Current India: Present day Individual, 1990-2000

Currently India is a strong democratic nation like the United States. Since it’s Independence, the federal government has been led by the Indian National Congress (INC). But recently the role of the INC among the people is not as powerful as their own individual opinions. Now, the people are open to new leaders, and rarely re-elect the same people. This shows they are open for change and improvement. In the 1990s secularism was established and a new political movement Bauhjan was made. Bauhjan was the people who made up India’s low caste communities (untouchables). The untouchables made up more than half of the voters in India. Overall India has improved and drastically changed ever since its independence and it’s freedom from the British rule.

Death of Indira: Citizen, 1984

October 31^st, 1984 is a day that will always be remembered in India. It is the day that Indira Gandhi was assasignated. She was a woman who dedicated her entire life to improving India. She worked very hard to make as many people as she could happy, but of course that is impossible. She made mistakes like every human being, but those mistakes are what killed her. In the early 1980’s, the Sikhs, who were members of a religious group, wanted to break away from India and start their own independent state. But Indira wanted India to remain a united country and disagreed with their proposal. This of course resulted in many violent attacks. Eventually, the Sikhs took refuge in their sacred place, the Golden Temple of Amritsar. This place was considered safe from attack, but Indira attacked it anyway. Many people died in this fight and she was widely criticized for it. After many attacks, Indira’s advisers suggested that it would be dangerous to have Sikhs working for her, but she refused to listen. She did not want to discriminate against them. But sadly, it was two Sikh security guards that killed her trying to get revenge. Indira Gandhi is an Indian legend that will be remembered forever.

Re-election of Indira Gandhi: Indira, 1980

Today I was re-elected prime minister of India. I am so happy that I am able to return, but because of my past experience as prime minister I am a little nervous. I have been actively involved in the Indian government since I was twelve. My parents and I were part of India’s various freedom movements and even when I when I got married my husband became involved too. In 1947, the year we won independence, my father Jawaharlal Nehru was elected prime minister. I moved in with him to assist him with the job. I helped him with planning state dinners, writing speeches and things along those lines. This gave me a chance to really know what it’s like to have a position like that in government and I believe it will help me as prime minister today. 1955, I was the first woman to sit on the Indian Nation Congress party’s Executive Committee, and by 1959 I was president of the committee. I was slowly moving up positions in the Indian government. After my father’s death, I was appointed minister of information. I was so happy to get this position, mainly because I knew I could really make a difference in the communications throughout India. There are so many people in our great country that do not know half the situations and news events that occur. So I promoted manufacture of more radios and sponsored openings of radio stations. This way more people could know what was happening in India. As minister of information I also encouraged freedom of press, something I thought was very important. In 1971, I was elected prime minister of India for the first time. I remember being so thrilled to have that position because there was so much I wanted to do for India and now I had the power to do it. I went to drastic measures to reduce poverty in India and improve living conditions. It was these measures though that got me voted out of office in 1977. For example, I introduced mandatory sterilization of women to lower the birth rate. My popularity among the people suffered after this. Slowly I started to lose myself as a ruler. I declared a state of emergency on India. Anyone who opposed me was thrown in jail without a trial. Civil rights were lost and there was strict censorship put on the media. I am not proud of how my first term of prime minister of India ended, and I will do better by India this time.

Indo Pakistan Conflict: Muhammed Jinnah, 1947

Partition was the price India had to pay for its independence. Although we got what we wanted, our fight isn’t over. Ever since the British left, India has become divided. I joined the Indian National Congress but was unaware of the majority of Hindus. This set of an uneven balance of power towards one religious group. I decided that there should be another government specifically for those of Muslim faith. So I left the Indian National Congress eventually, in 1935, I made a Muslim league. This way there can be another separate government for the Hindus, and Muslims. But this, divided India and caused violence between the two sides. Civil war has broken out. The divide became obvious when the Hindus started to support the congress, and the Muslims sided with the league. This is creating a major conflict in India. With the English imperial rule being gone, both sides are fighting to establish their own way as the Indian way.

For this I propose The Two Nation Theory. The only way everyone can get what we want is for a new independent state to be created, so the Hindus can separate from the Muslims. If Pakistan, this new independent state, is created, we can cater to the individual needs of each side, without conflict and without war. “Pakistan not only means freedom and indepenece but the muslim ideology which has to be preserved, which has come to us as a precious girft and treasure and which we hope others will share with us.”(1)

(1)Muhammad Ali Jinnah Quotes: Brainy Quote.

India wins Independence: Citizen, August 15, 1947

It makes me so happy to be able to say that we have finally reached our independence. August 15^th , 1947 we were liberated from British rule. The British have disrespected our culture, exploited us and stolen from us for almost a hundred years. And now we can finally say that we are free! This was not an easy task to accomplish. There were many political organizations, protests and non-violent movements. It took the participation of many people to accomplish this. Citizens came together to support the various movements that the INC leaders worked hard at created. But it was the involvement of one man that really gave India that push it needed. If it wasn’t for him, we most likely would not have an independence day to celebrate. This man is Mohandas Gandhi or “the father of India.” His philosophy of non violence and many satyagrahas made India’s fight for freedom very unique. Many did not think it was possible to achieve independence without war and severe bloodshed. Yes, there was some violence, but nothing as bad as it could have been. I am very proud of my country and what we have done. We did not stop trying when situations got hard. I was imprisoned many times and my family suffered a great deal because of money and food shortages. But we truly believed in the Indian people and in our great leader Gandhi, and we knew that one day we would defeat the British. No one can understand how great it feels to finally say that our great India has an independence day!