Freedom consists not only in the absence of restraint but also in the presence of opportunity. Liberty is not a single and simple conception.It has four elements – national, political, personal and economic.The Constitution of India through its preambles has given its citizens its rights towards freedom.The man who is fully free is one who lives in a country which is independent; in a state which is democratic; in a society where laws are equal and restrictions at a minimum; in an economic system in which national interests are protected and the citizen has the scope of secure livelihood, an assured comfort and full opportunity to rise by merit.
The Preambles contains the structure of our Constitution, and spells out the aspiration of the people to secure for all its citizens Justice, Liberty, Equality and promote amongst the people a feeling of fraternity, ensuring dignity of the individual and the unity of the nation. Justice is further defined as Political, Social and economic Justice. Indian people have got their Political independence on 15th August 1947, however social and economic justice is still not available to the people of India. The recent public unrest is an indication of the same.
World Bank's latest estimate on global poverty states that India had 828 million people, or 75.6% of the population living below $2 a day. Sub-Saharan Africa, considered the world's poorest region, due of its geographical location and reasons, is better placed; it has 72.2% of its population (551m) people below the $2 a day level. Sub-Sahara is a desert and has extreme climatic conditions were life and vegetation is difficult to survive. However, Indian scenario is different and the geographical location and Area, climate and resources (mineral, agricultural, vegetation, and climatic) are conducive for production of goods and services. India, according to the new estimates, had 456 million people or about 42% of the population living below the new international poverty line of $1.25 per day. The number of Indian poor also constitutes 33% of the global poor, which is pegged at 1.4 billion people. India is home to roughly one-third of all poor people in the world.
In the year 1976 Congress Government through a Constitutional amendment, amended the Preambles (the basic structure) of the Indian Constitution and added the words, Socialist Secular to Sovereign Democratic Republic. Then no Indian name was there in the list of top 100 capitalist’s of the world. Out of 64 years of independent India, Congress party has governed the country for over 53 years . The Party which had won the 2004 general election on the slogan “Congress Ka Haath AAM ADMI Ke Saath, meaning thereby that “The Congress hands are with the Common man”, has done little for the common man. In fact this has become just an slogan to attract votes.
In the year 1991 Shri. Manmohan Singh the then finance minister and currently the Prime Minister of the Country began the economic reforms in India. The World Bank's latest estimates on global poverty shows that the rate of decline of poverty in India was faster between 1981 and 1990 than between 1990 and 2005. This shows that economic reforms, which started in 1991, have failed to reduce poverty at a faster rate. The gap between common man and Capitalist’s has widened. In the list of top 50 capitalist of the world there are as many as 7 Indian’s. According to the World Wealth Report recently released by Capgemini and Merrill Lynch Wealth Management, while most countries in the world have increased their High Net-Worth Individuals Count, India has more than doubled it – maximum compared to any other country in the world. . Political Parties are acting against the spirit of the Indian Constitution to build Socialist India has in fact helped the capitalists to amass wealth. India tops the list for black money in the entire world with almost $1,456 billion in Swiss banks, followed by Russia $470 billion, the UK $390 billion, Ukraine $100 billion and China, with $96 billion. Indian Swiss bank account assets are worth 13 times the country’s national debt. Most of this money has been stashed away in banks in ‘tax havens' abroad over the last 60 years by corrupt politicians, industrialists, bureaucrats and middle-men.
The UPA government with Shri. Manmohan Singh, as its Prime Minister has been named as a Government of Scam’s. Every day new scams have been reported in media and billions of Dollars of public money is been diverted in corrupt hands of politicians, bureaucrats, middleman and industrialists. There is wide spread public unrest in India and people are protesting against the same. However the Government is defending its corrupt practices and any Individual or Institution which raises voice against these practices has to face the wrath of the government lead by the Congress party. Government machinery lead by Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has been pressed against the whistle blower and he is regularly been harassed by the Govt. machinery. The CBI has now been renamed by people as the Congress Bureau of Investigation. Reports of constitutional bodies as The Controller and Auditor General of India are thrown in waste baskets and shamelessly its validity denied. Image of people and Institutions pointing corruption are been tarnished and every attempt is made to spoil his public image. The recent police atrocity on Baba Ramdev and his disciples in Delhi and the treatment received by the Government to Anna Hazare and Civic Society members has clearly revealed the same, and much is desired to be done in the direction of personal, civil and national liberty.
