with the provision in the Constitution, there is much
resentment in the South. It was this resentment that prompted a leader of the
South to coin the slogan: English ever, Hindi never. The language issue is
among the principal causes of the strains in the relations of the Centre and the
southern States. After every few years the near-crisis on this issue is got over by
an assurance that there would be no imposition of any language and that there
would be no linguistic switch-over without the consent of the southern States.
The linguistic issue thus hinders the progress of national unity and integration.
The deadliness in this regard have lost credibility. What is more, students seeking bright careers in the national context have often indicated a preference for
English as the medium of instruction for post-graduate courses. To some extent
the students preference has countered the linguistic fervour among the political leaders of the southern States.
Language has at times prompted fanaticism. For instance, some zealous

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advocates of Hindi have insisted that the Head of State should always deliver
formal addresses in Hindi. A young man disturbed former President Reddys
address to the Sangeet Natak Akademi in March, 1979, insisting that Mr Reddy
should speak in Hindi. The fanatic was downright impertinent and the President remarked: I do not like fanatics and I dont want to encourage fanaticism. The interests of any language are ill-served by linguistic purohits claiming a monopoly of cultural patriotism.

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THE INDIAN WOMAN TODAY


The times have changed radically, and the Indian woman of today is no
longer reconciled to her traditional role as a mere housewife, a mother or a
daughter. Whether it is higher education, or the general and fast spreading enlightenment about rights and privileges, and the concepts of equality between
man and woman, that are responsible for the distinctly notable awakening among
this section of mankind, it is difficult to say. Perhaps the change in attitudes and
the increasing demands for a better status in life and a more important role in
national life, are the cumulative result of all relevant factors operating simultaneously. The more enlightened women of today take delight in recalling that
woman was regarded in ancient times as the perfect workmanship of God and
the glory of angels.
But is the typical Indian woman, especially in the urban areas, a specimen of the perfect workmanship of God, a symbol of self-sacrifice, an angel in
human form, a source of eternal joy, devotion and everlasting love and affection? Far from it. Countless women, notably those who are well-educated or
otherwise qualified for certain types of jobs, are eager to get employed and
become economically independent. Generally, the desire to get jobs is prompted
by the eagerness to supplement the family income in these hard times, but this
is not always the case.
There are cases of women who take up jobs in order to earn some money
for their own use, on sarees, ornaments, cosmetics, etc., and in order to live like
modern women. Not every Indian woman even in the towns and cities is a
butterfly, or a society woman, but some indeed are. Their bribe is probably
increasing with the continuous fall in ancient values, the change in the age-old
concept of the Indian woman as a devoted wife, mother or daughter, and with
the impact of modern education.
Again, women are supposed to be unique refining influences, and many
of them certainly are. But quite a number of them are not. When a city woman,
believing more in the modern concepts of womens lib., is becoming increasingly aware of her rights in the world today, it is futile for the parents or the
husband to expect that she would confine herself to the kitchen and attend to

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her duties to the family with devotion and earnestness. Domesticity is, in fact,
no longer favoured by thousands of Indian women; they seek independence and
freedom from the boredom which they associate with the home and the care
of children. Why, they ask, should they be expected to serve their husbands
when the equality of sexes is guaranteed by the Indian Constitution? Why, so
runs the argument, must they be regarded as inferior human beings when they
are not so in any way?
It is not for nothing that the modern woman is believed to be jealous,
quarrelsome, selfish and more conscious of fashions, dress and physical makeup than need be. Are we to accept the modern woman as she is because our
society has become materialistic and there is all-round deterioration in moral
values and ethical standards of conduct? Are men any better in the performance
of their duty? What is the justification for men regarding themselves as superior beings? How many husbands, some people ask, share the domestic responsibilities with their wives? Can we blame the various declarations, such as the
Mexico Declaration on the Equality of Women, 1975, and the various resolutions passed by international organisations prescribing equal wages for equal
work? The Constitution of India also lays down that men and women are equal
in status and that there should not be any discrimination on grounds of sex in
any area of employment or in respect of rights and privileges.
But to deplore the attitudes of the modern woman is to ignore the majority of Indian women, especially in the rural areas, who toil at home day after
day, without grumbling and without a protest even when they are ill-treated by
their husbands. The vast majority of them are still devoted, self-effacing and
silent sufferers. Many of them have been debased and exploited, and yet they
continue to accept their fate as if it is ordained by God. To them the World Plan
of Action for improving the lot of women all over the world carries no meaning.
The Indian woman will continue to do her duty to her family, irrespective of
illness, indisposition and the general talk of womens lib.
The enlightened section of Indian womanhood several of them hold positions of responsibility, such as ministerships, managership, executive posts,
company control, policy-making assignments, educationists and there are some
legislators too. Mrs Vijaylakshmi Pandit was President of the U.N. General
Assembly for a year, and Mrs Indira Gandhi served as Prime Minister for over
a decade. They have brought credit to the country and some of them perform
their household duties too and do not neglect their children. Even today the
typical Indian woman has a better sense of responsibility, a better image in the
country and abroad and a more secure future than the women of the West who
frantically seek jobs and leave their husbands and children to look after themselves.

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It will be relevant to recall what Plato said about women. In his scheme of
things women are assigned a place of complete equality with man. The ancient
Indian sages have all regarded women as the very symbols of patience, fortitude and sacrifice. The recent talk of liberating women from the boredom verging on bondage has both a positive and a negative aspect. The loud pronouncements about the rights of women are valid up to a point; when overstressed they
are likely to lead to unpleasant consequences and distort Indian life in millions
of homes where the husband and the father are the principal wage earners and
where women are required by custom and tradition to look after the home and
the family.
In the Indian context, it is not incorrect to say that the modern liberated, fashionable and socially busy society women are ill-fits. The question
whether a world ruled by women would be free of corruption and frull of joy
and laughter seems irrelevant in such a context. Women are more honest than
men, it is true, but the physical disabilities and handicaps hardly make them
suitable for the onerous duties in the world outside the home. Only a small
minority of working women are successful; the majority of them are known to
be inefficient in administration and have little output.

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SPACE AND MANKIND


All available evidence points to the fact that the Universe is open and it is
ceaselessly expanding. Space means the whole universe, including the earth,
while outer space refers to space other than the earth; outer space begins where
the earths atmosphere ends and extends in all directions. Like the air we breathe,
space is everywhere and all round us. Most people describe space as the universe and do not distinguish between them. When the Universe was first talked
of, as an orderly unit, it was calledx the cosmos, to distinguish it from chaos or
disorder. The study of the cosmos was known as Cosmogony or Cosmology.
The popular references now are to space and space sciences. Space is a wholly
natural phenomenon and cannot either be created or destroyed by mankind,
while the space sciences are evolved by talented scientists, a part of mankind.
The observable universe has a diameter of 25 billion light years and the
number of galaxies it contains is still uncertain. Theories of space also differ,
and these are based on the flight of galaxies. Outer space is infinite; in fact it is
so vast that the usual terrestrial units of measurement hardly suit its dimensions.
The new units of measurement evolved by scientists are Light Years and the
Astronomical Unit. It is well known that light and sound are the two principal
media through which we gather our impressions of the external world.
The study of space and of outer space is, of course, not the common mans
cup of tea, but the interests of mankind are deeply involved when space is put to
certain uses, not all of which are peaceful. The use of space for civilian flights
within a country and for the worldwide air services which have brought mankind and continents closer than they ever were and which have established
means of communication unimagined by man even a few decades ago. In a
matter of hours a person can fly from one continent to another; the communications gap has been bridged by what seem to be fantastic means through space.
The dreamers and visionaries talk of One World has come true in this sense,
even though from the political and military angle the world stands as badly split
and torn asunder as ever. Thus in at least one way the vast expanse space has
been put to good use. Overland or sea routes take months for travelling from
one country to a distant one. Travel through space by aircraft of various types

