In the seventies, a determined effort has to be made in two directions. There is the vital task of preventing communal violence. All political parties have to make a joint effort to help the administration to put down with a firm hand elements which fan communal hatred and incite people to kill and to injure each other. The administration itself has to be streamlined so that it can deal effectively with communal forces. But there is the other and even more important task from the long term point of view. This is a battle on the plane of ideas. The Gandhi Centenary celebrations, which will go on into 1970, have tremendous relevance as an educative force in the cause of spreading the gospel of secularism. We have to mobilise all the creative resources of our people, through literature, films, theatre, and through our tens of hundreds of schools and universities to combat the false ideas of nationalism of a bygone era. The doctrine of the Hindu Rashtra, as also that of Huqumat-e-Ilahiya, have to be fought intellectually and the minds of men have to be won over to the rational and the scientific conception of the secular Indian State. Unfortunately this aspect has not had the attention it deserved. Unless we join the battle squarely with those whose thinking is anchored in the past, we will not succeed in building a future free from senseless strife on account of religion. The strategy for the seventies should be related to this creative challenge.
The second area in which maximum agreement is required lies in our commitmnt to a free democratic society. Here again there are two dangers, one arising from the increasing tendency to resort to violence for the satisfaction of grievances, and the second from the growth of movements and ideologies which are totally opposed to democratic parliamentary institutions. Both these aspects need serious attention in the context of the problems that are likely to arise in the seventies.
If we embark, as we must, on a well-conceived programme of radical transformation of the social and economic structure in the seventies, it is inevitable that people will be required to work hard and in a disciplined manner. They will also be required to bear with courage and with hope, the hardships that a swifter rate of development will impose. For let us not delude ourselves into thinking we can achieve faster rates of industrial and agricultural growth without pain. In a democratic set up various groups will inevitably articulate their interests and aspirations. There will also be clash of ideas. That is how it should be. It is only through such a process that a whole range of options can be set out before the people who, in the ultimate analysis, must make their decisions. That is the way to make our democracy a living reality. But this process presupposes that the clash of interests and ideas will be in conference halls, public platforms and ultimately in the minds of the people, and that there will be no attempt to resort to violence, to forcibly enforce acceptance of any idea or dogma.