Are we really Independant ??

How many years are we independent? Sixty Two years you say! Well your math is right. Have you ever consulted the dictionary to find the meaning of independence! Well you are not alone. Many of us assume we attained our independence in 1947! Are we really independent? 

Well that depends. A country cannot be independent till it can freely express its opinion and act based on its national and strategic interests. Is Iraq an independent nation? Why not? Well you say their Government is hand picked exiled puppets of America. Well it is true! Then who is Manmohan Singh? Can he or Vajpayee ever really oppose Iraq war knowing very well that Saddam was India’s real friend! Well why are we negotiating with Pakistan knowing very well what Pakistanis are up to! Well you will say it is better to live in peace with neighbors! Well that is what Pandit Nehru and Natwar Singh said in early fifties about Pancha Seal with China! Did the Chinese give a damn about India in 1962? 

Then tell me what will make you happy to call India an independent nation! First, we must be a self-sustaining nation with least dependence on foreign culture, money, power and influence. Let us start with culture – are we not eager to shed our “ego and parampara” and embrace the Americanism for money and status symbol? Money – isn’t our national reserve dependent on how much foreign money comes through foreign institutional investments? Let us take power – did we not withdraw from Kashmir border on insistence of America? Did we not settle in Kargil and not cross the LOC because of what the super powers will do in United Nation? Are we not compromising with China to keep America and Pakistan in check? Well you will say this is part of diplomacy! Influence – Whom do we influence? I tried to dig up Indiadaily archive for the last five years and found that only Bangladesh and a few African countries – we gave them some money to build their railways! Then I found that we really never gave them the money – just proposed and they are nervous about accepting the same!