Sixty Years of Independence - India's Achievements

As we take a turn around the corner and enter the sixty first anniversary of our freedom, lets just stop to salute those who were around to have had a feel for the moment when sixty years ago, the flag of freedom was unfurled. India's independence day is celebrated on August 15 to commemorate its independence from British rule and its birth as a sovereign nation on that day in 1947. The day is a national holiday in India. It is celebrated all over the country with a flag - hoisting ceremony and distribution of sweets.

Today, India seems to possess both ample "soft" and "hard" power after a long and torturous journey since the dismal days of the early 1960's. Indeed it now appears to be on the threshold of great power status. Commentators both at home and abroad, are extolling India's unexpected and dramatic rise. They underscore its very significant political, economic and military capabilities to argue their case. Politically, despite the calamitous and polemical assertions of many foreign pundits, democracy in India has been successfully consolidated, warts and all.

The country has a feisty and independent press, a judiciary that has contributed new ideas to modern jurisprudence, an extraordinary record of electoral alternation and an increasingly sophisticated electorate. Its recent spurt of economic growth now appears sustainable. In the last quarter the economy grew at 9.7 per cent. As a consequence of this sustained span of economic expansion the country now boasts a middle class variously estimated between 150 and 300 million. Many of the country's infrastructural bottlenecks, which had clogged economic growth, have now been addressed or are at least being ameliorated.

Finally, regardless of how one views military power, it remains a vital attribute of national survival. Thanks to sustained economic growth the nation has succeeded in acquiring a modern military armed with nuclear weapons. Given this overall re3cord it is hardly surprising that as the nation celebrates its 60th year of independence that the dream of great power status is now within realisation.

However, before one joins in this chorus of celebration it might be desirable to take stock of the many infirmities that still stalk India's economy, polity and military clout. Though rapid economic growth has meant a substantial decline in both rural and urban poverty, some 26 per cent of the population still remains below the official poverty line. Merely citing this dire statistic does not adequately capture the sheer destitution and misery of this segment of the populace. The poverty that they endure robs them of their human dignity and mocks even commonplace notions of social justice and equity. A great power can ill afford to consign virtually a quarter of its citizenry to a condition of such near endemic poverty.

Indians can be justly proud of the success of their democratic institutions. Unlike the states of western Europe, which only incrementally extended the reach of adult franchise, the framers of the constitution granted this privilege at the outset to every adult Indian regardless of religious, ethnic or class background. This early success not withstanding as some gruesome incidents continue to highlight, the country is far from routinely practicing this noble principle. Violence against religious minorities remains recrudescent, atrocities against lower castes continue their desultory course and bigots from every religious community ply their loathsome political rhetoric with gusto. Against this grim societal backdrop often an overworked, under trained and ill equipped police force proves to be inept, partisan or brutal when dealing with the least powerful members of society.

The significance of military power in today's world cannot be underestimated. Despite the Cold War's end the military budgets of the great powers have not shrunk in dramatic measure. Consequently, as a matter of practical prudence, India still needs to maintain a certain level of vigilance and preparedness. Accordingly, its present level of defence spending less than 5 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product, is hardly excessive. The armed forces have yet to develo9p the necessary organisational and institutional mechanisms that permit seamless joint operations, exploit India's growing information technology prowess and also develop indigenous ideas about doctrine and strategy. Nor has the very substantial investments in attempts to develop an autonomous defence industrial base shown considerable promise.

These limitations notwithstanding, the country still holds the potential to forge ahead on all three fronts. As the nation's political leadership takes stock of 60 years of India's independence it might behave them to ponder the possible choices and strategies they may adopt to overcome the hurdles that still remain on the path to great power status.

V. Aruna Kumari