Indians unite: says Justice Katju

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Indians unite: says Justice Katju

Justice Markandey Katju

September 27, 2023

How could 100,000 Britishers, who came from far away, conquer and rule over 350 million Indians during the British Raj ?

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/uK4peDnnhq4

This happened for two reasons (1) Indians were technically backward (2) We were divided.
Presently we have no dearth of technical talent. In fact Indian IT engineers are largely manning Silicon Valley in California, and American Universities have numerous professors of science, engineering, mathematics, medicine, etc, and technically India is today the most developed of the underdeveloped countries in the world.

So it is the second reason which has become all important today. It is our disunity which is preventing us from becoming a modern industrial giant, like China. We are badly divided on the basis of religion, caste, ethnicity, etc, and unless we are united we will never be able to rapidly industrialise and abolish poverty, unemployment, malnutrition, and the other evils which plague us today.

Some people think that because of our tremendous diversity we can never unite. I do not agree. Diversity can be a source of weakness, but it can also be a source of strength.
It is a source of weakness if we hate each other or fight with each other, as is happening in India today.

But it can also be a source of strength. For instance, USA is the most powerful and advanced nation in the world today, and one factor which contributed to this was its diversity. People from different countries in Europe, Asia, Latin America, etc came to USA bringing with them their own technical knowledge and culture, and when these were pooled together it contributed to rapid progress.

So we need not worry too much about our diversity. There can be unity despite diversity.
Unfortunately we adopted the parliamentary system of democracy, which runs ( as everyone knows ) largely on the basis of caste and communal vote banks. Casteism and communalism are feudal forces which must be destroyed if India is to progress, but parliamentary democracy further entrenches them ( as it runs largely on that basis ). Our politicians, who have no genuine love for the country but are only interested in power and pelf, incite caste, communal and ethnic hatred for getting votes, which divides us.

So we have to devise an alternative system which unites us, and under which we rapidly industrialise and emerge as a modern industrial giant, of which we have all the potential.
How that alternative system can be created, how much time will that take, who will be the modern minded leaders who will lead the people’s struggle in creating and running it, no one can presently predict. One cannot be rigid about historical forms. The people will have to use their creativity in this connection.

But it is only by creating such an alternative system, in which people are solidly united, can we ensure that never again will a handful of foreigners rule over us, directly or indirectly