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and sizes, jets, supersonic, jumbos and others, is a notable achievement of


mankind.
The air in space has also been used for radio broadcasts and television
programmes for instruction and entertainment. Radio waves with different wavelengths have been put to various uses. The spectacular advances in space technology during the past 25 years or so have enabled mankind to scan outer
space. Today we can study astral phenomena from groundbased radio, optical
and infra-red telescopes and also ultra-violet X-ray and Gamma ray telescopes
functioning above the atmosphere of the earth. While these telescopes operating through space and the atmosphere (which is an insulating blanket protecting the earth) have brought many benefits to mankind, it is the military use to
which space is being put that has been causing a great deal of worry to billions
of people.
Spacecraft and satellites launched by several progressive and technically
developed countries have become an index of scientific progress and of modern civilisation. But these satellites themselves are being put to a vast variety of
uses for broadcasting entertainment programmes, educational programmes, even
medical knowledge, and have thus been of immense benefit to the masses. In
fact, instruction and education through satellites stationed in space (in their
allotted places) is a potent instrument for mankinds progress. Through rapid
education will come all-round enlightenment and economic prosperity.
It is, however, the spy satellites, the nuclear aircraft, the bombers, the
orbiting military stations being set up in space by the Soviet Union and the
U.S.A. that pose a grave danger to mankind. These spies and nuclear equipped
spacecraft enable a big Power to keep an eye on the secret military preparations
of the other; the vicious circle thus set up defies description. The next world
war, it is said, will be fought not on land or on the sea but in space. When space
itself becomes an arena of terrible and highly destructive warfare, with the
inevitable nuclear fall-out over many continents, the resultant havoc to mankind can be well imagined. Rocketry and missiles have opened the way for
ceaseless space exploration and the epoch-making landing of man on the moon.
Atomic power has been harnessed for peaceful purposes, it is true, but the
highly destructive uses to which space is likely to be put during a full-scale war
between the giant powers is difficult even to imagine.
Space has thus been put by various countries to different uses, both peaceful
and dangerous to global security. So far as can be foreseen, the position will
continue because of the failure of the major countries to reach any agreement
on the uses to which space can be put. Advanced space technologies can certainly be put to fruitful uses such as solving the basic problems of man and
society. Grandiose space schemes are however best avoided by less affluent

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countries, despite its great potentialities. Care by mankind is especially called


for because danger constantly lurks in the sky.

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VOLUNTARY ORGANISATIONS
Official agencies admittedly form an essential constituent of the governmental set-up in every country, but nowhere can they perform all the functions
and tasks which the people expect of them. The role which such agencies play
has to be supplemented by non-official or voluntary organisations comprising
workers inspired by the spirit of social and national service, without any expectations of regular salaries or other material rewards and perquisites. Such agencies make a substantial contribution to positive and constructive activity, filling in the gaps and carrying on other useful activity the importance of which is
being increasingly recognised in the modern State.
For several decades the Government of India was indifferent to voluntary
organisations. The vital impact of volunteers work during the countrys freedom struggle was forgotten. Most of the national activity in those years was
conducted on a voluntary basis; at best some of the workers received a petty
subsistence allowance to keep their body and soul together. In this connection
we may recall the work done in the rural areas, caste-ridden societies, the tribal
regions, and among women to facilitate their social transformation, by voluntary organisations established by G.K. Gokhale, Mahadev Ranade, Bal
Gangadhar Tilak and Lala Lajpat Rai.
As a matter of fact, India has for decades been famous for its voluntary
agencies, their mechanism and methods of collaboration. Some of the wellknown voluntary organisations currently doing valuable public service are the
Harijan Sevak Sangh, the Bharatiya Depressed Classes League, the Indian Red
Cross Society, the Ramakrishna Mission, the Servants of India Society and the
Social Work Centre (Rajasthan).
Official recognition of the vital role which non-official agencies can play
was indicated recently through the Central Governments policy clarification.
The Government now seeks the widest possible participation of voluntary organisations in the whole range of nation-building and development activity.
The Government has called for voluntary action for womens uplift, child welfare, family planning, and in health, sanitation, educational, social and economic fields. This alone can involve massive involvement in programmes; in

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fact, such schemes are ineffective unless mass participation and community
action are assured. In the area of rural reconstruction and poverty eradication,
in particular, the contribution of voluntary organisations has been considerable.
These workers command the local peoples confidence while officials of various categories are regarded as outsiders merely carrying on their prescribed
duties and then disappearing like birds of passage.
Voluntary bodies, especially those working at the grassroots level, can
render service of which official agencies and their staff are incapable. Unfortunately, many high officials, for reasons which smack of prejudice and mistrust,
dislike voluntary organisations. During the Emergency (1975-77), for instance,
most of the voluntary agencies became suspect. Very often there is lack of
encouragement by the Government and the necessary atmosphere conducive to
voluntary work is lacking. As a result, according to a recent study, substantial
funds sanctioned under various schemes for voluntary work have remained
unutilised.
It is now officially conceded that the selection of intended beneficiaries
(the individuals and groups for whom certain economic assistance and constructive employment programmes are drawn up) is better in every way and the
peoples genuine participation is also greater if voluntary agencies are brought
into the picture in a planned manner. Implementation of Government programmes
implemented through officials suffers from various shortcomings and deficiencies bureaucratic attitudes, red-tapism, delays, complacency, lack of earnestness and of sincerity among the workers, waste and leakage of funds, corruption. No wonder the overall results are poor despite the heavy expenditure.
Human beings are nowhere perfect, but experience has shown that voluntary workers, especially when they are given certain incentives, provided with
the requisite facilities and are not looked upon with disfavour by officials, can
ensure better results in the social and economic arenas. They have shown initiative as well as enterprise. They have adopted new paths and motivated large
sections of the masses while officials are able to create only temporary fervour
and enthusiasm.
The tragedy is that many voluntary organisations, except those which enjoy the patronage of high-ups at the Central or State levels, have been compelled to fold up owing to several adverse circumstances, including intense
rivalries and lack of adequate funds and workers. Unless they are regarded as
partners in progress and accorded their due place (just as the role of the private
sector in the planned economy is described as vital), they cannot function without let or hindrance. Since the field is now wide open for voluntary organisations, the prospects of expediting national reconstruction are brighter.

