In his call to Indian patriots, Justice Katju emphasizes the urgent need for a united struggle to propel the Indian subcontinent towards industrial greatness.

ONE SINGULAR THOUGHT must haunt, obsess, torment, agonize, harrow, harass, and madden the minds of all Indian patriots, as it does mine, day and night, 24/7. (By ‘Indian,’ I mean Indians, Pakistanis, and Bangladeshis. We are truly one nation, albeit temporarily and artificially divided by a British swindle in 1947. But we are certain to reunite one day.)

How to transform our Indian subcontinent into a modern industrial giant, with our people enjoying a high standard of living? All other thoughts are irrelevant, superficial, minor, or at best, trivial or subsidiary issues.

We owe this transformation to our children, grandchildren, and succeeding generations, for without it, they too will suffer terribly from massive poverty, unemployment, malnutrition, lack of proper healthcare, and good education, etc., as our generation and our ancestors suffered.

It must be clearly understood that such a transformation will not be easy. There are powerful forces, both national and international, which will oppose it tooth and nail, as their vested interests will be adversely affected by it.

They fear that if India becomes a modern industrial giant, for which it has all the potential, having a huge pool of technical talent and immense natural resources, and with our cheap labor, we will undersell their goods, leading to the collapse of their industries, throwing millions of their people out of employment.

Therefore, our national interest directly conflicts with the interest of the developed countries.

Hence, a mighty united people’s struggle led by patriotic, selfless, modern-minded leaders will be needed to achieve India’s transformation into a modern industrial giant. It cannot be achieved within the present constitutional system of parliamentary democracy.

Huge sacrifices will have to be made in this people’s struggle; maybe up to 10% of our population will perish in it, as historical experience shows.

For instance, after the success of the Chinese Revolution in 1949, an estimate was made by the Chinese government, and it was found that out of the approximately 500 million Chinese who lived before the start of the revolution in the 1920s, about 50 million perished in it.

Similarly, of the approximately 40 million Vietnamese living in 1945, about 4 million were killed in the liberation wars against France and America, which ended in 1975.

The struggle will be long-drawn, arduous, and full of twists and turns, probably extending over 10-15 years, or even longer.

The struggle will initially be, as it is presently, an ideological struggle, in which the weapons used are not guns, bombs, or swords, but ideas.

Historical experience shows that before every major revolution, there is usually an ideological revolution, where ideas, not weapons, are the tools of change.

India is currently undergoing an ideological revolution, and the actual revolution is still some distance away.

The current task for Indian patriots is to develop and disseminate correct, scientific ideas among the people. This mission will initially face fierce hostility, as most people are resistant to changing their orthodox beliefs. However, patriots must persevere in their mission, regardless of the dangers or the likelihood of not witnessing the fruits of their labor.

In this period, the enlightened section of our society must launch a strong ideological attack on feudal ideas and practices like casteism, communalism, and superstitions. They must advocate for scientific and rational thinking and explain the limitations of parliamentary democracy, which entrenches feudal forces.

Transforming the mindset of a largely feudal population is a daunting task. Patriots undertaking this mission will face mockery, ridicule, and even physical assaults. Changing deep-rooted feudal mindsets is significantly more challenging than altering the physical environment.

In this struggle, unity of our people is absolutely essential if we are to have success. Taking advantage of our tremendous diversity, our enemies, internal and external, always seek to divide us, as our British rulers did, on the basis of caste, religion, language, or race. We must therefore expose such anti-national elements, such as most of our present political leaders, who try to polarize society and incite caste, religious, lingual, and racial hatred among us, for vote banks, and must safeguard and maintain our unity.

The real transformation of India can only begin after this heroic people’s struggle, led by patriotic, modern-minded leaders is over, and an alternative political order is created under which India rapidly industrializes, and the standard of living of our people is steadily raised.

A storm is coming in India, and we must prepare for it.

Till then, we must, paraphrasing the words of Winston Churchill, say to our countrymen: “Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duty, and so bear ourselves, that if the Indian nation lasts for a thousand years, men will still say, ‘this was their finest hour’.”

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