History reveals that India fell mainly because her people were at the critical hour divided and disorganised. Her influence waned when the forces of disintegration, political and social, were at work. If we left our neighbours alone, we revelled in internal strife which ceased for a time when great kings like Ashoka and Akbar ruled over the destinies of India – mighty men, who sought to unite the teeming millions of this vast sub-continent by the bond of a common aspiration and a passionate longing for the eternal code of righteous conduct, charity and understanding. A strong and united India fearing no one and loving all, brought messages of peace and goodwill to distracted world.But as soon as the sceptre dropped from their hands, when the grip over the country was loosened through weak and short-sighted successors, when narrow selfishness and mutual jealousy and distrust overpowered our souls, when local feuds and religious strife raised their ugly heads giving rise to social exclusiveness and moral decadence, unity was lost; freedom, man’s priceless treasure, disappeared.
The public support to Anna Hazare in his effort to draft a Peoples Lok Pal Bill to fight graft and corruption has received wide support through out the country. People from each and every walk of life are lending support to this fight against corruption. Men’s and women irrespective of their caste, creed and religion were all assembling in public places singing patriotic songs and slogans to support this cause. Streets of the nation are lightened at and people were out on road waiving the National Flag and burning candles in support of the Gandhian leader Anna Hazare. It appears to be the second Fight for independence for the people of India.
Biharis the epic center of all great nationalist movements in India. Chandragupta Maurya founder of the Maurya Dynasty (320 -185 B.C.) was considered as the liberator of India as he freed India from the rule of Greek empires. Originating from the kingdom of Magadha in the Indo-Gangetic plains (modern Bihar, eastern Uttar Pradesh and Bengal) in the eastern side of the Indian subcontinent, the empire had its capital city Pataliputra (modern Patna). With an area of 5,000,000 sq km, it was one of the world's largest empires in its time and the largest ever in the Indian subcontinent. At its greatest extent, the empire stretched to the north along the natural boundaries of the Himalayas, and to the east stretching into what is now Assam. To the west, it conquered beyond modern Pakistan, annexing Balochistan, south eastern parts of Iran and much of what is now Afghanistan, including the modern Heart and Kandahar provinces. The population of the empire is estimated btw 50-60 million (lower) which makes Mauryan empire the most populous empire of before Christ era. Mauryan Empire was home to over one third of world humanity. The higher estimates of Mauryan empire population is over 100 million which easily makes it the biggest empire in terms of percentage of world population under any single empire ever. Ashoka the greatest Mauryan Emperor was instrumental in giving the Indian nation its geographical shape.
Under Chandragupta and his successors, both internal and external trade, and agriculture and economic activities, all thrived and expanded across India through the creation of a single and efficient system of finance, administration and security. Manathenese the Greek traveler to India gave praise worthy references of the capital town Patliputra which was governed by Samittees (Committees). In that period, groups formed by peoples’ representatives were call Gana, which thereby assembled to form Sabha (legislatures) and Samittees’ (Committees).
Mauryan India also enjoyed an era of social harmony, religious transformation, and expansion of the sciences and of knowledge. Ashoka's embrace of Buddhism which preached and advocated a casteless society, obedience to teachers and parents, kindness to all, charity, truthfulness, continence, purity of thought, moral values, Non- Violence, and righteous conduct. The moral teaching of Buddha was expected to elevate the character and personality of every person, irrespective of religious sect to which he belonged. Ashoka has been given credit for converting a local sect. into a world religion. He has been instrumental in giving the foundation of the reign of social and political peace and non-violence across all of India. Ashoka started to win territories by adopting the Buddhism method of cultural nationalism, which is known as the Dhamma. Ashoka's edicts refer to the Greeks, Kambojas, and Gandharas as peoples forming a frontier region of his empire. They also attest to Ashoka's having sent envoys to the Greek rulers in the West as far as the Mediterranean. The edicts precisely name each of the rulers of the Hellenic world at the time such as Amtiyoko (Antiochus), Tulamaya (Ptolemy), Amtikini (Antigonos), Maka (Magas) and Alikasudaro (Alexander) as recipients of Ashoka's proselytism. The Edicts also accurately locate their territory "600 yojanas away" (a yojanas being about 7 miles), corresponding to the distance between the center of India and Greece (roughly 4,000 miles. Ashoka sponsored the spreading of Buddhist ideals into Sri Lanka, Southeast Asia, West Asia and Mediterranean Europe.