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EXPERIENCE OF A JOINT FAMILY


The word family comes from the Latin word familia, which means
household. This was truly applicable to a joint family in India. Living together
under the same roof with grandparents, their sons and grandsons, with their
wives and children, is indeed a unique experience, especially in Indian villages.
The earnings of every adult member go into a common fund or pool out of
which all expenditure is incurred.
The final authority in family matters is the grandfather, but the grandmother has authority over all the younger women in the family. There was
extended kinship in the real sense of the word. Family ties were close and
highly commendable. There is a common kitchen and there is no question of
even newly married couples having separate arrangements for cooking and
eating food. The parental hold on the children was remarkable; defiance of
elders was unthinkable. There was total and genuine respect for all elders, and
firm discipline was maintained.
Joint families, like the autonomous village community and the caste system, were distinctive features of the Indian social structure for centuries. Since
all the members were joint sharers in the common property of the family, inheritance was by survivorship and the principle of primogeniture, the eldest son
succeeding to the property of his father on the latters demise. Women seldom
enjoyed equality of status. In fact, they were all too preoccupied with domestic
duties and chores to think of rights and privileges.
But the joint family system has been rapidly breaking up in India as a
result of the increasing individualistic and independent attitudes of grown-up
children. In a joint family there is no scope for individual initiative or enterprise. My experience has been that there is far too much of suppression, implicit, blind obedience to the eldest members dictates, even when these commands are irrational, biassed and disciminative in nature and impact. A joint
family allows for no argument, dissent or discussion; it is all command on one
side and obedience on the other. Disobedience is almost unimaginable. There is
seldom any case of a rebel, defiant child.
After marriage, I found that we had all to eat what was cooked in the

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common family kitchen, whether the food was to our taste or not. In fact in no
aspect of life was there individual freedom. Personal choice in any matter was
virtually ruled out. It all amounted to a silent, rigid life. The women had hardly
any liberty to move out of the house or dress as they pleased, or to establish
friendship with other women of their age group. The social inhibitions were
many; personal liberties few.
The caste system further imposed social restrictions. Every member, male
or female, was bound by the customs, traditions and culture to which the elders
were habituated. Little wonder that there was no opportunity for the development of individual personality. Life was dull and boring; there was no variety,
which is rightly regarded as the spice of life. Nor was every one happy and
contented though the system had perforce to be accepted as inevitable, as if
ordained by God.
There certainly was social and economic security for all members. No
member of the joint family, elder and youngster, had to bother about food and
shelter problems which cause a great deal of worry to people who are living
separately and entirely on their own limited resources.
Expenditure on illness also came from the common kitty. But this didnt
ensure happiness always. Each couple in olden times had a fairly large number
of children, the belief being that there would be shelter and food for every
additional pair of hands. The fires of the common kitchen would be kept burning all the day through. The feeding system was very much like the community
kitchen.
As compared to the busy, crowded joint family establishment in sprawling, though old-fashioned, badly ventilated and congested ancestral mansions,
the small, separate homes of couples choosing to live away from their parents
often look like empty shells when both husband and wife are away to work.
Under the traditional joint family system, women were never allowed to
take up employment elsewhere, though many of them worked on the familys
jointly owned farm, small or big. But in modern times, women, both before and
after marriage, take up employment in offices and factories to supplement the
family income. In joint families there was no incentive for supplementing the
parents or husbands income; nor was there any eagerness to maintain or enhance the standard of living.
In the joint family one had to suffer silently; no voices were raised and no
protests were made. Joint families are wholly unsuitable for modern social and
economic conditions. As was inevitable, the system has broken up in most
places under the mounting modern pressures of various types. There are very
few exceptions of joint families now, and even these may not last long.

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INDIAN CINEMA: GOOD VS BAD


Hindi masala films are cinematic litter. In order to accept them, one must
exercise willing suspension of disbelief. Even then a sensitive viewer gets
shifty at senseless scenes, situations and characters. Often, all three in a combination. The viewer cannot help craving for the credible.
Barring the mindless masses who see films for catharsis, our viewers expect cinema which has at least some semblance reality, at least. The means films
which mirror our time.
True, there is difficulty in rendering masala films as interpretors of the
contemporary society. Thus, cinema has been imbalanced and grotesque. Some
bits of reality are portrayed but they are outclassed by perversities, distortions,
and inanities. An armless Sanjeev Kumar subjugating Gabbar Singh is pitiable
than heroic.
There is truth in this contention. There are few realistic films on India,
80% of which lives in villages. There is a glut of those dealing with lusty, greedy
zaminars and money-lenders. Yet, the bulk of 80% population lives in villages,
and the modernisation process touches them only marginally. The dramatic
changes this brings about in the life of a family and changes in human relationships and values, are ignored.
Garam Hawa, a tragic cinematic essay on the life of a family in the wake
of the partition, falls into good, realistic category.
Also, some of the features of present history have never been dramastised
in the fiction format (life is springboard for fiction), while incidental and unexceptional subjects are repeated by our high-budget film-makers.
In this mindless masala stuff, the less articulate sections of society are
overlooked. This does not mean that they are the least important, or that their
share in shaping contemporary life is unimportant. They are often confined to
documentaries.
Violent and crime films are the pet themes. Despite the unfortunate spurt
in crime, the proportion of murders in our midst is mercifully not as formidable
as it is made out to be!
Killings, lootings, rapes, according to our cinema, strike again and again.

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Crime pays in seeking social justice, has become the most popular line in
Hindi showbusiness world.
The treatment in any populist crime film is akin to near-perfect. The implications look impressive, until one sees how non-committal the maker is.
Each case of so-called injustice appears to bbe an isolated case, suggesting vendetta and violence as only possible solutions. Nothing could be more
artificial and non-realistic than this anti-social approach.
One reason of lack of realism in Hindi films is its unwillingness to grapple
with real issues. On the contrary, there is all too familiar willingness to embrace
cliches which cover its lack of moral or artistic content and conviction.
In some films, the honourable job is assigned to the heroine as in Zakhmi
Aurat and Insaf Ki Devi. The characterization is laughable, if not sad! The hero
becomes an appendageunwanted like the sixth finger!
Projection of women is another sickening aspect of our films. Whether it
is mother, sister, wife, mistress, beloved or vamp, it is the same story of a character distorted into grotesque proportions.
Mother is a door-mat, a self-sacrificing woman who puts Sita to shame.
Much the same could be said of the sister who, in any case, is wronged and
seduced by bad characters.
The love girl is sex personified. She wears less clothing but more seductive smiles. She gets chased in public parks, school or college is teased and
tormented all in the name of pyar and finally surrenders to her tormentor. She
falls in love!
Absurdity touches its acme when a decent woman goes out for a job. She
at once runs into smugglers, pistol-wielding goondas and ruffians who take her
to the oldest profession.
Love is a nobel sentiment. What happens on the silver screen? Anything
but silvery. Women do fall in love. But they do not fall the way they fall in our
films. She sheds all inhibitions. She sings, dances and does all sorts of things,
even in public parks. Never mind if she is a doctor, a professor or a highly
placed person in society. All that matters is love. It is dil and sachi mohabaat.
The tragedy is that our makers cannot bring the film story down to the
level of everyday reality. Reasons are: poor scripts, lack of human depth and
directors who have no mastery over their crafts manship.
Traditional film-making in India has remained in a perpetual quagmire.
It did not call for evolution of new sysmbols, but the pinpointing of familiar
fragments of visible reality and endowing them with a particular meaning in a
particular context. The audience is expected to see (read) a film in the way its
maker wants it to see.

