On Independence Day we demand real freedom.

Today is Independence Day in India. It is a national holiday and has become a day for speeches by politicians, exhorting Indians to work for the nation, while doing everything to hold back any progress. We pay taxes but get nothing from the state, no healthcare, no pension, no old age care but we are asked to surrender our subsidised gas cylinders while our useless members of parliament who did less than one day's work in the entire monsoon session get over Rs 3.5 million per year. Including free fights, medical care, electricity and laundry charges. Yet these extremely pampered people want double of what they are getting. And they have no sharam or izzat. A man, who has never done a day's productive work in his life and yet lives a life of luxury that Warren Buffet would envy, will not allow any amendment in the Land Acquisition Act because his heart is bleeding for poor farmers. Our flag does not belong to us. It belongs to fellows who whizz around in cars with revolving red lights, who are guarded by heavily armed security, who are allowed to take a ' companion ' when travelling abroad on government business and whose families are not subject to customs search when returning from junkets, allowing them to smuggle in any amount of contraband. The US also has a long list of rules for respecting its flag but no one is arrested for wearing clothes made in the colors of the flag. No wonder Americans love their country and we have a whole bunch of traitors who speak against India in supporting others. Enough talk. Here is what we want. We want an end to secrecy. We want to know who signed away our sovereignty so that we keep genuflecting to Pakistan despite continual attacks on our nation. Why do we repeatedly return gains made by the sacrifice of our gallant soldiers for nothing in return? We want respect and an end to the concept of VIP and VVIP. We want term limits for politicians. Since every profession has a retirement age we demand  that politicians not be allowed to stand for election after 70 years of age. The Rajya Sabha must not be a dustbin for politicians who have lost elections to the Lok Sabha. Two thirds of the Rajya Sabha must be eminent citizens who have never been in politics or a civil servant. We want all education institutions and sport bodies to be free of politicians and civil servants. We want freedom of speech, we want privacy from the government and we demand that cases be concluded within 2 years and no special treatment of criminal politicians or their broods. We want all municipalities, which are cesspools of corruption, to be abolished and most services to be privatised. Only monopolies, such as water and electricity distribution, should be controlled. We want our country to be rich and powerful. We are tired of being ashamed of our governments. We want freedom from the tyranny of our politicians. We want REAL INDEPENDENCE.