When India became independent Nehru – India’s first Prime Minister called it a ‘Tryst with Destiny.” In India we take for granted the word ‘tryst’ without going into its etymology, more so because it was uttered by a foreign educated Nehru. But in the circumstances we are in today, it’s important to look back at what Nehru meant by the word “tryst.” The dictionary meaning of “tryst” is a secret appointment usually between two lovers. Why Nehru chose this particular word is perhaps to suggest that India has entered into a secret pact with a destiny that awaits Indians in the free country they now live in, and that this destiny would unfold as Indians work in unison, bonded by a common thread of mutual respect and where the dignity of each citizen is assured.
Seventy-five years down the line where do Indians find themselves? Independence Day is meant to remind us of the great sacrifices made by the freedom fighters – several of them ordinary women and men who cared enough for this country to shed their blood at the altar of sacrifice. We recall the many souls gunned down at Jallianwala Bagh on April 12, 1919 because they dared to protest against the oppressive Rowlatt Act and the arrest of pro-freedom activists. The Rowlatt Act gave powers to the police to arrest any person without any reason. The purpose of the Act was to curb the nationalist upsurge in the country then and to try prisoners without the benefit of doubt.
Today in independent India we have the State of Manipur that has been burning for three months since May 3 last and its people, particularly the Kuki-Zo community that are bring targeted by the majority Meitei community have been left to lick their wounds even as the Prime Minister of the country spoke for precisely 5 minutes out of the 2 -hour speech he made in Parliament in reply to a No-Confidence Motion. With over 70,000 displaced people seeking refuge in the neighbouring states and over 180 dead, this civil war is raging on with no signs of abating. The Kuki-Zo people occupying the hills of Manipur but working and studying in the Imphal valley are today overwhelmed by fear psychosis and cannot think of returning to their workplace or to their schools, colleges and university in Imphal.
From Manipur the scene of violence moves to Haryana’s Nuh and Mewat both with a substantial Muslim population. A religious procession organised by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal both Hindu extremist organisations on July 31, turned violent. That this was an orchestrated move is evident from the fact that a cow-vigilante who is wanted for murder was part of the procession. After seven people died in the violence and arson followed the uses its obnoxious bulldozer – a symbol of instant justice to mow down the homes of Muslims who are alleged to be illegal occupants. The Punjab & Haryana High Court has rightly risen to the occasion and stopped the bulldozers in their track. It referred to the bulldozing act as “ethnic cleansing.” Perhaps this is the first time that any court has accurately defined the bulldozer politics.
How did India and Indians arrive at this point in history? Today it is ethnic cleansing in Manipur followed by Nuh and Mewat. Tomorrow this hatred will spread and consume us. The Modi Government claims it has created all manner of schemes to address the woes of the common man but of what use are those when our freedoms are curtailed? Where is the freedom of speech and expression- the most important freedom? Surely Indians are not living in the India that Tagore envisaged when he said, “Into that heaven of freedom, my Father let my country awake.”