The mantras and tantras of freedom
High-minded idealism and the grittier realm of pragmatism always move together like two contrapuntal lines. The times when this produces the most virtuous results come when they attain a harmonic synergy, mutually reinforcing each other. This contrasts with occasions when they are inert to each other or actively in conflict. It is difficult to disagree with the truisms that underlay PM Narendra Modi’s customary Independence Day address to the nation from the ramparts of the Red Fort.
To paraphrase, azadi is not a constant, once achieved, and needs to be perennially renewed through individual and collective striving. He called for a “panchpran”—Five Resolves—which India needs to actualise as it journeys towards a more accomplished future, making the transition from a developing nation to a developed one. Harking back to the negative vestiges of the past, he sought a collective fashioning of tools for change. The resolves are beyond reproach by themselves: a blend of pride, duty, and freedom from servile attitudes. But in doing so, he imparted a pugnacious political edge to his words.
Casting a retrospective glance at the past, he reprised familiar rhetoric, identifying dynastic politics and corruption as the two evils that hollow out the country’s polity and institutions, closely followed by a related evil: nepotism. Needless to say, this had the effect of turning his speech into a focused attack on the Opposition—since the ruling BJP presents itself as a departure from the norm on those counts. That ended up eliciting sharp reactions.
The more unexceptionable parts of his speech—where he recalled the contribution of leaders from various walks of life and ideologies during the freedom struggle—were left a bit obscured in the cloud of dust that hung over the air finally. The reality check for the citizen may finally lie in trying to derive ways to realise another ideal: unity in diversity.