Bihar remained an important place of power, culture and education during the next one thousand years. The Gupta Empire, which again originated from Magadha in 240 CE, is referred to as the Golden Age of India in science, mathematics, astronomy, religion and Indian philosophy. The peace and prosperity created under leadership of Guptas enabled the pursuit of scientific and artistic endeavors. In the Gupta Era (319-20 AD) the Nalanda Mahavihar which is considered as the oldest university of the world was formed and functioned. Students from China, Japan and other parts of the world studied there it was an international recognized place of learning. Hiuen Tsang a Chinese pilgrim visited India during the reign of Harshavardhana. He went to Nalanda, the great Buddhist university of Indian state of Bihar, where he spent at least the next two years. He was in the company of several thousand scholar-monks, whom he praised. Xuanzang studied logic, grammar, Sanskrit, and the Yogacara school of Buddhism during his stay at Nalanda. The Vikramshila and Nalanda universities in Bihar were among the oldest and best centers of education in ancient India.
Licchavis ruling from their Capital at Vaishali (Bihar) is considered the oldest democracy of the world and was a federation of democratic republics.Anga, Magadha and Licchavis were the democracies existed in the state of Bihar at that time.
In the years 1553–56 Pashtun dynasty ruler 'Adil Shah' took the reigns of North-India and made 'Chunar' his capital. He deputed 'Hemu' the Hindu General, also known as 'Hemu Vikramaditya' as his Prime Minister and Chief-of-Army. Hemu fought and won 22 battles continuously against Afghan rebels and Akbar's forces at Agra and Delhi and established 'Hindu Raj' in Delhi, after a foreign rule of 300 years. During 1557–1576, Akbar, the Mughal emperor, annexed Bihar and Bengal to his empire.
Babu Kunwar Singh of Jagdishpur and his army, as well as countless other persons from Bihar, contributed to the India's First War of Independence (1857), also called the Sepoy Mutiny by some historians. Resurgence in the history of Bihar came during the struggle for India's independence. It was from Bihar that Mahatma Gandhi launched his pioneering civil-disobedience movement, Champaran Satyagraha. Brahmins in Champaran had earlier revolted against indigo cultivation in 1914 (at Pipra) and 1916 (Turkaulia) and Pandit Raj Kumar Shukla took Mahatma Gandhi to Champaran and the Champaran Satyagraha began. Bihar made an immense contribution to the Freedom Struggle, with outstanding leaders like Swami Sahajanand Saraswati, Dr. Rajendra Prasad, Sri Krishna Sinha, Dr. Anugrah Narayan Sinha, K. B. Sahay, Brajkishore Prasad, Mulana Mazharul Haque, Jayaprakash Narayan, Thakur Jugal Kishore Sinha, Satyendra Narayan Sinha, Ram Dulari Sinha, Basawon Singh, Rameshwar Prasad Sinha, Yogendra Shukla, Baikuntha Shukla, Sheel Bhadra Yajee, Pandit Yamuna Karjee and many others who worked for India's freedom relentlessly and helped in the upliftment of the underprivileged masses. Khudiram Bose, Upendra Narayan Jha "Azad", Prafulla Chaki and Baikuntha Shukla were active in revolutionary movement in Bihar.
When the Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was found guilty of violating electoral laws by the Allahabad High Court, Jai Prakash Narayan called for Indira to resign, and advocated a program of social transformation which he termed Sampoorna Kraantee, to restore democratic values and democracy in India. In 1974, he led the student's movement in the state of Bihar which gradually developed into a popular people's movement known as the Bihar movement. It was during this movement that JP gave a call for peaceful Total Revolution. After Indira revoked the emergency on January 18, 1977 and announced elections, it was under JP's guidance that the Janata Party (a vehicle for the broad spectrum of the anti-Indira Gandhi opposition) was formed. The Janata Party was voted into power, and became the first non-Congress party to form a government at the Centre.
