India's road to development since 1947 has deep roots in India's struggle against colonial domination. One of the legacies of the struggle was a vision of free India basedon certain basic values. But no legacy lasts forever. Alegacy has to be not only preserved but also further developed creatively to meet new needs and meet the fresh challenges of the changing times.
India's freedom struggle gradually took the form of a massive mass movement which was based on the political mobilisationof men and women and on faith in their political capacity to mould their own fate. Adoption of adult franchise in India's Constitution, despite dire warnings by many all over the world that this would lead to political disaster, was a massive assertion of this faith in the political capacity of the people.
And people's active and growing participation in the electoral process continues to be an important aspect of India's political process. Still there is one majorflaw. We have failed to find adequate forms of common people's active participation in the political economic and social developmental processes. In particular, we have failed to carry forward and creatively develop the Gandhian strategy of mobilizing the people to struggle for their rights and against all forms of social, cultural and economic oppression. Instead of developing forms of satyagraha suitable to an independent, democratic country, as Gandhiji desired, we have reduced satyagraha to duragraha, based on force, violence and deceit.
Second, the entire process of nation-formation was consciously promoted by the nationalist movement by fully recognizing and even celebrating India's immense geographical, cultural, ethnic linguistic and religious diversity. Though proud of the historical cultural achievements of the diverse Indian people, no effort was made to impose one culture or cultural homogeneity on them. The process of nation-making has beenconsciously and actively promoted in independent India on the lines laid down by the freedom struggle. The concept of one language, one culture, one nation has been totally rejected and, thus, the divisive challenges to the concept and reality of a multi-cultural India have been successfullymet.
Three, the freedom struggle accepted and internalised the principles of organizing Indian polity on the principles of parliamentary democracy and civil liberties. In fact, from its beginning the struggle for freedom was co-terminus with the struggle for the freedom of the press and speech.
Nor were the values of democracy and civil democracy confined to the intelligentsia and the educated. The cadres of the movement took the values to the villages, small towns and city mohallas. Thus, the national movement generated and developed a political culture based on respect fordecent freedom of expression, the majority principle and the right of minority opinion and trends to exist and grow.
Independent India has persisted with these values. In this respect, it has attempted a unique experiment in world history--to combine economic development with democracy and civil liberties. Moreover, despite several glaring weaknesses andflaws, we have maintained a civil libertarian, democratic political order. We successfully met the two severe challenges - those of the JP Movement and the Emergency - during the 1970s to this order.
While there is no visible threat to the values, several negative developments have occurred during the last few decades. There is the gradual decline of legislatures and to Cabinet system; and there is the persistent anti-people mind set of the police and bureaucracy. Moreover, there has been growth in the role of organisations, such as the RSS which are organising the anti-democratic, fascist principles. A persistent weakness has been the absence of democracy in the daily life of the common people.
From its vary beginning, the national movement was fully committed to secularism -- defined as equality of all religions and their followers, separation of religion from politics and others non-religious areas oflife -- and firm opposition to communalism. Unfortunately, though Jawaharlal Nehru recognised that communalism amounted to 'thrusting a dagger in the body politic of India', the secular parties, groups and individuals undertook no mass awareness, educative campaign among the people after 1952. As a result, communalforces succeeded in even capturing state power at the centre and in many states. Despite their recent defeat in parliamentary elections, they continue to remainthe most important threat to national unity and democracy.
The national movement adopted the objective of independent and self-reliant economic development on the basis of modern science and technology. Independent India has retained its economic independent and avoidedperipheralisation even while integrating with world economy. Though not what it should and could have been, India's economic developmental record is not one to be ashamed of. In fact, firm foundations for future economic developmenthave been laid during the last fifty years.
Since the days of Dadabhai Naoroji in the 1870s, the national movement was based on a pro-poor orientation. Theorientation was deepened under Gandhi's leadership and with the active role of socialist and communist parties and individual leaders such as Nehru and Subhash Bose, though the question of capitalist or socialist path despite being intensely debated from 1922 to 1947, was not brought to any conclusion. Independent India's record in this respect has been quite poor.Access of the poor to minimum civic amenities -- water, sanitation, roads, electricity, health and education -- has been minimal. However, even while not fulfilling the nationalmovement's mandate in this respect, the major political formations and intellectuals have retained commitment to the objective. Open deviation from it has been punished by the people as, for example recently in the elections held during April-May this year.
The national movement actively promoted social change and social justice, especially in the Gandhian phase. It actively took up the cause of women,Dalits andtribal people. Provision of reservation for the socially deprived and oppressed in the constitution was because of the space createdfor them by the national movement. However, caste oppression and discrimination as alsomale-domination are still very much with us. One of the major failures of the post-independence era has been in this regard. Moreover no mass campaigns against these twin evils has been organized since independence. The positive development in this respect has been the increasingassertion in recent years by the socially deprived and oppressed sections of society.
The freedom struggle led by persons like Dadabhai Naoroji, Justice Ranade, Gopal Krishan Gokhale, Lokmanya Tilak, Gandhiji, Maulana Azad, Sardar Patel, C. Rajagopalachari, Rajendra Prasad, Nehru and Subhash Bose occupied high ground. This wasthe reason why it gained world-wide support as also the support of a large section of the British people. The fall in political and administration morality has been steep in recent years. Corruption andcommunalisation of individuals, political processes and institutions are perhaps the greatest threats that the Indian people face today.
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Bipan Chandra is an acclaimed historian and the head of the National Book Trust
