Lets mull over....**

Not so long ago, six decades back it happened at midnight. A single stroke ushered new hopes into the lives of Indians- freedom. And again, not too far from August 14 midnight after ‘Bharat’ split into two-India and Pakistan we wrote our own constitution, proudly announced that we are a ‘Republic’ and no more a British dominion.
If August 15, 1947 brought us Indian Independence, January 26, 1950 enshrined us full-fledged freedom.
1948: Mahatma Gandhi assassinated at a pray meeting-India mourned.
2007: We still mourn over the deaths of many innocent lives brutally killed in the name of religion.
1949: UN Security Council announces ceasefire in Kashmir.
2007: We still don’t know how to put off the fire in Kashmir.
1950: Indian election commission established with an aim to conduct fair election.
2007: We are still struggling to understand how to elect a leader of our choice in this coalition era.
1951: Vinobha Bhave’s bhoodan movement starts.
2007: It still continues but by our own communists forcefully, killing innocents in police firing just for few vote mileage.
1952: India’s first election, Congress wins.
2007: Congress still wins, thanks to cheap ethics.
1953: First Backward Classes Commission formed.
2007: The list of OBCs grows.
1954-56: States re-organised on the basis of language.
2007: Few states still refuse to accept Rashtriyabhasha Hindi speaking people and language racism continues.
1957-58: First communist ruled State-Kerala.
2007: Communists still rule Kerala with double standards, don’t want corporate Tata’s tea estates to be damaged.
1959-60: Doordarshan launched.
2007: Mushrooming growth of channels-news sold.
1961-64: Indian troops take Goa, Diu and Daman into hold. Himalayan border taken away China, unilateral ceasefire established.
2007: Chini are never bhai-bhai. Lakhs of Tibetans still live in India and Buddhist spiritual Guru His Holiness Dalailama leads a government in exile. We still reel under fear of China and Pakistan friendship.

1965: Narmada Valley Development project launches. Operation Gibraltor begins the second Indo-Pak war.
2007: Medha Pathkar fights Narmada Bachao and so do fights Indian government this time with Pakistani terrorists.

1966: Indira Gandhi becomes Prime Minister. Bal Thackery forms Siva Sena.
2007: Family legacy continues…India gets a Super Prime Minister. Siva Sena’s party ideology at danger.

1967: Maoist inspired fight begins in Naxalbari, West Bengal. The word Naxal coined.
2007: This time Marxist instigated fight, again in West Bengal. Nandigram farmers fighting for the right over their own lands.

1968-70: Indian National Congress splits, Indira Gandhi and Morarji Desai lead two groups.
2007: A majority would hope the history repeats. Indian National Congress, with its allies United Progressive Alliance divides for better future.

1971: Third Indo-Pak war due to Bangladesh’s fight with Pakistan.
2007: Bangladeshi’s freely walk into India. Border troops warned against stopping them. After all, Muslim votes count.

1972-73: Project tiger introduced to save tigers.
2007: The fear of national animal becoming extinct haunts.

1974: India’s first nuclear test at Pokhran, Rajasthan. Proud moments indeed.
2007: Nuclear deal blast in the Parliament. May topple the government.

1975-76: Indira Gandhi declares emergency.
2007: India keenly observes the fast moving political equations in Pakistan. Musharaff may announce emergency.

1977: Janata party, the first non-Congress government forms. Morarji Desai Prime Miniser.
2007: A medley kind of Congress government rules the country.

1978-79: Child marriage Restraint Act amends.
2007: Girl child still a burden. Child marriages continue unabated.

1980: Indira Gandhi wins again. Sanjay Gandhi dies.
2007: Foreign Gandhi moves on….

1981-84: Kanshi Ram founds Bahujan Samaj Party. Operation Blue Star in Golden Temple. Indira Gandhi assassinated by her own bodyguards. Bhopal plant kills thousands of people.
2007: Mayavati seeks Brahmin help to win election. Dera chief controversy lights fire again in Sikh community. Arjun Singh the then chief minister of Madhya Pradesh while Bhopal gas tragedy took place is busy unveiling another controversy among the young in the name of reservations. Bhopal gas tragedy victims still pay.