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INFLUENCE OF FILMS ON YOUNG PEOPLE


Going to the pictures has now become a craze with young people, both
boys and girls, and it has been noticed that they often economise on other items
of expenditure but they must see films every week, if not twice or thrice a week.
A healthy hobby is, of course, to be welcomed but seeing films too frequently is
far from such a hobby. This fast growing habit is not only expensive (because of
the high rates of admission to cinema halls) but also results in considerable
waste of precious time which can certainly be devoted to healthier, less wasteful and more gainful pursuits.
If Indian films had been well and properly made, with a sound educative
theme forming a part of the story, the harm done to youth would have been
much less than it actually is. But the tragedy is that most Indian films present
scenes of sex, violence, crime and other deviations from normal human behaviour. The pernicious influence of films is thus obvious. When grossly vulgar
and crude romantic scenes are presented on the screen, along with songs and
duets, and when boys are shown chasing girls, indulging in improper jokes, and
singing catchy, lilting tunes, it is no wonder that young boys imitate the screen
heroes in everyday life and try to turn what they see in films into realities.
Education and other experts have repeatedly found that the main source
of eve-teasing and assaults on girls in our towns and cities, in the market place
and elsewhere, is the cinema. Young people see on the screen a hero running
after a heroine, approaching and tempting her in subtle ways. Such talk and
gestures naturally catch the attention of the immature cinema fans and affect
their thinking and conduct. Thus the social fabric and the morals of the young
people are adversely affected.
The efforts of parents and teachers to give their boys and girls sound
education and to teach them good, ethical behaviour and good morals in order
that they may become good citizens are thus defeated. The parents own hardearned money is spent by their grown-up boys and girls in seeing films which
have an adverse impact on character and morals, apart from queering the pitch
for the training for good citizenship.
The cinema, it is said, can serve as a good medium of education and in-

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struction, and the message that can be conveyed through films cannot be conveyed as effectively through any other channel, such as the radio, because of
the colourful, visual impact made by gorgeously dressed girls conducting themselves in a particular fashion, defying their parents and guardians, challenging
their judgement, describing them as old-fashioned etc., walking out of their
houses at odd hours and sometimes marrying the hero secretly and then creating awkward situations or giving major shocks to their parents. The love scenes,
the amorous couples, the stereotyped formula stories and the eternal triangle
all create an effect that is far from healthy or conducive to good morals and
good conduct.
The modern cinema propagates false social values and specialises in presenting artificial situations, far too much of make-believe, deception and hypocrisy. The tragedy is that the general standard of Indian films, poor as it has
been, has been deteriorating in recent years. The trend is towards imitating
Western films with their faminine liberties, free mixing up of the sexes which
violate Indian culture, cabaret scenes and semi- naked human postures. Young
boys and girls are attracted by the affluence and glamour they see on the screen,
and there are many cases of youth either running away from home or pressing
their parents to let them go to Bombay to take up the film line. Each cinemacrazy boy and girl (especially those having an attractive personality) thinks he
or she can prosper like the heroes and the stars seen on the screen. All the
stories they hear of top stars being paid lakhs of rupees for each film and
living in grand style proves irresistible. Thousands of young boys and girls
have virtually ruined themselves in the senseless quest for becoming cinema
stars. Only a handful of talented actors and actresses prosper, while most of
the young aspirants have to face intense frustration and utter disappointment
because everyone cannot become a cinema hero or heroine. Most of them have
to remain content with secondary or supporting roles, sometimes not even that.
Another notable aspect of the situation is that whenever some enterprising producer presents a simple, true-to-life story, based on the works of famous
short story or fiction writers as Prem Chand or Sarat Chandra, such films, and
also art films free of glamour, seldom prove successful and prove to be flops at
the box office. The modern audiences want songs and dances, spectacle and
gorgeous costumes, love scenes and fights. What sort of citizens can the country hope to produce when the films the young see are totally misleading, lack
aesthetical values. The film censors also seem to be more liberal than ever and
allow sex and violent scenes which have a bad effect on the mental make-up of
youth. Visiting the cinemas too often at the cost of class lectures and by missing
lectures also spoil the education of youth. Instead of imbibing the basic virtues

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of life, our youth begin to think of flirting and seducing, like the screen heroes.
The youth imbibe negative social values. Both rural and urban youth thus fall
victims to vicious temptations. It is not contended that there should be a total
ban on films. But steps should certainly be taken to see that good instructive
films are made, not trash and ruinous presentations merely to cater to cheap
tastes.

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SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY OF
FILM-MAKERS
India is one of the worlds major film producers, next only, in respect of
the number of motion pictures produced, to the U.S.A. and Japan. Moreover, in
a country like India where the literacy percentage is only 36, the cinema and
television (TV) are the best and the most effective audio-visual media; they
open the flood-gates of communication and heighten the effectiveness and acceptability of the message sought to be conveyed. The cinema in particular is
the easiest medium to reach the masses in the country because television is
confined largely to the urban areas, the community reception centres in the
rural areas being very limited and these, too, not in full working order.
But the quality of Indian films is distinctly poor; the stories and the method
of presentation of various situations are hackneyed and obsolete. They conform
to a set, all-too-familiar formula, the departures being few and far between, and
where certain film producers show initiative and try to present make a bold
breakthrough in a bid to create pictures of great social utility, the lack of adequate responses by the audiences (poor box-office returns) act as a damper
and a source of discouragement. The result is a return to commercialisation, the
craze for the box-office, cheap popularity and the demand of the masses so as
to make profits or at least to ensure satisfactory returns on the heavy investment
generally made in the productions, partly because of the fabulous fees of the
top stars, the attractive leading heroes and heroines, who dictate their terms
and whose names attract large crowds.
It is indeed unfortunate that our film producers forget their social responsibility the duty of imparting real education and instruction to the masses, to rid
them of superstitions and false beliefs and notions. While films should enlighten them on various issues and thus promote the causes which the Government pursues, they concentrate only on entertainment, dances and songs, cheap
love scenes and lilting, catchy tunes. Instead of presenting life as it is and as it
should be in a country such as India, our film producers create false values,
generally present stories of affluent classes, of life in bungalows and palaces,

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gorgeous dresses and costumes, eye-catching dresses and artificial situations


far removed from the actualities of Indian life. The craze for Western styles of
dress and living, the cabarets and the dances, etc., also reflect a failure to discharge the film producers social responsibility.
The cinema can certainly act as an effective and highly useful instrument
of social change, a change in the outmoded attitudes and customs, especially in
the rural areas. Instead, Indian films lay stress on deportment and dating (open
or secret meetings of handsome boys and girls) by the urban youth. It is true
that traditions die hard and that social change is a matter of evolution and is a
time-consuming process. Social reformers often use the religious cover to usher
in radical ideas and propagate a noble ideology. The cinema is unrivalled in
many ways as a communications medium, but whatever little it does by way of
conveying sound and healthy messages is confined, by and large, to the urban
and the semi-urban areas. The real fulfilment of social responsibility is needed
in the rural areas where, unfortunately, only the cheap and worn-out films permeate, mostly because of the lack of good theatres and cinema halls.
It must be recognised, however, that Hindi films, or rather Hindustani
films, have helped to command an all-India market, thus making this language
popular and understandable in all parts of the country. It is a factor worth noting
that even in Tamil Nadu and certain other South Indian areas, where there is a
strong anti-Hindi fervour, Bombay-made Hindi films are popular. It is true,
however, that if the cinema is to institute the desired social changes, the regional films must conform more and more to the national ethos. Through welldeveloped techniques the films in regional languages can be dubbed.
It is also a notable and highly regrettable fact that the Indian cinema remains, by and large, reactionary and hence incapable of discharging its social
duty. Like all industrialists, film makers too have a distinct social responsibility, and they must not forget their duty towards society in their craze for making
profits by all popular techniques, even by pampering to cheap tastes of the
masses. They reflect a deplorable lack of the sense of citizenship when they
make cheap, substandard films merely because these bring them more profits.
Our films seldom give adequate food for serious thought.

