By Justice Markandey Katju-
Justice Markandey Katju
(Justice Markandey Katju is a former Judge, Supreme Court of India, and former Chairman of Press Council of India. The views expressed are his own)
The basic problems of the Indian subcontinent are the massive and abject poverty of our vast masses, the record and rising unemployment, the appalling level of child malnutrition ( every second Indian child is malnourished, according to the Global Hunger Index ), the skyrocketing prices of food and other essential commodities, the almost total lack of proper healthcare and good education for the masses, etc.
I have repeatedly said that abolishing these great evils, requires a mighty historical people’s revolution, and thereafter, the creation of a powerful modern industrial state in the Indian subcontinent. It cannot be achieved within the framework of parliamentary democracy, which runs largely on the basis of caste and communal vote banks. Till now I have not given details of this modern industrial state which we seek to create, but I believe it is high time to do so now.
Features, and characteristics of the modern industrial state we will create.
- Central feature
The central feature will be that it will be a welfare state, tasked with the object of destroying the great socio-economic evils mentioned above, which have plagued us for centuries. Our generation and our previous generations suffered terribly thereby, but we owe it to our children, grandchildren, and succeeding generations that they too do not suffer similarly, but instead enjoy a high standard of living, and lead decent lives. Such a welfare state cannot be created without a high level of industrialization, because only largescale modern industry can create the wealth we require for the welfare of our people. Without creating such a welfare state for our people, all other objectives are useless.
- Its leaders
Its leaders will be genuinely patriotic, selfless, modern-minded persons determined to rapidly industrialize and modernize our country. Many people ask me where are those leaders? It is true that the present political leaders in India, of all political parties, are a bunch of selfish, slippery, shifty, rogues, rascals, scoundrels, charlatans, looters, deceivers, and mafiosi, who have no genuine love for the country, but only seek power and pelf. They are experts in polarising society on caste and communal lines, and inciting hatred, to get votes.
So I am not talking of these tricksters, swindlers, knaves, and scallywags. I am talking of quite another breed.
Nature does not like a vacuum. Historical experience shows that in the darkest periods of the history of many nations great leaders arose, e.g. in the great English, French, American, Russian and Chinese Revolutions. I am confident the same will happen in the Indian subcontinent too.
- Internal policies of the new government
Since India is a country of great diversity, with numerous religions, castes, languages, races,etc the government will not tolerate attempts by anyone to create discord and hatred among our communities, and give harsh and severe punishment to the offenders. The state will be secular. Secularism does not mean one cannot practice his/her religion. It means that religion is one’s private affair, and the state will have nothing to do with it. The state will uphold religious freedom, but will not tolerate religious extremism and bigotry. It will be guided by the policy of ‘suleh-e-kul’ of the great Moghul Emperor Akbar, the real father of the Indian nation.
As regards economic policies, the state will be pragmatic. Realizing the value of capitalism, it will not seek its elimination, but its regulation in the public interest and welfare. We certainly will not tolerate a state of affairs in which a handful of Indian big businessmen, who have become billionaires, own wealth equal to that of 70% of India’s 1400 million population.
The new state shall prepare and implement 5-year plans for India’s economic growth, taking the help of tehnical, economic and administrative experts. The plans will assess the anticipated requirements of food, clothing, fuel, etc of the masses, and ensure that these are met. As regards education and healthcare, these will be free for all.
- External policy
The state will try to promote peace and good relations among all nations. However, it will not hesitate to condemn powerful nations which oppress weaker ones. We will have a strong army, equipped with the latest weapons (made by our industries, not foreigners ), but it will only be used for our defense, not offense.
- Reunification of India
One of the cardinal objectives of our new state will be the undoing of the British swindle called Partition of 1947 based on the bogus two-nation theory.
On this there will be no compromise. We must reunite, under a secular state, whatever the cost, otherwise we will keep wasting our precious resources and energy in hostility with each other. India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh are really one country, sharing the same culture, which were one from the time of Moghul Emperor Akbar, and were only temporarily and artificially separated by a British fraud.
Later, if other neighboring countries wish to voluntarily join our Union, they will be welcomed ( with the right to secede whenever they wish).
- Language policy
All languages of the Indian subcontinent will be given equal respect, and no attempt will be made to impose Hindi or any other language on anyone. On the other hand, state support will be given to all regional languages, and even to dialects, to prevent them from dying out ( as indeed many have done ). These are the broad outlines, though of course, they have to be supplemented.
