India has been a country where almost the entire people, as one, irrespective of their caste, creed and community, stood against the mighty British imperialism and came out victorious. The demand for complete independence was raised in Ahmadabad session of the Congress in 1921 by Hasrat Mohani, who became a leader of the Communist Party after it was formed in 1925. Congress itself came out with the demand in 1929, on December 19, in Lahore session as against dominion status for India and on the last Sunday of January, 1930, which was January 26, passed a resolution declaring the day as that of Purna Swaraj.

Our Constitution came into effect on January 26, 1950 hence the day was later declared as the Constitution Day, and also Republic Day. Freedom struggle itself was a movement that had almost no precedence, but it had inspired masses wherever was the rule of injustice. Each stage provided a ground for one step ahead. Thus emerged a democratic structure. The battle itself was not just one great upheaval, or upsurge, it moved in stages, considering the positions the enemy kept holding as years later Gramsci had explained.

Almost more than a century ago, when in 1857, the first war of independence was declared under the leadership of Mughal Badshah Bahadur Shah Zafar to unshackle India as a nation, and the country became one. It was then that a new phase was ushered in. Every moment was a moment for battle. One by one, the pillars created by the forces of counter hegemony were demolished creating space for political, ideological evolution. It was like hurdle race and many times they faced defeat. There were the workers and peasants joining hands to fight for freedom, so were the emerging new intellectuals that formed the middle class.

In 1947, on August 15, we attained freedom. Soon the Constitution that pledged for democracy, secularism and socialism was implemented. Institutions were built with roots in scientific vision, public sector was built up to meet the basic needs and employment to people. Educational institutions came up to enrich the present and future generations. This helped to evolve a socio- economic perspective. Mistakes were committed in the process so were the defeats. Challenges were many and decline was often a reality.

Now is perhaps one such time when our democratic traditions are under threat. There is erosion everywhere. Society stands divided and except a few, entire masses keep suffering. There is the dreadful denial of basic needs, even the oxygen. It has been Pandemic continuing for last two years and we lost huge masses in the process. People craving for even one last breath were denied with brutal indifference.

Country suffered tragically from Covid 19. The excess death here during pandemic could be as high as 49 lakh, according to a new study that provides further evidence that lakhs more might have died from Corona virus than the official tally. The report by the Washington-based Center for Global Development, included deaths from all causes since the beginning of the pandemic through June 2021. India has officially reported more than 414,000 deaths due to Covid-19, the third highest tally in the world after the US and Brazil, but the study adds to growing calls from experts for a rigorous nationwide fatality audit. Education, health, even the basic constitutional rights are facing the risk of dilution. And yet, the buck does not stop here.

Absurdity has its spread all over the country. The general living conditions are declining everyday with prices rising every month, especially with rise in fuel prices.

With half starved workers slogging for much beyond the scheduled hours, in return getting pretty little, and that if at all they have a job, it is difficult to move on. But deprivation also leads to questions, about justice, against mismanagement, an outcome of total disregard towards people’s plight. The result is simmering anger. The farmers’ dharna is one such example of that. With immense patience, vast agrarian masses, men and women of all ages, have been sitting on the borders of Delhi and holding people’s Parliament, putting up their demands. It is one example that has been set in the almost classic phase of the history of class struggle, cruel and brutal, moving towards finance capital when there is no productive investment and banks stand enslaved.

There has been attack on the right to privacy. Privacy means freedom to think and accordingly conceptualise one’s own perceptions that one perceives. It is on this fact that the health of democracy is estimated. It is this very freedom that has been encroached by surveillance which is accountable to none. Its power to interfere in all the aspects of the victim’s life has a crippling effect. The struggle against that snooping actions by the Pegasus spyware is now an essential component on the eve of Independence Day. (IPA Service)