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FILMS AND INDIAN CULTURE


The cinema is unrivalled as a mass communication medium in a country
of Indias dimensions and diversities, especially in rural areas. India produces
more films every year than any other country except the U.S.A., whose cinema
city Hollywood is widely known as the worlds biggest centre of its kind and a
trend setter on the silver screen. But the tragedy is that most of the Indian films,
whether in Hindi or in the various regional languages, depict scenes of luxurious life in palatial houses or the five-star culture associated with artificial
living and the most prosperous section of society.
These films present scenes of violent crime and other types of abnormal
behaviour, besides incredible situations. True-to-life stories, reflecting the normal conditions in the country, are filmed only once in a while. For the most part,
it is false, misleading glamour all the way, costumes, ultra-modern make-up
and deportment and Western ways of living, with pop music, cabaret scenes,
sensual dances and romantic episodes are seductively presented.
These create false impressions, arouse abnormal feelings, promote eveteasing and in some cases prompt criminal acts. Indian film-makers often copy
Western films, and think that scenes showing semi-naked, attractive girls jumping about, displaying their wares and running after each other, can ensure
commercial success. It is the lure of the box office that has turned films into an
instrument for exploitation of the masses by catering to the baser instincts.
Indian social standards and our cultural values are totally different, but so
distorted have the tastes of the cinema goers become that films which are based
on harsh Indian realities, rather than the world of make-believe and hypocrisy,
do not become popular and have to be taken off after short runs of a week or
two. Such films prove to be losing propositions.
The formula for popularity adopted by almost all film producers comprises colourful song-and-dance sequences, with catchy tunes thrown in on
every possible occasion. Surely these do not represent Indian culture. While
parents and sincere teachers try to instruct children on the right lines, stressing
the importance of truth, character, honesty, devotion to duty, ethical values,
good morals and respect for elders, the films are based on unrealistic stories

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and depict situations which are wholly un-Indian.


Culture is a source of ultimate values held by a particular society which it
seeks to express in its institutions, feelings, art and artistic creations. But our
films seem totally differnt from Indian art and Indian ethos, knowledge and
essential unity of outlook. Young boys and girls are very fond of seeing modern
films (they even miss school or college classes and play truant at other places),
and the effect on their character and general mental approach towards life is
often ruinous. They seem to think that living in grand style, dressing as film
stars do and reckless indulgence in wasteful entertainment are all part of life
which they should try to emulate. No wonder all the efforts of the Government
and of sensible parents to make good citizens out of the younger generations
misfire.
Like most industrialists, businessmen and profiteers, Indias film producers forget their social responsibilities. Through films they can help build character and inculcate commendable qualities. They can promote the efforts to rid
the country of superstitions and obsolete beliefs. They can enlighten the masses
by educating them even while providing entertainment. But they do no such
thing. Their emphasis is almost exclusively on cheap, frivolous entertainment.
Cultural traditions have been almost drowned in commercial gimmicks.
Moreover, the quality of Indian films continues to deteriorate. There is
no sign of a renaissance in the Indian cinema. Scenes of violence are being
continually presented on the silver screen as if villains indulging in the use of
the gun and fighting hand-to-hand battles are an important of our cultural background. It is true that Indian culture is not all spiritual or religious or wholly
asceticism. But it does stand for high ideals of duty and conduct and for noble
ideals. It has a universality of outlook and has promoted a synthesis even when
confronted with conflicting views. Most Indian films do not reflect this culture.
The censors have failed to protect the interests of the young (who constitute the majority of cinema goers today), or to prevent the repeated cinemative
onslaughts on Indian culture. Those who argue that it is quite unrealistic to
shield young people from the facts of aggression and violence forget that exaggeration of such evils certainly develops a wrong perspective in the minds of
those who are exposed to such depiction almost week by week. It is no surprise
that countless Indians have imbibed negative social values which are wholly
contradictory to Indian culture.

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JUDGE A MAN BY THE WAY HE SPENDS


LEISURE
A man or womans free time, when there is nothing specific to do and no
duty to perform may be described as his or her leisure. It is generally agreed
that leisure enables a person to do what one likes sleep, walk about, go for an
adventure and be wholly oneself for some time. Without some leisure life would
become a heavy burden and totally unbearable. It would not be wrong to say
that there would be hardly any art, literature, crafts, poetry or philosophy if
there is no leisure, for all these are the products of spare time when there is no
restriction or limitation. Diversity in various areas of activity also depends on
leisure; the more the leisure the greater the diversity, and the more the colour in
the countrys life and living.
But it is possible to judge the culture, education and mental development
of a person by the way he spends his leisure. Those who merely while away or
waste time twiddling their thumbs or remaining idle, or sleeping for long hours
even after a good nights rest, or spend their spare time quarrelling with members of their family or just loaf about cannot be called a cultured or mentally
developed people. He is ignorant and of human values a wasteful type; for,
leisure has also to be meaningfully and purposefully utilised. When we are
much too busy with our daily chores, either in office, factory or at home, to read
the books we like or indulge in other constructive and gainful activity, or attend
to the duties remaining after the previous days or weeks busy schedule, we
show a lack of the true sense of citizenship and unawareness of how leisure
should be utilised.
Obviously, leisure should be treated as opportunity for fruitful activity
and creativeness. It is through creativity, the feeling that we have achieved something in a healthy sphere of human activity that we can promote our and our
familys well being. Time is undoubtedly the most precious thing on earth; it
can never be called back; one hour or a day wasted is gone for ever, never to
return. The hours and the minutes tickle past us constantly, and it is said that
time and tide wait for no one. This realisation should make us all fully con-

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scious of the value of time and of leisure, for leisure is, after all, time that we
spend according to our choice. And our culture and capacity, our education and
our sense of good citizenship are all reflected in the use we make of leisure.
There are people who are so material minded, and so anxious to earn and
save money, that they believe leisure should be utilised for supplementing ones
earnings so as to make up for the deficit in the family budget caused by inadequate incomes and ever-mounting expenditure and prices. But that would mean
taking a narrow and worldly view of leisure. Repetitive tasks certainly lead to
boredom, and the frantic continuation of the money-earning process, by working overtime or taking up some other boring work during the leisure hours,
merely adds to the burdens of life. In such cases there would be no difference
between regular working days and ones holidays during which we should have
some change in our occupation and enrich our minds in one way or the other.
Of course, too much leisure means mere idleness and is hardly helpful in
ones life. Leisure and rest are appreciated only when there is enough work
during the rest of the week or the month. Excess or surfeit of leisure is, therefore, inadvisable; there must be a sense of proportion, that is, a period of sustained work, followed by a break or rest or change, to refresh the mind and the
body. Strain during days or hours of leisure defeats the very purpose of providing leisure and giving holidays.
Typical examples of people merely wasting their leisure are provided by
the countrys youth who have many weeks of vacation every year from the
colleges and universities but do little constructive work either for their own
mental and intellectual enrichment or for the social good. Efforts have been
made at many centres of education to persuade the students to take to useful
activity, according to their taste or preference, during the long summer vacations, but very limited success has been achieved in this area. Our youth prefer
to waste time in gossip, scandalous talk, personal, defamatory or libellous conversation, outright censure and condemnation of everyone else, not excluding
their own teachers, Principals, and sometimes their parents. That, surely, is
gross abuse of precious leisure.
All the talk of enjoying ones holidays contains many wrong notions
about leisure. One can enjoy leisure even while doing some other useful
work, such as social service, helping the weak, the handicapped elders and the
hapless, educating the illiterate. In our country the vast majority urgently need
instruction and enlightenment from those who are better placed in life and have
had the benefit of education. And yet it is the height of callousness and a distinct failure of ones duty as a wideawake citizen if we are selfish and ignore
our social responsibility because there is no punishment of any kind yet devised by even the most powerful administrator or dictator for those who kill

