Letters to the Editor: India at 75: Challenges and prospects

India is a democratic country and is considered to be the largest democracy in the world. In India, there is very large cultural heritage which contributes a lot to the development of the tourism sector. There are 22 Scheduled languages and more than 720 dialects in the country. There are also many great personalities who took birth in India. India got independence on August 15, 1947 and till now India has had to face many obstacles and challenges to become a developing nation from the status of under-developed nation. The literacy rate of India was 12% in 1947 but it has increased to 74% as per the census of 2011. This is a great development for the country's literacy rate. This year, India is celebrating 75 years of independence. It is also a milestone to reflect on what we have achieved in these 75 years and what more we need to achieve. Finally, we need to articulate our vision to firm up a goal and get people, policies and institutions aligned to fulfil that vision.

India has moved forward on all fronts but due to lack of holistic approach the success of one side is decimated by the ignorance of the other side. (1) India's longevity has doubled from 33 years during independence to about 70 years now. But we are also the diabetes and CVD capital of the world. (2) India has also become one of the fastest-growing economies in the world, but our national debt increased to a whooping Rs 91 lakh crore. (3) India has become a nuclear power but still a percentage of Indians live without electricity and water. (4) The literacy rate of India had no doubt increased but employability is still a major challenge.

There are also other challenges that India is facing, such as the Covid-19 pandemic that burst out in 2020. This created a great loss for India because a nationwide lockdown was imposed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi for 21 days and everything closed down. This led to a very great loss for the working class and the poor people suffered a lot. Indian Railways is the largest employer in India but the citizens still have to face a long waiting list for getting a reserved seat. There are also various other challenges faced by India after independence, like gender discrimination, illiteracy, corruption, status of women, poverty, untouchability, regionalism and communalism.

Independence arrived in India not only with the multiplicity of heritages and legacies, but also with the pangs of Partition that caused the dislocation of populations on both sides. This movement of people was not peaceful and there was a lot of bloodshed, looting, rape of women and merciless killing of innocent people. After the creation of Bangladesh, India has become a shelter for numerous Bangladeshis who have crossed the porous border illegally and settled in several states and cities of India. Their arrival in Assam has caused serious problems and prompted the natives to raise the demand for repatriation of such illegal migrants. Vote bank politics also helped in blurring their identities.

India inherited the legacy of British rule by way of a system of administration, an Army and a democratic form of government.

The transition of a colonial country to an independent nation was not easy. Population explosion is also a great problem of India, because the number of people which a country can support largely, if not entirely, depends upon its existing natural resources, the method it uses in production, and the efficiency of its labour.

Manish Kashyap,

B Borooah College, Guwahati.

TMC movie time

The TMC has the distinction of dethroning the CPM from power in West Bengal and also halted the BJP's onslaught in the last Assembly elections under the leadership of Mamata Banerjee. Lately, along with Delhi's CM Kejriwal, Banerjee is in the forefront in the nationwide campaign against PM Modi and also trying to project herself as the alternative to Modi in the race to the Prime Ministerial chair in 2024. Her desire reminds us of Chandra Babu Naidu, once a Cabinet minister in the then NDA government under Late Atal Behari Vajpayee and later on the CM of Andhra Pradesh. Naidu tried in the past and subsequently got lost into oblivion in national politics. The TMC's latest misadventures involving Partha Chatterjee is the second scandal on the list after her cousin Souvendu Mukherjee's involvement in a coal scam which might make CM Banerjee alias Didi face the same fate as Chandra Babu Naidu. After her last triumph in the state elections, she must have forgotten that absolute power and success corrupts and she cannot fool the electors of West Bengal all the time. It seems as if TMC will be rechristened as 'Trinamool Corrupt Club' sooner rather than later. It is time that either Bollywood or Tollywood makes a movie titled 'Bandit Queen of West Bengal' featuring the popular daughter of West Bengal Mamata Banerjee in the lead role.

Lanu Dutt Chowdhury,

Guwahati.

Killing of al-Zawahiri

A US drone strike in Afghanistan has killed the top al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri (Osama Bin Laden's former deputy and successor), Joe Biden announced on Monday. Immediately afterwards, Biden said, "People around the world no longer need to fear the vicious and determined killer." But a simple question to the President is, how can the world become fearless due to one man's death? Moreover, 30 people are killed every day on an average in USA due to random shooting. The USA thinks of itself as the big brother and peacemaker of the world. Biden, save your citizens first from the hands of your own countrymen. Though I congratulate Biden on finishing Ayman al-Zawahiri, under whose guidance al-Qaida has been overshadowed by the violence of Islamic State in recent years, it remains a potential threat with a presence in parts of South Asia, the Middle East and the Sahel. Several dozen al-Qaida senior leaders are based in Afghanistan, as well as affiliated groups such as al-Qaida in the Indian Subcontinent. Actually, Biden's popularity has gone down very much and Senate elections are coming up. Economy is in recession. Just at that moment after the killing of Zawahiri, Biden got fresh energy and proudly said, "We make it clear again tonight that no matter how long it takes, no matter where you hide, if you are a threat to our people, the United States will find you and take you out. We will never forget. We continue to mourn every innocent life that was stolen on 9/11 and honour their memories."

Agree with him, but when the US does all this, that's their revenge, and when we try to do this the international community will protest against violation (remembering surgical strike) of international laws. A classic example of hypocrisy!

If US President Joe Biden has confirmed the news in a speech by calling the killing of the top al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahiri as counterterrorism, then why not our country should adopt similar measures vis-à-vis those we suspect to be indulging in terrorism in India and Indian assets? That would relieve the heavy burden of our Intelligence forces, law enforcement agencies and our courts.

Bidyut Kumar Chatterjee,

Faridabad - 121005.