An I-Day reckoning: Time to celebrate but also time to take strong steps to secure nation

Veteran journalist Uday Mahurkar writes that India must build on its gains while tackling corruption, environmental degradation and other challenges

by Uday Mahurkar
Published: Aug 15, 2026 2:07 PM | 4 min read

India celebrates its progress since independence on August 15, highlighting significant advancements in various sectors, particularly under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership over the past 12 years.
Key achievements include the abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir, the reduction of poverty levels, and improvements in national security, particularly against terrorism.
The article critiques the government's failure to restore values in politics, address issues related to pornography and crimes against women, and manage environmental degradation effectively.
It calls for five pledges to strengthen the nation, including enacting laws against perverted content, protecting the environment, combating food adulteration, tackling corruption in government postings, and banning horse trading in politics.

Every 15th August is a time for India to take pride in the strides the nation has taken since independence. And rightly so. The progress we have made, despite the strong yet bumpy nature of our democracy, is indeed phenomenal across diverse areas, from food grain sufficiency & defence to space & core governance.

The last 12 years under Prime Minister Narendra Modi have been particularly spectacular, despite the Govt’s criticism in recent months. In fact, in most sectors, Bharat has registered two-fold or many-fold growth in comparison with the preceding 60 years — a feat in itself. Two major achievements have been the removal of Article 370 from J&K, which opened the way for the State’s mainstreaming, & finishing the Maoist menace, which threatened 100 districts of India when it took over in 2014. Yet another achievement is the lowering of poverty levels.

On national security, the Govt has done spectacular work. In fact, the Modi Govt should be complemented for putting fear in the minds of Pakistan-based terrorists by pursuing a tit-for-tat policy.

Despite some recent setbacks, the Indian economy ranks among the fastest-growing economies. India is the world’s leading Digital Power. In foreign relations too, India has done extremely well, despite the path being deeply affected by US President Donald Trump’s eccentricities.

But every Independence Day is also a moment when the nation should pause, look at its achievements & mistakes in the preceding years, & based on that, chart out a precise course for the future.

So, what have been the mistakes of previous years? I find three main mistakes. One is the politics of endless horse trading of MPs & MLAs in the name of a false Chanakya Niti that the ruling party has encouraged at the expense of value-based politics that people were apt to associate with an RSS-linked, ideologically strong political Party. This, along with the indiscriminate use of agencies like CBI & ED against political opponents to settle scores or to force them to surrender, has deeply affected the BJP’s image as a party with a difference.

The 2014 mandate was on four counts: good governance, curbing the politics of Muslim appeasement, reviving Hindu ethos, which the pro-Muslim model of the Cong had suppressed, & restoring lost values in politics. On the first three, the present Govt has done extremely well. But on the issue of restoring lost values in politics, it has miserably failed.

Another area where the Govt has been found wanting is clamping down against purveyors of perverted content/pornography on AV platforms, the main cause of crimes against women & children, particularly rape cases. This is the main roadblock on Bharat’s path to becoming Vishwaguru, but the Govt has done little to curb such evil content.

Yet another weak area where the Govt needs to ponder is the environment. The degradation of forests in the name of development is faster than before. Then, in the latest episode, Maharashtra missionary IAS officer Tukaram Munde has flagged the nation about the massive threat of adulterated food to the health of the nation.

All in all, Bharat must take five pledges to become a great nation.

It will enact a strong law to curb perverted content and punish its purveyors.
It will come up with a new mountain development-cum-environment policy based on the principle that not a single tree will be cut without ample justification. There have been over 2,000 landslides in the last one year in Uttarakhand alone, & the Himalayan ranges are under severe threat due to unhindered & blind development.
It will enact a new law which will treat adulterators of food as enemies of the nation & punish them accordingly.
It will also enact a new law to treat as enemies of the nation and punish those taking bribes in arranging transfers & postings of Govt personnel/bureaucrats & also those taking illicit money for arranging electoral tickets of political parties. This is the main source of corruption in the country.

The main objective of those ensuring their own postings and transfers & party tickets by paying bribes is amassing illicit money & looting the nation.

Horse trading of MPs & MLAs is one of the biggest threats to not just democracy but the character of the nation. It breeds massive corruption. So, India should virtually ban horse trading by enacting a strong law. This is the need of the hour.

Those who say that the above changes are not possible or difficult should take inspiration from Maharana Pratap & Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. Had these medieval heroes thought similarly, India would have been in bondage even today.

Jai Hind.

The author is veteran journalist, nationalist thinker & former Central Information (RTI) Commissioner.