One single thought must haunt, obsess, torment, agonise, harrow, harass, and madden the minds of all Indian patriots ( as it haunts mine ), day and night, 24×7 ( and by Indian I mean Indians, Pakistanis and Bangladeshis, for we are really one nation, only temporarily and artificially divided by a British swindle in 1947, but are sure 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 from.

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 ( as explained below ). 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 labour, we will undersell their goods, leading to 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. Our interest is to rapidly industrialise, while the latter’s interest is to keep us semi-feudal, backward and weak.

 Hence a mighty united people’s struggle led by patriotic, selfless, modern minded leaders will be needed to achieve India’s transformation into a moden 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 upto 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 with many twists and turns, probably extending over 10-15 years, or even more

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. Later, it will develop into an actual revolutionary struggle.

Historical experience shows that before every major revolution, there is usually an ideological revolution where ideas, not weapons, are the tools of change. The French Revolution of 1789, for instance, was preceded by an ideological revolution led by great thinkers like Voltaire, Rousseau and other thinkers belonging to the French Enlightenment. This period saw a powerful, sustained attack on feudalism and religious bigotry.

https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/ideological-struggle-launched-by-voltaire-rousseau-needed-markandey-katju-2112351

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.

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

https://indicanews.com/justice-markandey-katju-the-task-before-indian-patriots/

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 polarise 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 industrialises, and the standard of living of our people is steadily raised.

A storm is coming in India, and we must prepare for it, as explained below

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’.”