By Jon Pebi Tato

The great nation builders and visionary leaders struggled to get the nano amount of freedom and liberty from the 200 years of imperialist subjugation. The perseverance for independence led them to achieve what they dreamt of. The nation celebrated its independence on the midnight hour 15th Aug 1947, of which the nation still remembers the speech of  "Tryst with Destiny".

From the stroke of midnight to its 75 years of independence the questions pertaining to liberty, fraternity, and freedom among the various sections of the communities in the country still exist. India's first prime minister, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru's, words on the eve of Independence are often considered to be one of the greatest speeches of the 20th century and to perfectly capture the essence of India’s struggle against the British Raj.

unfortunately, the nation still struggles to fulfill all the aforesaid constitutional rights of the citizens, questions of privacy and surveillance haunt the present and future of the republic. Recent revelations about spyware being used allegedly for mass surveillance to re-examining the idea of citizenship, freedom, and agency seem to be fraught right now, the challenges still exist widely across the nation.

The structure of secularism in the constitution also has been hit hard, Recent atrocities of mob lynching in the pretext of opposite religion and community and radical speeches have literally shattered the existing constitutional strata. India is a country which symbolises unity in diversity. The country is inhabited by people who belong to different religions, cultures, races, and ethnicity. Almost every state in the country has its own language, script, dialect and culture starkly different from others. Nevertheless, there is an invisible thread of nationalism that binds together these diverse people and cultures. However, in the past few years, the country has witnessed numerous incidents which have tarnished the image of India as a liberal and tolerant society. Controversies have erupted over food, religious beliefs, festivals, language and geographical boundaries, fuelled by anger, hatred and prejudice. 

The invasion of privacy and forceful pressure on the journalist has also been witnessed,  the unprecedented jolt to one of the four pillars of democracy has time and again proved that the nation has to tons of challenges to deter and execute.

Above that the existing pandemic of covid-19 since the year 2020 has taken a massive toll on the nation, thousands have lost their lives, and another thousand still fighting for their life. The renowned metropolitan cities of  the country themselves seem to be struggling hard from the covid-19, and eminently the countries deteriorating economy. The unprecedented natural disaster across the nation is another contributing factor in the challenges that the nation faces vehemently.

With a population of over 1.25 billion, India is the second-most populous country and one of the fastest-growing economies of the world. However, there are still many challenges which continue to hinder the pace of India towards progress and development. We might have achieved geographical, economic and social independence but we are yet to achieve independence from many things that are unconducive for any independent and progressive nation.

Despite many plans, policies and programmes for poverty alleviation, nothing substantial has been achieved in this realm. A good chunk of India’s population still lives in abject poverty under the shadow of malnutrition and absence of the basic necessities of life. The number of poor in the country has gone down significantly and the World Bank has stated that only 20 percent of India’s population is currently below the poverty line. This astounding progress was made post the 1991 reforms which embarked a new chapter in the history of India. However, when it comes to poverty alleviation, India still has a long way to go.

so on this 75th Independence Day when we celebrate our nation's independence from the colonial rule, we ought to look back into those certain burgeoning causes that deter our nation from moving forward.