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time and waste their leisure. But this does not mean that we should become
irresponsible and wasteful or that we would behave and conduct ourselves better only under the fear of some punishment.
A persons mental, moral and intellectual development can be judged by
this yardstick. Does he know how to make the best possible use of leisure? Of
course there is no uniformity in this area; people can, and do, use their leisure
hours differently depending upon their circumstances. But while a good intelligent citizen uses his leisure gainfully, a bad, careless and irresponsible citizen
merely wastes his time when there is leisure.
Examples have been known in history of people who have utilised their
leisure to overcome their crippling weaknesses and handicaps. The story goes
that in ancient Greece, Demosthenes, who was a stammerer and was conscious
of his handicap even though he wanted to become a great orator, overcame his
handicap during his spare time by putting pebbles in his mouth, shouting and
speaking hour after hour against the noise of the sea waves. After some time he
discovered that, as a result of the prolonged practice he could speak clearly,
fairly well and without stammering. Leisure thus can be used to overcome deficiencies, and add an extra dimension to our character and capacities. It all
depends on how we spend it.

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CIVILISATION AND CRIME


Everyday the morning papers bring news of dacoities and murders,
kidnappings and rapes, hold-ups of trains and hijackings of planes, adulteration
of foodstuffs, drugs and even of poisons. All this makes one sit up and wonder
whether crime is inseparable from civilized life. We appear to live on an earth
of well-dressed gangs.
Men have been barbarians much longer than they have been civilized.
They are only precariously civilized and deep within them there is the propensity, persistent as the force of gravity to revert to our first natures. Small wonder
that under stress and strain the most civilized people are as near barbarism as
the most polished steel is to rust. Nations, like metals have only a superficial
brilliancy.
Compared with our wonderful progress in physical service and practical
applications, our system of government, of administering justice of national
education, and our whole social and moral organization, remains in a state of
barbarism. The wealth and knowledge and culture of the few do not constitute
civilization. Shaw has castigated our superficial civilization in words bitter but
true: Our laws make law impossible; our liberties destroy all freedom; our
property is organized robbery; our morality is an impudent hypocrisy; our wisdom is administered by in-experinced or mal-exeprienced dupes, our power
wielded by cowards and weaklings, and our honour false in all its points.
Crime and violence are inherent in our political and social system. The
poor are always with us said Christ and the believer reconciled himself to his
lot. But the time comes when it is asserted that poverty is man-made and stems
from the inequity of the wicked system that obtains. The covert crime begets
the overt crime.
The biggest of all crimes that we associate with this civilization is the
horror of war. War today is murder on a gigantic scale. At one time it was
thought a few hundred corpses would be enough; then came a time when thousands were still too few and today we cannot even count all the dead wherever
we look. And the irony is that this large-scale killing, this organized butchery is
eulogized in glowing terms, and Victoria Crosses are awarded. Besides, being

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organized murder, war is also organized loot. All efforts are directed towards
crippling the economy of the enemy. The atom bomb was thrown not on Tokyo,
the capital of Japan but on Hiroshima, the industrial hub of that country. The
outcome of war in the modern world is unpayable debts, repudiations, ruined
investments, the utter disorganization of finance, the collapse of the monetary
system, the disappearance of the greater part of foreign trade, and, usually, on
top of it, revolution from below. Here then is a crime which does not pay.
The crimes of extreme civilization are probably worse than those of extreme barbarism, because of their refinement, the corruption they presuppose
and their superior degree of intellectuality. The barbarian hacked the enemy to
pieces; the civilized man tortures him mentally, wins him financially and then,
if necessary liquidates him physically. Politicians are past masters in this sordid
game. The barbarian was cruel but open-handed, his descendant today is no
less cruel but hypocritical.
The barbarian was a beast, with beastly appetites. He was a tiger, an ape,
a camel, a goat in turn, whatever suited the occasion. After all it was a struggle
for survival, for him. He acted like an automation. There was no consciousness
of crime. The modern civilized man perpetrates crime deliberately. He hoards
foodstuffs with a view to selling them at the opportune moment. And in the
meantime millions are starved to death. Bengal famine was a glaring example
of this sordid game.
The civilized man stabs in the dark. His crimes wear a thick cloak.

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CONCEPT AND SIGNIFICANCE OF


HUMAN RIGHTS
Human suffering and misery in the remotest part of the world invariably
affects the whole family of man. Man has to suffer, not only when the part of the
world in which he is residing is visited by natural calamities like earthquakes,
famines, floods, diseases etc., but occasionally also at the hands of men driven
mad by power political, economic or social. In both types of situations response from the rest of humanity is spontaneous. In the former case, it takes the
form of efforts to bring relief to the stricken. But whenever man has been made
to suffer at the hands of other men, the conscience of humanity has been outraged, and the cry has gone round for some sort of guarantees to afford protection to him against the tyranny of his fellow human beings, so that he can be
assured of at least his rights to life, liberty and security of person.
Situations in which the call has gone out for such guarantees have arisen
when a State has failed to protect foreigners against abuse by local authorities,
or has adopted an oppressive or discriminatory attitude towards minorities or
racial groups. There are quite a few such black spots in the annals of man. In the
nineteenth century, heart-rending tales of atrocities committed by white slave
traders on poor, ignorant Africans gave rise to cries of protest in Europe and
America. Similarly, the massacre of minorities in some countries in the middle
east horrified the world. Nearer our times, before and during World War II, the
atrocities perpetrated by Hitlers Germany on the jews gave rise to wide-spread
insistence that some mechanism must be evolved to assure international protection for basic human rights.
In fact such demands had been voiced earlier also. Through a series of
treaties concluded after World War II, several European countries had accepted
special obligations for the protection of racial and religious minorities, and had
given the League of Nations the right to supervise the fulfilment of these obligations. But all this could not save thousands of German jews who were exterminated by the Nazis. Therefore, after the Second World War had come to a
conclusion and the victors met in San Francisco to draw up the blueprint of a

