When the power was transferred to the Indians in 1947, it was the result of the decades-long political process. The process of progressive transfer of power to Indians began in 1917 in the middle of World War-I and as a result of World War-II, the process of handing over power to the locals accelerated. The real power to the people of India was transferred when the constitution of India came into force on 26th January 1950. Indian became people’s republic. The power, in essence, belongs to the people of India.

Independence day of India is an important day on which the Prime Ministers have been addressing the nation. With an eye on 2019 elections, Modi’s address was like a political rally speech. This is sad as he did not touch any problems that the Indians are facing today. To begin with, the use of saffron turban to address the diverse nation is undermining the secular fabric of India. Indian social fabric is not uni-color, it is multi-colored as represented in our flag itself. The diversity of the religions, the languages, the cultures, the food habits, the creeds, and geography makes India what it is and this diversity is taken into consideration with the values and principles that are valid and true in all the times and in all the places.

Modi donning a saffron turban in the Independence day rally is a political statement. He went on rambling about what was happening pre-2014 and what the BJP/RSS government did since 2014. Of course, the citizens in India know that the Congress government back then was not very responsible to the people, but the BJP/RSS government is not only irresponsible to people, but also against them.

The cases of violence against women, violence against minorities, and violence against Dalits have been on the rise. The BJP/RSS government is now playing the politics extreme polarisation where the communities are being mobilised against another community. The Hindus against the Muslims, the OBCs against the OBCs, the Dalits against non-Dalits, the Muslim women against Muslim men. The ultimate beneficiary of this politics of polarisation is the Brahmins and the Banias. In an article published in the Print recently, it has been proved that the BJP remains Brahmin-Bania party.

The increasing mobalisation of the OBCs in several states in our country is failing to break the alliance of the Brahmins and Banias and this failure of the “social”movements to address the root cause of the problem which is the “concentration of the power and economy”in the hands of a few and coming from particular communities.

The ground check of the claims made by Modi will give a different picture, but it is clear from the independence day address of Modi that he is using the national platforms to further the RSS/BJP and its heinous agenda of dividing this country so that the handful of Brahmins and Banias remain at the helm of power.

Author – Mangesh Dahiwale, Human Rights Activist