India's past resilience shows the way forward

Hindustan Times

6 days ago

Peeking into a common citizen's life opens portals to understand a nation's resilience and resolve. So, let's get a glimpse into the life of a common citizen for a better appreciation of India. We'll face challenges in our journey ahead. All we need to do is take a vow to deal with at least one social vice on Independence Day (Bloomberg)
The year was 1966. One August afternoon in the city of Mirzapur, the family of a government officer was about to eat lunch when his four-and-a-half-year-old daughter started crying. His six-year-old son followed suit. The red coloured chapatis were the culprit. Their tender age did not stop them from revolting against the foul smell and taste. The wheat we received from the US was meant for poultry feed in that country. Even that was available only to a lucky few. The tribals in Mirzapur survived on scant forest produce. Large parts of India were suffering from a drought that had turned farmland into dust bowls.
Records suggest India produced only 72.3 million tonnes of grain in 1965-66. This was the reason Indira Gandhi sought food aid from US president Lyndon B Johnson soon after she became the Prime Minister (PM). In comparison, India is projected to produce 353.95 million tonnes of grain in 2024-25. India's sensational journey from holding a begging bowl to agricultural self-reliance is inspiring and compelling.
Indira's predecessor, PM Lal Bahadur Shastri, who led the country during the second Indo-Pak war, coined the slogan 'jai jawan, jai kisan'. However, one of his less discussed clarion calls can inspire even the present generation. He asked people to skip one meal every week as India was facing a grain shortage. My idealistic parents immediately made it their routine and told us children not to waste food, as many didn't have even a few morsels to survive.
The practice became our family tradition. Thousands of families still follow the ritual, proving that leaders do have the power to change society.
Let's move to 1988. At the Varanasi Railway locomotive factory hospital, a girl was born while PM Rajiv Gandhi was addressing the country from the Red Fort. Her father, a young editor, was serving in another city and received one of the most important pieces of news of his life — only hours later, as all phone lines were either busy or out of order throughout the day.
Remembering those days at a time when information travels within seconds to any part of the world is like exploring a pre-historic cave in amazement. Mobile phones and the internet were non-existent then. A fortunate few had landlines. They needed to book a trunk call and wait for hours to get through to another city. Getting a phone connection meant years of waiting or seeking the 'blessings' of a Member of Parliament or the Union communications minister. Today, the same country boasts the second-highest number of mobile phone users in the world after China. Its 50-crore UPI user base is dazzling the world. From tech-savvy professionals in metro cities to the tribals in the jungles of Abhujhmad, the miraculous impact of this technology of transaction is transformative.
Recap from 1978 to date.
There was a time from the late 1970s through the 1980s when everyone felt the country would be torn asunder. The Kashmir insurgency was a decade away, but Punjab was on the boil. According to a research paper, the Pakistan-backed reign of terror claimed 11,694 lives between 1980 and 2000. A total of 1,784 personnel from Punjab Police and other central police forces either laid down their lives in the line of duty or were grievously injured. In 1982, Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale and his violent gang took control of the Harmandir Sahib (Golden Temple). Two years later, Operation Bluestar was initiated to flush them out of the premises. It led to the assassination of Indira Gandhi by her trusted Sikh bodyguards.
Our heads hang in shame when we remember the atrocities meted out to the Sikh community in the aftermath of the Indira assassination. In those fateful months, we felt that the mindless hatred towards Sikhs would snatch this courageous community from our fold. But society closed ranks and showed again that Indians have an amazing ability to course correct voluntarily.
In those days, many states in the Northeast were suffering from insurgency. It seemed the country would break apart. Editorial pages would mull over such possibilities on special occasions such as August 15 or January 26. Today, those concerns are part of a fading past. Except for the neighbour-sponsored violence in Kashmir, the scourge of terrorism has been wiped out from the rest of the states. The Maoist insurgency, a clear threat a decade ago, is on it last legs.
Our national unity has been painstakingly forged over millennia though we became a political entity merely 78 years ago. On August 15, 1947, we gained Independence from the British and, today, we have surpassed their economy. We will become the third-largest economy in the world in a few years. That's the reason I laugh at people who talk of India breaking apart. Even Donald Trump's threats evoke memories of trials and transformation triggered by Johnson's red wheat. We'll face challenges in our journey ahead. All we need to do is take a vow to deal with at least one social vice on Independence Day.
Shashi Shekhar is the editor-in-chief, Hindustan. The views expressed are personal.