Are we really independent? YES OFCOURSE!!

India is a sovereign country! It takes its own decisions.We have leaders! Not dictators, or rulers! We get to elect them.. Atleast we have a right to choose our future. There is no Hosni Mubarak here.We have Kalam! It might look like im just stating obvious facts here. But this is the point. These are facts! Lets cherish them! We are an independent nation..
Sure there are problems like corruption,crime .. Environment or economy issues. But as a democracy we have a constitution in place that empowers us to fight these issues.
So this independence day, lets stop being the cynics that we are and celebrate living and breathing in this FREE, INDEPENDENT nation of ours.

P.s- if wasnt really an independent nation, we would probably not be here voicing our opinions..whatever they are!

I congratulate Devesh Rana for his maiden post in GD. I appreciate his concluding para " so this independence day........ whatever they are' I hope he will continue giving his valuable contribution.

Well the topic of the present group discussion,"Is India really Independent", shows the amount of doubt that we have in our mind to accept the fact that India is independent in true sense and rightly so the wide ray of defects we find in our country, India, and its present systems and the way we are living and breathing at present only proves the fact that though India has attend Independence physically in 1947, we hesitate to accept the fact to accept it as one.

Unfortunately, after independence divisive tendencies have crept in. Political freedom has brought in its wake new forces of fanaticism which threaten to destroy the high concept of one country and one people. Loyalty to caste and community is given priority over devotion to motherland. Linguistic fanaticism and chauvinism raise their ugly head every now and then. Regional and parochialism take precedence over national considerations. The question of boundaries and distribution of river water continues to stain relations between adjoining states. Then there is the problem of the tribals. Apprehensive of losing their identity, land and culture and suffering exploitations, they now clam for separate state of their own. They need to be brought in the national mainstream and allowed to participate in the process of economic development, maintaining their distinct culture at the same time. Communalism, an evil perpetrated by the British imperialists for their own interests, is still being fostered by powerful and extreme conservative groups. Added these are the activities of the extremists and terrorists who seek to create fear as well as sense of uncertainty all round--all in pursuit of a separate state by seceding from India....

Well the topic of the present group discussion,"Is India really Independent", shows the amount of doubt that we have in our mind to accept the fact that India is independent in true sense and rightly so the wide ray of defects we find in our country, India, and its present systems and the way we are living and breathing at present only proves the fact that though India has attend Independence physically in 1947, we hesitate to accept the fact to accept it as one.

Unfortunately, after independence divisive tendencies have crept in. Political freedom has brought in its wake new forces of fanaticism which threaten to destroy the high concept of one country and one people. Loyalty to caste and community is given priority over devotion to motherland. Linguistic fanaticism and chauvinism raise their ugly head every now and then. Regional and parochialism take precedence over national considerations. The question of boundaries and distribution of river water continues to stain relations between adjoining states. Then there is the problem of the tribals. Apprehensive of losing their identity, land and culture and suffering exploitations, they now clam for separate state of their own. They need to be brought in the national mainstream and allowed to participate in the process of economic development, maintaining their distinct culture at the same time. Communalism, an evil perpetrated by the British imperialists for their own interests, is still being fostered by powerful and extreme conservative groups. Added these are the activities of the extremists and terrorists who seek to create fear as well as sense of uncertainty all round--all in pursuit of a separate state by seceding from India....

This lengthy post is just a repetition of the contrary opinion and arguments that has already been extensively dealt with. Rightly, we have many problems and these need be tackled. The extremists and terrorists activities have been also mentioned here. In British rule terrorism was for wending foreign rule and for attaining independence. Now the terrorists aim to destroy the independence and sovereignty of the nation. The terrorists in British rule were patriots but the present day terrorists are secessionists and enemies of Independent Sovereign republic of India. We are really independent and have power of vote to bring change. I fact, people of Tamilnadu and West Bengal showed the way.

Let me reiterate that the question of independence- partial or full- is in terms of international status. We are a sovereign independent republic on world map and a full fledged member of UNO. Even the iron curtain and brainwashed people of North Korea are considered independent. If you say, we are not independent, you must say, who is our master. If we are masters of own destiny unlike the colonial rule period and there is no power to dictate terms to us, We are fully independent. There is always room for self improvement and progress. This is no ground to characterize our independence as unreal. If so, U.s.A. is today in heavy debt. Is U.S.A. not an independent country and lost freedom to the creditor nations?