1985: Kanishka air craft blast by Sikh terrorists in the coast of Ireland.
2007: The families of victims still await justice. Canadian court still dilly-dallying.

1986: The locks of Ram Lalla shrine at Babri Masjid reopens.
2007: BJP remembers Ram Mandir during election season.

1987: Bofors scandal bursts out. Fingers pointed at Indian leaders and officers.
2007: Quattrochi emerges unscathed. CBI hangs its head in shame.

1988: Prithvi, the first surface-to-surface missile, test fired.
2007: Building our own weapons for defense is a sin thinks CPM driven UPA.

1989: No single party gets majority. V P Singh becomes Prime Minister.
2007: V P Singh still talks. Only on few ‘reservations’.

1990: Implementation of Mandal Commission recommendations.
2007: Supreme Court proves its point. Stays OBC quota reservations in premier educational institutions.

1991: Rajiv Gandhi assassination. P V Narasimha Rao becomes Prime Minister. Economic reforms brought in.
2007: One of the co-accused in Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination gets central cabinet post! Manmohan Singh fears to implement economic reforms fiercely.

1992: Babri Masjid demolition. Riots in almost all states of the country.
2007: Communal riots are the order of the day.

1993: Thirteen bombs explode in Mumbai killing hundreds of citizens.
2007: Mumabi bomb blasts case accused get punishments. Sanjay Dutt too not spared. Justice in India gets a fresh lease of life.

1995-96: BJP wins, Vajpayee rules country for 13 days.
2007: BJP still struggles for a foothold.

1997: K R Narayanan becomes first dalit President of India.
2007: From no where, not much known Pratibha Patil becomes first woman President of the country.

1998: India conducts three underground nuclear tests. Sends a clear signal to rest of the world about its weapon power.
2007: Indians fear building weapon power compromised. Manmohan Singh speaks sugar-coated, skips to explain important points of nuclear deal.

1999: Indian airlines A-300 airbus hijacked by Kashmir Harat ul-Mujahidin.
2007: Prime Minister claims to have spending sleepless nights thinking of those who planned Glasgow terror attack. Fortunately, attack foiled.

2000: Indian population touches one billion mark.
2007: The number of AIDS cases grow.

2001: Bangaru Laxman, president of BJP resigns. The era of investigative journalism begins with Tehelka. Militant attack on Parliament.
2007: Investigative journalism gives sleepless nights to corrupts. Spying is the job of journalists. Afzal Guru safe in jail.

2002: Godhra fire accident takes place. Abdul Kalam is President. Akshardham and Raghunath temple attacked by Muslims.
2007: Gujarat communal violence continues. Kalam is a professor again. Siddhi Vinayak temple refuses to offer coconuts to Lord Ganesha fearing bombs in the coconut shell.

2003: Tata Consultancy Services touches 1 billion dollar turnover.
2007: Software engineers are most sought out grooms today. The more the salary, the more dowry.

2004: Manmohan Singh becomes Prime Minister.
2007: Super Prime Minister Sonia Gandhi rules.

2005: The 131-year old Bombay Stock exchange becomes a corporate entity, BSE Ltd.
2007: Stock market topples quite often, jitters among Indian investors.

2006: Police recover skeletons of children from a gutter in Noida, Uttar Pradesh.
2007: Mulayam believed that the accused are innocent till elections. The case is now under wraps.
2007: Terrorist attacks, communal riots, unemployment, untouchability, child labour, begging continues and then comes the INDEPENDENCE DAY.
We are not pessimistic giving these comparisions, but it is an undeniable fact that India is still ‘in’ ‘dependent’ for many things and in many things. In this speed era, the country known for its yoga, ayurveda, spiritual gurus who taught us tolerance is still struggling for its own identity. Is Indian identity at a stake????

**Copied from an email by AHMAD RASHEED on another Forum

Good stuff!

Though on the other hand- pains and gains- usual ho-hum story of countries and people on the rise. If you are expecting good old B.F. Skinner's utopia, you don't even get it in Canada nor any other place I have worked or lived in. Always room for improvement.

Don't know about the Indian investors being jittery though. I am in constant touch with heavies in India and the mood is nothing less than euphoric. New equity mutual funds and IPOs abound.
The seesaw ride adds to the exhilaration.