The Rediff Special/Ramesh Menon "It will be necessary for us
Indians -- Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Jews, Parsis and all
others to whom India is their home -- to recognise a common flag
to live and die for." -- Mahatma Gandhi July 22, 1947. As he
moved the motion on the adoption of the national flag in
independent India's Constituent Assembly, Prime Minister
Jawaharlal Nehru hoped the flag would carry a message of freedom
wherever it flew. Other voices joined him. Sarojini Naidu said:
"Under this flag, there is no prince and there is no peasant, no
rich and no poor. There is only duty, responsibility and
sacrifice." Freedom fighter Muniswami Pillai added that the flag
did not belong to the rich or the wealthy, but to the depressed,
oppressed and submerged classes. Unfortunately, as time passed,
the use of the Indian flag became limited to a privileged few.
Only VVIPs, government offices and public sector undertakings
were allowed the honour of displaying the flag on their
premises. The rest of India could fl