Page 136 - Swatantrata to Atmanirbharta : Lokmanya Tilak’s legacy

in a spirit of magnanimity, justice for minorities and concern
for unity between Hindus and Muslims This spirit is nowhere
in evidence now. Its place has been taken over by mistrust
between religious communities, and vote bank politics. After the
Lucknow Pact, there were elections for the provincial assemblies.
Congress won most of the seats. Muslim league won few seats
despite reservations and a separate electorate. Pandit Jawaharlal
Nehru was the President of the Congress at that time. He did
not invite the Muslim League while forming governments in the
provinces. Mahatma Gandhi did not prevail on the Congress
to incorporate Muslim League in the governments. Instead, he
went ahead to join the Khilafat movement against the best advice
of Jinnah. All this reinforced Muslim League’s pre-Lucknow
pact concerns about Hindu majority domination. Thus, Tilak’s
foresight and spirit of communal unity in the Lucknow pact,
were thrown to the winds. Right-thinking intellectuals should
correct this mistake by starting a movement to integrate all
communities and castes (who are dissipating their energies in
internal squabbles) and devote their energies for building a self-
sufficient India.

Lokmanya started public celebrations of Ganeshotsav and
Shivajayanti with the aim of bringing equal participation of
all castes in the mainstream of national life. Now, this aim has
been lost sight of in the stampede of demands for caste-based
rights for reservation, and vote bank politics, though this aim is
very much essential for taking India forward.
India, after partitioning itself on religious grounds, attained
Self-rule on 15 August 1947. Somewhere down the timeline, in
the last over half a century, it appears that Indian society has lost
sight of the vision of a secure and self-sufficient independent
India. Members of the society are confused and wandering in
the wilderness of different ideas about rights of different castes
and communities, freedoms of different kinds, and conflict of
different ideologies such as communism-versus-capitalism, and
secularism-versus-communalism.
The aim of this essay is to share my ideas about the building
thoughts and eco-system for India’s national security and
interests, towards a secure self-sufficient Bharat.
Swatantrata to Atmanirbharata 134