75 years ago, our country got its Independence after a long struggle. On January 26, 1950, the Constitution of India was implemented, which begins with the ‘Preamble’. The Preamble indicates the mission and vision of the Constitution. The Preamble begins with “We the People of India” followed by “Sovereignty, Justice, Liberty, Equality and Fraternity”. All of these goals are the collective responsibility of every citizen of this nation.
Here sovereignty and fraternity is related to the rights of the nation and rest with the rights of the citizens. Unfortunately, the concept of nation has not received appropriate attention within the existing constitutional scheme. In fact, in the entire Constitution, the term ‘nation’ has hardly been mentioned at one or two places, only under the chapter of Fundamental Duties. We need to analyse how much we are concerned about our nation’s rights.
It is a high time to introspect and contemplate about the gains and losses we made in past this much of years. We are now the fifth largest economy of the world, there is a considerable hike in per capita income and we are among the most powerful nations in the world. But there is more to inspect, to think and to analyse. It is a reality that our total forest cover is now only 21.71 per cent though it should at least be 33 per cent of the total area.
In coming years, we are going to be the most populated country leaving behind China, which is going to cause immense pressure on our natural resources. We are the third most polluted country in the world. We are under serious ecological threat. Around 10,000 species of plants and a few hundred animal species are under severe threat due to the violation of ecological sovereignty of the nation.
Air pollution was responsible for 16.7 lakh deaths in India in 2019, or 17.8 per cent of all deaths in the country that year. According to a report by World Meteorological Organisation (WMO), natural disasters, such as cyclones, floods and droughts, cost India around $87 billion in 2020. Air pollution cost Indian businesses about $95 billion – or Rs 7 lakh crore – every fiscal. There are a plethora of issues that are afflicting our country.
Our country is constantly receiving direct or indirect threats. Divisive voices and religious bigots are rising from within the nation. We have heavily compromised with the idea of India. All these indicate that the threats faced by the nation are actually damaging each of us. All these threats are challenging not only our right to life but also to our cultural, ecological and territorial existence. To solve these problems should be our collective responsibility.
Governments should be responsible to citizens, but every citizen must also be responsible to the nation. We cannot survive as a powerful citizen unless the rights of the nation are protected. So let’s take a pledge to save our nation, to save its values, its sovereignty, unity and secularism. Let’s take a pledge that we will not destroy what we have not created on our motherland. Let us take a pledge to save our country and freedom at all cost rising above our petty interests.