@ Gulshanji...

Gulshanji, If you carefully go through my posts and spend sometime reading it carefully you will understand the facts that I am trying to highlight in the present group discussion. I wrote that I agree with the fact that India is an independent nation but to be independent in real term it has to come over its shortcomings or problems that it faces in the present times. Well, hiding out or putting curtains to these shortcomings or problems related with India is just like hiding your diseases from your doctor who perhaps will not be able to give a proper diagnoses or cure and the result of it will be havoc on the patient's health.

We generally dream only when we are asleep but I like to dream when I am awake as well and then I dream about how I like my country to be so that I can proudly say that our India is really independent in true sense.....

Now coming back to the topic of this group discussion and to the last post in my current group discussion, I would like to add that I can only accept India to be a really independent nation when the following expectations or conditions which I mentioned below are met with:-

## when everybody has sufficient food, clothing and shelter. There will be no one who goes to bed hungry and there will be no homeless people. There will be no slums, no street children and no beggars. Everybody will be employed, have a roof over his head and at least two square meals per day.

## We will be able to breathe in clean air and drink pure water. Man and nature will co-exist peacefully; all forests will be reserves, and there will be no species which will be endangered.

## There will be no 'paan' stains at the corners of staircases and no garbage thrown out of the windows. The drainage system will work regularly and there will be no overflowing gutters.

## There will be no conflicts in the name of the religion, region, caste or creed and no communal rites. The right of equality given by our constitution will be strictly enforced. It has to be more secular where everyone should be allowed to be more free in choosing their options.

## Equal opportunities will be given to all to develop their potential. Those who are weak and ailing will be protected by those who are strong and healthy.

## Politicians and others in power will work selflessly for the betterment and economic progress of our country. There will be no corruption and all work will be done efficiently and smoothly without or inducement like bribes.

## Social evils like child marriages, sati and dowry will be a thing of the past.

## Last but not the least, our country will be one where population will be half of what it is now.

I know that these things are not like something which is impossible to achieve but then if we try hard and you co-operate with me, I am sure not only me but the people throughout the universe will be more than proud to call India a really independent nation and a nation that leads by example and a nation in which we will be proud to live and breed together under the lap of mother India.

I agree with suggestions of Ajay for improving conditions of people, self improvement, better civic sense so as to be worth of an independent nation. Independence day reminds us for all these. While we must continue to bring in better conditions, this is different from concept of 'independence'. We may not be able to reap fruits of independence unless we are conscious of our rights and duties. This is ever continuing process. No society is perfect. We must work for perfection. We can work for improving conditions only because we are independent. Being independent is a concept different from governance.

Despite deficiency in quality of governance and room for improvement, we are independent. If not, there is no country in the world that may be called independent.

When you are dependent on others and not independent, you are an object of pity and ridicule and not respect. Today, Indians are being envied and this also results in bad treatment some times. Some of the westerners in Australia and elsewhere are jealous of Indians and this is reflected in their behavior. Recently, the U.S. President told the american youth that unless they study well, very soon Indians and Chinese will dominate the world. This situation has arisen because we are independent.

Independence does not really mean prosperity and well being. One may be a slave in heaven and reign in hell. If our conditions are worst, we are still independent. If you like, we may be considered 'reigning in hell'. While we must work to make our nation 'paradise', it is better to reign in hell than be a slave in heaven.

We can say india is independent partially. we got the freedom from the cruel British rulers . now in this India we can move anywhere without any permission . we have this permission to roam in india independently . we can make decisions of our own choice without being pressurized by others.we can choose our leaders by our voting independently .But still there are some faults that are taking away our independence from us like bribe of money. leaders are taking so much bribe to obey the rules of bad people .

Many Indians are still starving.Our independence had not beneficial to them.Then how can we say we are independent?

[quote]Many Indians are still starving.Our independence had not beneficial to them.Then how can we say we are independent? [/quote]

Ditto! Also, I just want to observe here that even though we have through away the shackles of British Rule in India more than 60 years ago, we still have not managed to throw away the education system and the bureaucratic system as was laid down by the British. Although both these systems are not at all working for us, we still follow them religiously!

When our India gets re-leaved from all the problems which Indians facing then our India will an Independent country.