India's 70th Independence day.

Happy Independence Day.

As we celebrate the 70th Independence day of the largest democracy in the world, I would like to share a few of my thoughts below.

Frederick Lindemann was an English physicist and an influential scientific advisor to the British government from the early 1940s to the early ‘50s, particularly to the then Prime Minister, Winston Churchill. Lindemann believed that there were 2 categories of human beings - humans and sub-humans. He believed the people under the British colonies were sub-humans and that they didn’t deserve the same human rights and freedom that an ordinary British was provided. Winston Churchill was greatly influenced by Lindeman’s ideology.

During 1943, more than 3 million Indian subjects of the British Empire died in the Bengal famine, one of history’s worst tragedies. Churchill, as part of the World War ll war effort, ordered the diversion of food from starving Indians to already well-supplied British soldiers and stockpiles in Britain and elsewhere in Europe, including Greece and Yugoslavia.

When this famine was brought to Churchill’s attention, he said “I hate Indians. They are a beastly people with a beastly religion”. “The famine was their own fault”, he declared at a war cabinet meeting, for “breeding like rabbits”. He lost no opportunity to ridicule Gandhi ji as well. He said, “if millions are dying in India, why didn’t Gandhi die?”

One of Gandhi ji’s major challenges to attain India’s freedom was to change the mindset of the people. Due to centuries of foreign occupation, Indians had lost hope. They lost their hope for freedom. They lost their dream for a better future. The clutches of occupation had enslaved their minds, their spirit, and their will.

India’s independence on August 15, 1947, ignited the hope of millions of Indians and people from other enslaved nations. It enabled them to aspire for and act towards a bright future.

On this Independence Day, I wish all of you a life filled with freedom. Free from fear, free from hopelessness, free from ignorance, and free from discontent. Let the past not be a prologue for your future.

Jai Hind.

Suresh Jayaprasad
Aug 15, 2017