Is our country Bharath or India?

‘Bharath’ a more meaningful word originated from the name of a legend king ‘Bharathan’. At the same time ‘India’ emerged from the river ‘Sindu’ which pronounced as ‘Indu’ by Persians and from the river system ‘Indus’  the name India formed. Very simply ‘Bharath’ symbolizes the rich culture, heritage and unique diversity of our country and the name ‘India’ represents the image of ‘emerging super power’ and the so called faster development. Now the question is ‘Is our country Bharath or India?

We can’t live in a world without development and we can’t imagine a country handcuffed with colonial foreign powers. In 1947, the brave freedom fighters cut off the bonds of slavery and promulgated independence. While moving we witnessed tremendous changes in the social and economic sectors of India. From the patches, India moved to the forefront. Now the once unknown country is well known to the globe. Considering the GDP growth India is the third after Indonesia and China. After US, China and Japan, India decorates the position of super economy. Number of High Net worth Individuals (HNI), Information, Communication and Technology (ICT) and democracy, India has a leading position among her counterparts. India is known by its ‘unity in diversity’ where people with different caste and creeds live peacefully and it’s a model for mutual coexistence of multitude culture and life style. Colors and festivals are part and parcel of our life. Above all the civilization we have has the history of millenniums. There is no dual opinion in saying India is the cradle of civilization where the rich Indus Valley – Harappa civilization existed.

After centuries, India is in the acme of glory. The Liberalization, Privatization and Globalization (LPG) policies attracted domestic rich as well as investors around the world. Now it is apparent that rural economy is shrinking and urban economy is growing. Even though our constitution enshrined the concept of socialist sovereign secular and democratic republic – it is still in letters. The ideology of justice and equality is a nightmare for poor people. The motto put forward by the 12^th planning year report is cherishing – ‘faster inclusive and sustainable growth’. After a few years of independence – Nehru cautioned about the pathetic condition of India where only 15% of the allotted money is reaching the real beneficiaries. The situation is more or less same in 2011 and reports say that out of 3 on 1 is reaching at the hands of bottom. In a country where rich becomes more richer and poor becomes poorer. Our rural population was very high around 75% a decade ago, and the rural urban population fast varying and the urban population may surpass the rural very soon. It is evident that to live in rural area is unaffordable for poor people in the wake of high inflation, unemployment, futility and lack of government support. Agriculture was the back bone of Indian economy and even now 60% of the Indian find live hood from this sector. But truth is that only ‘Aluvalias’ can live in this village with agriculture as the source of income to support life. Adding more vigor to this environmental destruction and exploitation largely affect ordinary people. We are giving up our culture and heritage and blindly follow economic development not human development. While concluding without any doubt I would like to say India is growing but Bharath is dying.

We should remember the words of Mahatma Gandhi “India lives in its villages’ and villages are the soul of India. While formulating policies and implementing development agenda we should consider how it affect rural India.  We need development, we need infrastructure and we need amenities, but should be in spirit along with letters. We won’t continue as a country of poor, country with largest number of underweight, stunted and malnourished children. Let’s revive to cast out the anemia which fades the happiness of India mothers. Awake and work for the inclusive and sustainable development of India. Come together and cheer for the protection of green and join in the race of anti corruption.

Paul V Mathew