Personal Essay: Is India Really Free?

1. INTRODUCTION

India gained independence on 15th august 1947. Being a diverse country with many religions and communities, it was only through the united efforts of people that the British could be driven out. Sixty seven years since then, India has come up as a prospective democracy whose timeline has been marked with the milestones of progress and advancements in many fields like agriculture, industry, science & technology, education and healthcare etc. But amongst all this, our country has also suffered major setbacks which sometimes leads us to think that whether India is really free or is it just a superficial facade that conceals all the other negativities that lie underneath. Every day, we come across a lot of mishappenings in newspapers

In which the army was sent to the holiest Sikh Shrine, the Golden Temple, as it was being suspected by the government of India that the criminals such as Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale were using the temple complex as there shelter. Many civilians were also killed by the army’s attack on the Golden Temple and this enraged many Sikhs. On 31st October 1984, Indira Gandhi was assassinated by two of her Sikh body guards at her residence . The violence could be hardly described as a communal riot, although there was an element of communalism present in the violence which occurred in Delhi after the tragic death of Mrs. Indira Gandhi. It was, in any case, an altogether uneven issue. The Sikhs did not play any forceful part in the Delhi riots. It was, in the first place, an entirely one-sided affair. The Sikhs did not play any aggressive role in the Delhi riots. They were always at the receiving end. They tried in a few cases to defend themselves, but the defence was entirely ineffective. On the other hand, there were a large number of Hindus in every locality who tried to save their Sikh neighbours at considerable risk to themselves. The rioting cannot also be ascribed, except marginally, to the feelings generated by the cruel murder of a popular leader. As this report highlights, no Sikh was killed in Delhi on October 31, 1984, although the passing away of Mrs. Gandhi became known by about 10.30 A.M. on that day. It

With a view to further Ayodhya campaign, a procession was organised by Vishwa Hindu Parishad in Bhagalpur. It was aimed to collect bricks with an aim to build a new temple at Ayodhya however the procession turned violent near Fatehpur village on 22nd October. The Hindu-Muslim tension aggravated when two rumours about the killing of Hindu students started circulating. One of the rumour that made rounds that around 200 students of university suffered butchered by Muslims. And the other one was that a group of 31 Hindu students had been killed and dumped in a well at the Sanskrit college. Additionally, the political and criminal contentions in the territory likewise assumed a part in inducing the mobs. On 24th October, the procession to Ayodhya was supposed to pass through Tatarpur, a Muslim dominated area. Initially the procession was non-violent however the situation escalated when some members of the procession shouted slogan such as 'Hindu, Hindu, Hindustan’. The indiscriminate hurling of bombs at this stage instigated these riots. The furious mobs ransacked the shops owned by the Muslims on the Nathnagar road. The rioters tried to attack Assanandpur, Muslim dominated area. But the situation was averted when the locals returned the fire from the rooftops. Then the mob swung to the Hindu dominated area, Parbatti, where they slaughtered no less than 40