Events : Post WW II

The WWII came to an end after Japan surrendered unconditionally after two atomic
bombs were dropped on it.

(According to www.ihr.org Japan had proposed to surrender two-three days before the
bombs were dropped on it, with the condition that the office of Emperor will be kept.

But the bombs were dropped and then Japan surrendered with the condition that the
office of the Japanese Emperor will not be disbanded.)

After the war the INA soldiers were tried in the Red fort and the British wanted to give
them a very severe treatment.

But because of extreme reactions throughout India the British had to give up the idea and
the brave INA soldiers were freed.

Two of the more famous slogans were :

Lal Quile se aayi awaz, Sehgal Dhillon Shahnawaz

Lal Quile ko todh do, Sehgal Dhillon Shahnawaz ko chhod do

Later the court martialling of the INA officers was not done, and the Congress also
adopted a pro-INA line, though it was unwilling.

These were followed by strikes in the armed forces. The naval mutiny was the turning
point in the history of Indian independence.

In the end the British, realising that the foundation of their rule was itself in danger, they
decided to quit, while they could still do so, honourably.

The freedom of India started a chain of events which almost completely destroyed the
British colonial Empire.
India had to pay a heavy price of freedom in the form of partition.

But with the freedom to India. most of the countries in the world started to get freedom.

The Portuguese still tried to hold on to their colonial lands in India, and it was not until
1961 that the final battle against colonialism could be won.

( As of 2004, Britain controls two contentious areas - The Falkland islands over which it
has already fought a war. There is also an island in Europe over which Britain argues with
Spain. Though it is to be said that, the people living there probably want British rule more
than their native rule.)

After gaining freedom India has been attacked several times thrice by Pakistan and once
by China. Both of them control sizeable parts of India in J&K.

Pakistan's control of Kashmir is largely due to the fact that Pandit Nehru didn't gave
Sardar Vallabhai Patel - the Iron Man - full freedom in dealing with the Jammu &
Kashmir issue.

He also, needlessly, dragged UN in an internal matter of India, the price of which we are
paying still today.

China also claims that many Indian areas like Arunachal Pradesh are it's areas under
'Indian Occupation". Sadly India have, for all practical purposes, given up the issue of
Tibet.

India has also freed Bangladesh (formerly East Pakistan) in the 1971 war, by helping
Mukti Bahini.

Sikkim joined India in 1974, the last of the states to join the Indian union. (China still
recognises Sikkim as an independent country)
North-east, as well as J&K, are in flames because of Pakistan, bad management and
corruption, both from the central and the state governments and the inability of the Indian
leaders to give a befitting reply to our enemies.

Democracy, in spite of being a wonderful concept has not benefited India to the extent
possible, because we have been unable to rid ourselves of the ills of the British era. The
Emergency also brought it's new set of problems which has forever changed India - for
the worse.

The education system of India still follows a completely Western oriented history and
content.

English is unofficially the official language of India (as also of this website!), though
Netaji always felt that Hindi alone could become the national language.

India is increasingly being divided among the haves and the have-nots, inter-State
rivalries (the most famous being between Karnataka and Tamilnadu) and , (so called)
Upper Castes and (so called) Lower Castes, castes within castes etc.

The issue of reservation has clearly become a political issue, and it has more to do with
garnering votes than of changing the social conditions of the country. Many undeserved
castes and sub-castes have already been in the reserved category or are in the process of
being one, thanks to their political clout.

The bill of Women's reservation has the potential to further divide the country, and the
time is not far when the so called Upper Castes (i.e. people in the Open category) will
soon have a reservation of their own!

At the same time there are many positive things like : At the end of British colonial
rule, life expectancy in India was 27 years and literacy 8 percent; after fifty years of
independence, life expectancy is 62 years, and literacy over 60 percent, and this is in
spite of the huge population boom. The economy is on the takeoff stage and India
could well be one of the most powerful country - culturally, politically, economically
as well as militarily.

Thus we see that while India has been successful in many areas, it has struggled heavily
in other areas.

But India still has the potential, as well as the resources, to regain it's lost glory, the glory
which was gradually eroded after the loss of Prithviraj Chauhan to Ghauri.