Is our Independence for real?

 On 15th August,the World's largest Democracy(so called!!) will celebrate its 64th Independence Day..A good reason to cheer for more than 1.1 billion(and counting..) Indians. But the events that took place over the past few days,weeks, and months have certainly left a lot to ponder upon,for our great Democratic state. 

On one hand we can be proud of our achievements in terms of the spectacular economic growth we've achieved over the past few years,we can be proud of our new currency symbol,we can be proud of our continuing success in the field of space exploration,we can also take pride in our increasing military might,in our successful and prospering services industry,in our increasing influence on the global stage,in our constitution that gives us the liberty like no other.And we can be proud of countless other things.
And while most of the Indians are eagerly waiting for the country to emerge as the next global superpower,the country is actually grappling with grave internal threats.The astonishing pace of economic growth over the past decades has changed the face of most of the geographical regions of India.However,the dividends of this growth haven't been distributed equally among all the stakeholders.The result is Maoist unrest in the Central & Eastern India that has now engulfed around 1/3rd districts of the country and now we are facing a war within,war with our very own civilians.
Separatist voices are being raised from the North(Kashmir) to the Far East(Meghalaya and Manipur).During our 63 years of freedom,we haven't been able to inculcate the feeling of belongingness among our own citizens.Isn't it a pity for us?
The state has failed miserably in ensuring food security for our(humongous) population.The result is  flaring up of food prices which is pushing fraction of population back into poverty. Isn't it a failure of government policies?
Inefficient governance,corrupt and unaccountable bureaucracy,lack of basic healthcare,sanitation and shelter in rural India,overloaded urban infrastructure-these are just a few stories that capture national attention,there are a countless others which simply go unnoticed but are persistent for years together.
So this Independence Day,isn't it a question that we need to ask ourselves-Is our Independence for real? If not,how can we as citizens can contribute to making this nation a better place to live?
How we can reintegrate India which has broken into regions of unrest,dissatisfaction?
And we need to get out of our complacency cocoon to make a brave attempt to make every Indian a stakeholder in the Indian aspirations of the 21st century.