As stated in my earlier Addresses to the Indian Nation, the Indian Reunification Association aims not just at reunifying India but even more to creating a prosperous India, with its people enjoying a high standard of living and decent lives.
I have pointed out the deplorable condition of our country today, with massive poverty, huge unemployment, appalling child malnutrition, widespread farmers distress, almost a total lack of proper healthcare and good education for our masses, discrimination against minorities, dalits, women etc.
Our aim must be to abolish these, but what is the way out?
The way out is science, and by science I mean not just knowledge of physics, chemistry, mathematics, biology, etc., I mean the entire scientific outlook, which must be spread to every nook and corner of our country.
I have pointed out how intellectually backward we are in some of my articles (e.g. ‘The 90%’ and ‘Ten ways of being foolish’ published in IndianExpress.com and on my blog Satyam Bruyat).
It is relatively easy to change the physical environment (by constructing buildings, roads, bridges, etc.). It is ten times more difficult to change the casteist, communal and superstitious feudal and backward mindsets of our masses (1320 millions in India and over 200 million each in Pakistan and Bangladesh) and make them modern. But unless we do so we can never escape from poverty and the other social evils which are plaguing our country today.
Being modern does not mean wearing a nice suit and tie, or a pretty frock, jeans or lipstick. It means having a modern mind, which means a rational mind, a logical mind, a scientific mind, a questioning mind. We must make our people’s minds like that.
The ancient Greeks were so great because they questioned everything (see Will Durant’s ‘The Story of Civilisation: The Grandeur that was Greece’).
Similarly, our ancestors questioned everything (see my article ‘Sanskrit as a language of Science’ online and on my blog Satyam Bruyat).
With the aid of science they built mighty civilisations thousands of years ago when most people in Europe (except in Greece and Rome) were living in forests. They made outstanding discoveries e.g. decimal system in mathematics, plastic surgery in medicine, etc.
However we subsequently took to the unscientific path of superstitions and empty rituals, which has led us to disaster (see my judgment Naresh Chand vs Distt Inspector of Schools online).
The way out therefore is to go back again to the scientific path shown by our ancestors, the path of Aryabhatta and Brahmagupta, Sushrut and Charak, Panini and Patanjali, Ramanujan and Raman.
In Pakistan there has been persecution and murder of Ahmadiyas (just as in India many Muslims are discriminated against). Let there be freedom to everyone to believe what he wants. I had said in some of my earlier Addresses that we must rapidly industrialize if we wish to abolish poverty, unemployment and other social evils in India. Spreading the scientific outlook goes hand in hand with rapid industrialization, as they complement each other. We have to patiently educate our masses so that they develop the scientific temper, and give up feudal, backward ideas.
No doubt there will be fierce resistance to this, and some of us may even have to face persecution ( just as great scientists like Galileo had to face persecution by the Inquisition for propagating the heliocentric theory as it contradicted a popular interpretation of the Bible) since most people are conservative and do not like to change their opinions. But we must do our patriotic duty, whatever be the personal danger in doing so.
Please read my following articles in this connection on the portal DailyO.in : (1) Eight steps to a revolution that can clean up the mess India is in right now (2) Why I say to Pakistanis, Hum bilkul tum jaise nikle (3) Parliamentary democracy has failed (4) India’s liberals and their illiberal ignorance.