.....Swa which means ‘self’ and Tantra which means ‘mechanism’. The closest translation for this word is Independence defined as the state of self-governance and self-reliability. Further implementation of swa̅tantrya demands the establishment of original mechanisms and culture native to the place.

The Face of it

Before the beginning of this dark age, there existed an era of purity matched by none. There existed a place that was romanticized as the land of gods. A civilization that led the world. A culture named Sana̅tani̅. Empires rose and perished, kings served and went. But the eternal light of Sana̅tani̅ remained still. From the beginning of past in Bharat, there was only Dharma that reigned. All else were mere servants. But then came the dark age. The land was put to a test as barbarians started pouring in followed by the final hit. The empire where sun never set.

The British Doctrine

Clear historic evidence points out that the Britishers were dumbfounded by the excellence of Bharatiya scholars and the education system. Hence, they started to ruin the very backbone of Bharatiya culture i.e. spiritual and educational heritage. With multiple policies and widespread informational manipulations, they almost achieved their goal of intellectual slavery in Bharat. Even to this date as we see around us we are engulfed by the culture of ‘seemingly’ Great Britain. Followed are the steps taken by Gore Sahibs.

• Total ruin of Sana̅tan education: They forcefully ceased the activities of Gurukuls and literary teachings at temples. This shook the intellectual roots of the Bharatiya society.

• Establishment of British education: By remarking ours as ‘outdated’, they implemented the modern way of training instead of teaching in Bharat.

• Establishment of British infrastructure: Without proper passage of knowledge and philosophies, the Bharatiya populace became intrigued by the introduction of technologies like railways and press. This played the biggest role on the Bharatiya mindset as Bharatiyas started looking up to the invaders.

• Spread of the charitable narrative: The anglophiles born out of the newly implemented education system started to spread a word that portrayed the exploiters as saviors; ‘The Raj is here to help poor India out of its difficulties’ (The fact is that before the British Raj, Bharat’s GDP was about 30% of world GDP and After the Raj, it drastically dropped to a 2%)

The Illusion

When the Bharatiya resistance finally pushed the Raj to leave, they came up with an Idea to still have cultural influence over here. What they did can only be called a nightmare.

• Division: They sprouted and watered sentimental and religious differences among fellow Bharatiyas, creating feuds and controversies all over the land so that even after freedom, we’ll be dealing with it. And most painfully they tore apart the land of Ram & Krishna into several parts.

• They chose a set of anglophiles to govern Bharat as a satellite state. All the elites were just puppets.

• Removal of foreign influence over our Identity and culture was never performed. Instead, more enforcement was brought upon.

A Ray at Last

I’ve heard professors say that it is now that we are finally moving towards true Swa̅tantrya. It is now that people have started again to take pride in Sana̅tani̅. It is now that India is becoming Bharat again. And all this is because of people like Bal Gangadhar Tilak and Vinayak Damodar Savarkar that the light of sana̅tani̅  survived the high tides of foreign exploitations. As woke and responsible citizens we now must revive our culture and match it with the modern world. We must influence people to not only physically but also mentally become the people we really are. Our characteristics are distinguished and so are our inspirations. Another name pops up on observing the positively moving situations of the contemporary world. The name of a great visionary. A man of far sight. A man who can appropriately be called the savior of Hindutwa. A man named Keshav Baliram Hedgewar. Another story, another blog.

Bibliography:

1.    Sheshadri, H.V. The tragic Story of India’s Partition.

2.    Majumdar, R.C. 2017. The History and Culture of the Indian People.