Transforming India into a Modern Industrial Giant Through Unity and Revolution
TODAY’S POLITICAL SCENARIO in India presents a sordid and disgusting sight. Our third-rate politicians, from all parties, are squabbling with one another, seeking power and wealth for themselves, with no genuine love for the people.
To achieve their selfish ends, they polarize society by inciting caste and communal hatred to garner votes—an exercise in which they are experts.
The forthcoming Delhi Assembly elections, scheduled for 5th February, are a typical example. In this contest, the three major parties—the BJP, Congress, and AAP—are employing every tactic, fair or foul, using saam, daam, dand, bhed (all means to an end).
However, regardless of who wins in Delhi or elsewhere, there will be no fundamental change in the lives of our people. This is not only because our selfish and crooked politicians lack the will to make such changes, but also because they have no idea how to implement them. Thus, any victory will merely represent a change of leaders, not a transformation in the lives of the masses.
As Manthara said to Kaikeyi in the Ramayana:
“Koi nrip hoye hamein ka haani,
Cheri chaan ki hoib rani”
(“How does it matter to me who will be king?
Will I be anything but a slave?”)
The test of every political system and activity is one, and only one: does it improve the standard of living of the people? Does it provide them with better lives? From this perspective, it matters little who wins elections in India—the people’s miserable lives will remain unaltered.
Today, India faces massive socio-economic challenges.
There is a Mark Twain aphorism that describes this best: “Lies, damned lies, and statistics.” This squarely applies to India, as it is a disorganized country. Moreover, it is so vast—with 1.4 billion people—that it is difficult to obtain accurate figures, even from a neutral, unbiased body, let alone a Government of India agency.
How many people are poor, how many are unemployed, how many lack proper healthcare and quality education, etc., are impossible to verify accurately, or even to conjecture.
What is the definition of poverty? Since prices of essential commodities have steeply escalated in India in recent years, and incomes have not correspondingly increased (assuming they have increased at all), it is obvious that poverty has risen (since incomes are relative to the price index).
The Global Hunger Index, a reputed international agency reporting on world hunger, stated that half of Indian children are malnourished, wasted, and/or stunted. In 2024, India ranked 105th out of 127 countries on the Global Hunger Index (GHI), with a score of 27.3. This score is considered ‘serious’ on the GHI Severity of Hunger Scale. Over 55% of Indian women are anaemic.
Tens of millions of our young men and women are without jobs. When 100 Class 4 (peon or unskilled manual labour) government jobs are advertised, there are often several hundred thousand applicants, many of them with master’s degrees or even doctorates. Several engineers apply too.
Proper healthcare and quality education are almost non-existent for the masses. Private hospitals and clinics are too expensive for most, and the condition of government ones is terrible, to say the least.
Even the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi, a premier Indian medical institute, resembles a railway station, with thousands of sick people waiting outside endlessly, usually receiving perfunctory care, if any. The condition of most schools in India is equally appalling.
It is sometimes claimed that GDP in India is growing, but no one asks who is reaping the fruits of that growth: the Indian masses, or just a handful of big businessmen and international corporates? The gap between the rich and the poor has widened, with a handful of big businessmen becoming richer (often by illegal means) while the poor get poorer (due to escalating prices of food, among other factors).
Gdp
We must adopt a single national aim: to abolish our immense poverty, record-breaking unemployment and the almost total lack of proper healthcare, quality education, and housing for the masses.
To achieve this, we must transform India from a backward country into a highly developed and industrialized one—akin to the USA or China—where people enjoy a high standard of living.
This transformation will require a mighty, united, and protracted people’s struggle, one demanding tremendous sacrifices. It must be led by patriotic, selfless, and modern-minded leaders, culminating in a historic people’s revolution and the establishment of a political and social order that ensures a decent life and justice for all our citizens.
This goal demands total focus and concentration by the patriotic section of our society—much like Arjun’s unwavering focus on the eye of the revolving fish during Draupadi’s swayamvar.
In Draupadi’s swayamvar in the Mahabharat, the test for suitors was to lift and string a bow, and shoot an arrow into the eye of a revolving golden fish on the roof, by looking only at its reflection in a bowl of water.
Swayamvara Of Draupadi
Only Arjun, among all the suitors assembled in the hall, could do that, thanks to his total focus and concentration on the eye of the fish.
Patriotic Indians (and in that term I include Pakistanis and Bangladeshis, as we are really one country, only temporarily and artificially divided by a British swindle in 1947) must become like Arjun. We must see only the eye of that revolving fish, and nothing else. All other thoughts are irrelevant, diversionary, trivial, or at best subordinate issues.
What is that eye? That eye is India becoming a modern industrial giant, like the USA or China. On this, there can be no compromise. We owe that to our children, grandchildren, and succeeding generations. We want them to have a high standard of living and decent lives.
To achieve this objective, the Indian people will have to wage a historic, protracted, arduous people’s struggle, and make a revolution.
Just as Arjun could not see the real eye of the fish, but only its reflection in a bowl of water, patriotic Indians today cannot see the revolutionary situation, as that has not yet developed and is still far away. But India is passing through an ideological revolution, which precedes an actual revolution and is the reflection of the latter.
So our patriots have to shoot their arrows—that is, direct their activities—at the reflection for the time being.
May our great emperors Ashoka and Akbar shower rose petals on our valiant patriots and bless them from the skies.
May our brave fighters in the war of 1857—Rani of Jhansi, Tatya Tope, Nana Saheb, Maulvi Liaquat Ali, Kunwar Singh, and others—inspire us by their heroic deeds.
Let us invoke our great revolutionaries of the 20th century—Bhagat Singh, Surya Sen (Masterda), Chandrashekhar Azad, Ram Prasad Bismil, Ashfaqulla Khan, Rajguru, Sukhdev, and Khudiram Bose. They were our real freedom fighters, but have been relegated to the footnotes of our history books and painted as mavericks and deviants. They fought to create a just social order in which all Indians would live decent lives, but fell at the hands of British executioners and their agents.
May they bestow their blessings on us, their humble disciples. May they steel our will, fortify and kindle our spirit, cheer us, applaud us, inspire us, ennoble us, exalt us, and embolden us in our travails and protracted struggle against seemingly insuperable odds. 
Also Read: Indian Youth Today
Markandey Katju
Justice Markandey Katju is former Judge, Supreme Court of India and former Chairman, Press Council of India.
Disclaimer : PunjabTodayNews.com and other platforms of the Punjab Today group strive to include views and opinions from across the entire spectrum, but by no means do we agree with everything we publish. Our efforts and editorial choices consistently underscore our authors’ right to the freedom of speech. However, it should be clear to all readers that individual authors are responsible for the information, ideas or opinions in their articles, and very often, these do not reflect the views of PunjabTodayNews.com or other platforms of the group. Punjab Today does not assume any responsibility or liability for the views of authors whose work appears here.
Punjab Today believes in serious, engaging, narrative journalism at a time when mainstream media houses seem to have given up on long-form writing and news television has blurred or altogether erased the lines between news and slapstick entertainment. We at Punjab Today believe that readers such as yourself appreciate cerebral journalism, and would like you to hold us against the best international industry standards. Brickbats are welcome even more than bouquets, though an occasional pat on the back is always encouraging. Good journalism can be a lifeline in these uncertain times worldwide. You can support us in myriad ways. To begin with, by spreading word about us and forwarding this reportage. Stay engaged.
— Team PT