Balavantuda nakemani
Paluvuritho nigrahinchi palukutamela
Balavanthamaina sarpamu
Chalicheemala chetachikkijavade sumati
Meaning: It is dangerous to show off your physical strength to others by being rude. Even the mightiest of the snake is killed by simple ants when they are united.
Indian Independence struggle almost followed this pattern throughout. The Portugal sailor Vasco da gama discovered sea route to India in the 15th century and ever since trade with India is a hot property in international trade unions because of its rich produces like silk and spices. The English, Dutch and other trading nations colonized India and ruled us for various reasons of commercial profits. British East India Company entered India in the year 1617 and made a strong foothold and thus allowing the English queen to go on to rule India for almost 200 years till 15th August 1947.
In 1617, British East India Company came to India and attained permission for trade from the Mughal emperor Jahangir. Since then, the company deployed "Divide & Rule" policy to turn the local rulers to turn against one another. The victory of Robert Clive against the Nawab of Bengal at the battle of Plassey in 1757 ensured commercial as well as military power in India for the company. On behalf of the queen, the company started to interfere in the politics of India. Also, the English treasury began to grow due to the exports of tea and sugar from the sub-continent. The farmers were forced to cultivate tea and they were even taken to Jamaican Islands to cultivate these crops. Thus, the West-Indies is almost all filled with Hindus whose origins are from India. Huge taxes are being levied on farmers and no farmers should keep a stock of the crop. This forced the farmers to sell the crop to the company and eventually resulted in a drought in 1770. Indians slowly but surely started to feel the pain but never thought of a revolution against East India Company till 1857.
As they say millions of drops come together to make an ocean, many reasons forced Indians for a revolution against the company. Firstly, Lord Dalhousie devised the Doctrine of Lapse, according to which any princely state or territory under the direct influence of the East India Company without a king or a direct competent heir will be annexed into the British raj. Rani of Jhansi revolted against the company's rule in protest to the doctrine. Secondly, the introduction of Enfield Pattern 1853 Rifle Musket(P53 Enfield) saw the dissatisfaction of the soldiers of Indian origin. The cartridges for this rifle are required to cut open with the mouth for loading. The cartridges are greased with either lard(pork fat), which according to Muslims is unclean, or tallow(beef fat), which according to the Hindus is very sacred. Ultimately, these reasons resulted in a mutiny against the Company's rule. This mutiny is known as India's first war of independence. Eventually the queen also was dissatisfied with the events and she decided to take direct control over India by dissolving the East India Company. India came under the rule of the crown in 1858.
Indian National Congress (INC) was found in 1885 by Umesh Chandra Banerjee, Surendranath Banerjee, Man Mohan Ghosh, Allan Octavian Hume, William Wedderburn, Dadabhai Naoroji and Dinshaw Wacha. This political party was instrumental in attaining independence to India. Mahatma Gandhi introduced the greatest weapons called Satyagraha and Non-voilence to the Indians in this era. India is the only country in the world till date which got independence without ever firing a single bullet.
British Government faced a lot of protest from the INC for independence. The huge popularity of Gandhiji was the main problem for the British to control the general public. People used to follow Gandhiji in everything he did and British found it very difficult to keep all those men in the jails as they are filled in always. Gandhiji, himself was jailed a numerous times for his non cooperation to the British rule.
In 1942, Gandhiji started Quit India movement under which he asked every one to stop cooperation to the British in World War II. By that time British Government was already into losses for battling in the bloodiest war of Mankind till date. It was becoming difficult day by day to control the agitations in India for the queen in England. So, Queen declared independence to India on 15th August 1947.
Today, on the 60th anniversary of our Independence Day, let us all take a pledge of leading India to a better future. Government of India took many initiatives to develop the country till date like construction of dams, fortifying the nation across the borders to secure the nation from outside attacks etc,. Now, it is our responsibility to secure the future of India as an economic super-power. India has a lot of potential in terms of agricultural land and industrial firms being in tandem. If all the youth in India act in unison with determination, India will surely rise to the super power status.
But, before leaving India, the British Government devised its Divide and Rule once again by starting communal feelings in certain class of people. Because of this, Hindu-Muslim riots had started and British Government successfully divided India into two nations: Pakistan and Hindustan; based on religion. Indians were not ready for such a step but Gandhiji had given his consent for the partition. Had he not accepted this, and today India and Pakistan were united. The riots may have lasted for four months or a maximum of four years..but, now we are parted forever now. The partition is one mistake that has happened that can never be corrected. But the decision taken is on that day, based on those circumstances. We cannot judge these events as we are parted by 60 years in time.
The second thing that went wrong after getting independence is that no one ever thought about post independence India. Because of this it became very difficult for the Government to curb internal problems like corruption and crime. Today India is the third most corrupted country. It is our duty to free India from these problems if we want to be proud of the rich history we are blessed with.