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new world free of strike, voices were raised urging that provisions covering
human rights should be included in the Charter of the United Nations. As a
result, the Conference accepted as one among the purposes of the United Nations to achieve international co-operation... in promoting and encouraging
respect for human rights and for the fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to race, sex, language or religion (Article 1 of the U.N. Charter).
The Charter specifically referred to human rights and fundamental freedoms
at six other places, but it did not go beyond saying that the world body was to
promote respect for them and to encourage their observance. Neither did it
define these rights and freedoms in precise terms.
As the Charter, thus, did not create any definite obligations for the United
Nations to fulfil, the task of drawing up a declaration of general principles and
a treaty containing binding obligations was entrusted to a Commission the United
Nations Commission on Human Rights.
The Declaration drawn up by the Commission recognized two types of
human rights, viz., (i) civil and political, e.g., life, liberty and security of person, freedom from arbitrary arrest, imprisonment or exile, right to a fair trial,
freedom of thought, conscience and religion and freedom of peaceful assembly
and association, and (ii) economic, social and cultural rights, e.g., rights to
work, social security, education, participation in the cultural life of the community, sharing in scientific advancement and its benefits and enjoying the arts.
The declaration was adopted by the U.N. General Assembly at its session held
in Paris in 1948 and declared to be a common standard of achievement for all
peoples and all nations, to the end that every individual and every organ of
society, keeping this Declaration constantly in mind, shall strive by teaching
and education to promote respect for these rights and freedoms and by progressive measures, national and international, to secure their universal and effective
recognition and observance.
Although the Declaration defined human rights, yet there were more than
one opinions as to its effect. Some wanted to accord to it the status of an international treaty or agreement whereas there were others who refused to accept it
as a statement of legal obligations. In any case, it had served to enunciate in
precise terms the obligations which members of the U.N. had already accepted
while subscribing to its Charter. On its basis, the General Assembly condemned
the apartheid legislation enacted by South Africa as contrary to the Charter
and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
To make the enforcement of human rights more effective, the General
Assembly charged the Commission on Human Rights with drawing up two covenants in treaty form one covering civil and political rights and the other dealing with economic, social and cultural rights. The task was beset with difficul-

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ties but the Commission fulfilled it and the two covenants were unanimously
adopted by the world today. These covenants define the rights referred to in the
Declaration even more precisely and also embody provisions directing signatory States to enforce the civil and political rights through legislative action
and provision of adequate remedies against violation of such rights. The enforcement of economic, social and cultural rights has, however, been made
contingent upon availability of resources. The measures of implementation
embodied in the covenants also envisage arrangements for an international review of the manner in which States carry out their obligations under them.
Ultimately, the sanction behind this body of international law which has
been created on the subject are the universal dictates of humanity. That is why
the Declaration and the relative covenants may sometimes appear to be transgressing a States right to deal with its citizens as it sees fit. But till the ideal of
one world has been achieved, it is certain that no international organization will
be able to over-ride the authority of supreme national bodies in each State.
However, it can be expected that States will find inspiration for their
attitudes and actions in the standards set by the international community represented in the United Nations. The main instrument at the disposal of the world
body is exposure to world public opinion. The reporting procedure under the
international covenants is designed to give publicity to the progress made by
each country in enforcing human rights and the obstacles it encountered in the
process.
Although this is about all that the international community can do to
enforce human rights, yet humanity will under-rate the task at its own peril.
States which do not recognise basic human rights or deny them to their citizens
are, sooner or later, bound to find themselves heading towards political and
social unrest.
Men cannot hope to rid the world of the scourge of civil and international
conflicts nor make it a safe place till they have created for each member of the
human race conditions of life which allow for full development and unrestricted
use of human intelligence and capabilities, so that man should not only be able
to satisfy his physical and spiritual needs, but also seek fulfilment in other
ways. Till this has been assured, the fires of strife and conflict will go on smouldering in the world and lasting peace on earth will remain an empty dream,
therein lies the significance of human rights and their enforcement.

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EVILS OF INDUSTRIALIZATION
Now-a-days industrialization is regarded as the measure of economic
development and material progress achieved by a country. Economists categorise the nations of the world as developed or highly industrialized and developing which means on the way to becoming industrialized. The former are
rich in material wealth and their people enjoy high standards of living. As
compared to them, the latter are backward and an overwhelming majority of
their population is poor. From this it would however be wrong to conclude that
industrialization has been an unmixed blessing for man.
The process of industrialization can be said to have had its beginnings in
Europe in the eighteenth century. It has been continuing ever since in different
places and at different times. That is how in the contemporary world we see that
whereas countries like the U.S.A. and the West European nations are entering
their second industrial revolutions, late-comers like India and China have just
made a start in that direction. The socio-economic impact of industrialization
has, however, been similar everywhere.
Wherever it has started and as it has progressed, industrialization has
brought about a very profound and many-sided transformation in society. It has
served to draw away men and women from agriculture, the main occupation of
mankind since the beginnings of civilization, and introduced them to new ways
of working, living and thinking. This in turn has led to increasing urbanization
with its own peculiar problems, development of working class movements,
evolution of new state policies suited to the needs of industrialized societies
and political changes corresponding with the shift in the centres of economic
power.
Industrialization has been made possible by the march of science and the
progress of technology. But while great strides have been made in technology,
international trade has grown manifold, the national wealth of industrialised
countries has multiplied and what are generally referred to as standards of
living have gone up, man himself has lost more than he has gained in the
process.
Writing on the industrial revolution in Europe and the U.S.A., Lewis

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Mumford has observed that it produced a new barbarism wherein civilization


shifted from an interest in human values to measuring life in material and
pecuniary terms. This has already happened in the western countries and is
now happening wherever industrialization is proceeding apace. It has enabled
man to produce more, to travel faster and to communicate more rapidly. At the
same time it has brought within his reach more material comforts and conveniences. Employment of the techniques of mass production has brought into play
the arts of advertising and sales promotion to create needs where none existed before. All this has helped in the evolution of the acquisitive society wherein
material prosperity, rather than moral stature or intrinsic worth is the yardstick
of success for every individual. Instead of finding happiness in limiting their
needs, people belonging to affluent society appear to be engaged constantly in
trying to outdo each other in the rat-race for more and more of money and
material comforts, even at the cost of their sanity. This Midas touch is perhaps
the biggest evil resulting from industrialization. It has created in the minds and
hearts of men a restlessness which pines for instant rewards. It is very much in
evidence in the permissiveness we see in the west and the get-rich-quick mentality which afflicts the young in most of the countries of the third world. All
this has been acting as social and spiritual corrosive, undermining both the
family and the individual wherever industrialization has been taking place.
Besides the changes wrought in mens ways of thinking and living, the
transformation of agrarian societies into modern industrial societies has also
brought in its wake a host of other problems. The transition from the cottage in
the countryside to factories in cities was bound to create social tensions. The
lure of regular work and wages has induced a large number of men from the
rural areas to migrate to the cities. But once they have settled down to the new
ways, they find that the drudgery of performing the same task continuously and
the new regimen of factory discipline tends to turn them into automatons, reducing them to machines and making the machines their masters. Alongwith
the growth of cities has come the problem of slums, known as fertile breeding
grounds for crime. In spite of all efforts made to stop their growth, slums have
become a necessary adjunct of industry, particularly in under-developed countries where industrial growth has just begun and industry is not yet sufficiently
aware of its social responsibilities.
In countries in which the pattern of ownership of industry is oligarchical,
industrialization has served to accentuate the disparities of wealth and income.
The invention and introduction of machinery has no doubt helped man in many
ways but as Karl Marx has observed, it has without doubt greatly increased the
number of well-to-do idlers. The introduction of labour-saving devices and
automation which enables one machine to do the work of many men has served

