On August 15, 2025, our motherland will celebrate the 78th anniversary of its independence from foreign rule. Let us remember Mahatma Gandhi, the father of the nation and the millions of patriots who sacrificed their lives for this freedom. May their memory live on forever! The Constitution that charted the destiny of a newly independent India came into force in 1950. The brilliance of the visionary Dr. B.R. Ambedkar and his deep commitment to justice and peace for all are clearly reflected in this foundational document. Since gaining independence in 1947, our country has made remarkable progress. India has risen as a global power in many fields—an achievement worthy of immense pride. Yet, certain dark forces that continually threaten to dim this brilliance have often held our nation back.
Even before the echoes of the first Independence Day celebrations faded, the gunshot that felled the Father of the Nation cast a dark shadow over our fledgling dreams of freedom. Although India was declared a sovereign, socialist, secular, democratic republic, the maternal face of Mother India has repeatedly been disfigured by the cruelty of powerful factions that emerged from within. Freed from foreign domination, India has in many ways become a captive to heartless politics, godless religiosity, communal divisions that have forsaken fraternity, and terror groups devoid of any humanity. As a result, true freedom has become a luxury accessible only to a very small fraction of the Indian population. he enduring reality that the poor, the marginalized, the politically voiceless, and the unorganised—regardless of caste, creed, or language—have remained victims of human, social, and economic exploitation reveals the neglected and often untold side of India’s post-independence narrative.
The true strength of any society must be measured by how it protects its most vulnerable members. It is from this perspective, the rights of minority communities in India must be approached and upheld. Those who have an open and honest approach to the history of India, cannot deny the invaluable contributions of Christians—who are a minority within a minority—in building this nation. When the selfless service of priests and sisters through schools, hospitals, and countless other social initiatives—especially in the northern states of India —is misrepresented as religious conversion or even human trafficking, and when they are subjected to baseless accusations and mob trials, it is the true face of humanity of the secular India that stands shattered.
Sister Preethi and Sister Vandana, who languish in jail after being arrested under false charges by a hijacked justice system, have become symbols of the courage, compassion, and love of humanity that are being imprisoned in our nation today. The history of the Church testifies that those who, inspired by Jesus who gave His life for humanity, without annihilating others, dedicate themselves to uplifting the poor and the broken cannot be silenced—not by prison, not by torture, not by humiliation, nor by mobs. This legacy continues unabated, as it has across millennia.
The Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, who offers us a shining model of motherhood, is a source of inspiration for us today. The intercession of the Blessed Mother, who triumphed over adversity through her total docility to the will of God, and ascended into divine freedom, along with the silent witness of Sisters Preethi and Vandana, urges us to forward and live our commitment to the Gospel. Her strength, born through suffering, empowers us to act. We still have a long way to go: to live without surrendering our spiritual and material freedom, to proclaim the Gospel without fear, and to remain steadfast as witnesses to love, liberty, and mercy.