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to add to the difficulties of labour and also to create a new social phenomenon:
chronic mass unemployment. Instead of machinery being used always to help
and ease human effort, in order to increase profits, it is quite often employed to
snatch bread out of the mouths of millions willing to work.
The economic imbalance created by industrialization has had deep ramifications at all levels from the individual to the international. The mania for
mass-production which gripped Europe in the eighteenth and the nineteenth
centuries gave birth to economic imperialism and launched European nations
like Britain, France, Belgium, Holland, Germany and others on the path of
exploiting the weaker and unorganized races of the world and ultimately subjugating them. It plunged a large number of countries in Asia and Africa into
slavery for several generations. To a very great extent, it is the insatiable material ambition of the industrialized or developed nations which has repeatedly
led to global and international conflicts in the twentieth century.
Great strides in scientific research and technology have enabled man to
bring into use new basic materials, to develop new sources of power, to invent
new machines and to evolve better and faster methods of transportation and
communication. He claims to have gained mastery over nature but the outcry
now being heard against increasing environmental pollution and progressive
depletion of natural resources available to man shows how nature has been
suffering on account of thoughtless human intervention in its recycling process
ever since industrialization became the vogue. The problem did not assume
serious proportions as long as the damage was containable and not beyond selfrepair. But with the spectacular technological break-through accomplished during and after the second world war, those limits were exceeded.
It is the highly developed nations of the world which have benefited most
from this breakthrough and it was in their domains that environmental pestilence bred by advanced technology first raised its head. The outcry against
environmental pollution has been the loudest in the U.S.A. which is one of the
two most industrially advanced countries. The bye-products of industrialization, e.g., industrial wastes, discarded packaging material and other junk, and
exhaust fumes from automobiles have contaminated the atmosphere so much
that school-children are warned against deep breathing as dangerous to health.
Fears have been expressed that the rapid combustion of fossil fuels for power
and the increasing invasion of the stratosphere by aircraft are rapidly changing
the earths heat balance about which men know very little, and this may well
bring on a new ice-age or cause a deluge.
Environmental pollution following in the wake of growing industrialization is by no means a phenomenon peculiar to the U.S.A. alone. It is a worldwide problem. In India, the pollution of the Ganga by emissions from the Barauni

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oil refinery a few years ago led to a public outcry. The profound changes which
the relationship between man and his environment has been undergoing as the
pace of industrialization has grown faster, and the continuing and accelerating
impairment of the biosphere by modern scientific and technological developments have been causing international concern for quite some time now.
At the root of most of the socio-cultural, economic, and ecological evils
of industrialization is a wrong order of priorities which places man and his
welfare below pecuniary benefits which can be derived from modern technology.

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RELATIONS BETWEEN ART AND LIFE


Art is life, not something to be placed in a shrine and substituted for life.
Actually, art is an effort to create, besides the real world, a more human entity.
Moreover, a true work of art is but a shadow of the divine perfection. Indeed,
even those who regard art as an ideal and artists as idealists cannot deny that art
is a faithful mirror of the life and civilisation of a period. Everyone concedes
what Nehru said that Indian civilisation of the past periods was full of life; it
created things of beauty, the arts flourished, and the echoes reached distant
countries. Nehru was also stating the reality when he said that the art of a
people is a true mirror of their minds. Both arts and crafts have indeed close
connections with life; there is no line of demarcation between arts, crafts and
life when the arts have really been an integral constituent of the peoples daily
existence.
Obviously, it is impossible to separate art, or the arts, from life; they are
a part and parcel of it. The idea can also be expressed by saying that when life
declines and the standards of living deteriorate, art also declines. On the other
hand, when life marks an upward swing and shows all-round improvement,
such an upswing inevitably gets reflected in the arts. It is during the regimes of
eminent influential kings and emperors, Maharajas and Nawabs in history, especially during the Golden Age, that the arts, such as painting, music, dance
and crafts of various types prospered. Who bothers about art and the artists
when there is poverty and destitution all round, when the rulers are constantly
engaged in internecine warfare or struggles for power during which art is the
first casualty? This is also true of the age of exploitation, colonial, imperial or
other.
To say that art is only confined to the artist the painter, the sculptor, the
dancer, the musician, the singer or other craftsman is to take a needlessly rigid
and restricted view. Real art is all-round illumination and adds stature to life.
The object of art, it has been well said, is to crystallise human emotions into
thought, and then fix it in a concrete form. After all, a painter thinks, reflects for
a long time, tries to imagine something good and great, has a vision or a dream,
and then draws a picture, a drawing or moulds clay or metal into a figure he has
dreamed or thought of. Since dreams, thoughts and visions are all a part of our
life, art is also very much a part of our existence. Even the illusions, which often
get reflected in masterpieces of art, can be entertained only by human beings of
talent and cannot, therefore, be separated from life.
Those who seek to present a higher reality are, after all, human beings
and very much a part of life and society. Some people contend that art is mere

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copying Nature, but this is a fallacious belief. It is true that much of art is the
result of inspiration derived from Nature and from what one sees around oneself the hills, the rivers, the seas, the beautiful environment, the creatures of
God such as birds and butterflies, etc. not to mention human beings themselves.
But even then art is linked with life and living.
An unfortunate aspect of life in the modern world is that misconceptions
about art and artists, and about their role, have been spreading fast. Anyone, it
is said, who finds a way to make a lamp or some other artistic piece out of a
Campa-Cola bottle gets more protection than a humble man who creates a work
of real art. There is indeed a distortion of values in the world of art; really
talented artists often starve because of the lack of patronagte by those who lead
a life devoted to unartistic activity. An artist who revolts against mans fate in
life may or may not get adequate encouragement. Moreover, what passes for
art in todays world may in reality be fraud or cheap imitation of a masterpiece.
Again, is it not true that the measure of the creator is the amount of life he
puts into his work. A real work of art has to be full of life; if it is lifeless and
soulless or dull, it evidently lacks life. Who can deny that a painting or a piece
of sculpture has great appeal if it is life-like, emanating vigour and activity and
if it inspires human feelings. Besides, the real artist is he who does not cater to
cheap tastes or panders to the low, inhuman or base instincts of men and women.
If an artist sells himself for the baser things, he is a traitor to art.
True art grasps, rediscovers and reveals to us reality which human beings
tend to forget and from which we often seek to get away. Often the reality is
harsh; even that serves as a reminder of what we are prone to ignore. When the
reality is pleasant, and artistic creations please, we begin to appreciate art, not
otherwise. Art, like most human beings, is temperamental; it is no secret that
artists, poets and musicians work when they get the requisite inspiration. Dictation and imposition of authority are what art and artists firmly resent. In this
sense art is an intense form of individualism. Even so, art should never seek
popularity; on the contrary the people should try to value art and make themselves artistic as far as they can.
Life itself is an art, and though artists and poets may seem visionaries,
they have a specific and distinct role to play. The irony, however, is that if art
and artists continue to live in a world of their own, far removed from life, they
may have to starve unless they are able to get permanent and affluent patrons.
Art and artists are now being patronised and encouraged by the Government of
India and the State Governments. But official patronage alone cannot be a
lasting guarantee of the prosperity of art; the people themselves must learn to
appreciate art in whichever form it comes before them.

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Life itself is an art. The swing of the pendulum may raise art to the skies
or bring it down crashing to the earth. Experimentation is what art thrives on,
and such experimentation, as in science, ultimately proves highly beneficial to
society. The progress in art reveals the progress of a country and its innermost
character. The relationship is, therefore, intimate and is becoming increasingly
obvious.

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