Independence Day is an occasion for lofty rhetoric. This year was not an exception. In his customary address, the prime minister — his fist clenched occasionally — pledged for a decisive battle against corruption and nepotism. Narendra Modi has made it a habit of turning his addresses on solemn occasions — Independence Day being one — into political speeches. There was no doubt that he was targeting the Congress and regional parties through his remarks. This is a pity. What the occasion demanded from the prime minister was a grander, expansive vision. What the nation got, instead, was petty, political sabre-rattling. This is not to suggest that corruption is not a serious problem. It debilitates national health and, no matter what Mr Modi says, is all-pervasive: the entire political class is afflicted by it. Moreover, this is not the first time that Mr Modi has wagged a finger at this vice. Demonetisation, a disastrous policy that has broken the back of India’s informal economy, was supposed to cleanse the nation of corruption. It would therefore be instructive to take note of the repeated gaps that fall between Mr Modi’s word and deed. Be it a 10-year moratorium on communal and caste violence — this is what Mr Modi said on August 15, 2014 — or his pledges on doubling farmers’ income, generating jobs or building infrastructure, the majority of his promises remain unfulfilled. This points to a serious credibility crisis that cannot be camouflaged by setting new goals or fiery speeches.

Perhaps a more realistic assessment of India under Mr Modi’s watch came from another speech, the one delivered in a school by the nineyear-old Mehnaz Kappan, the daughter of the jailed journalist, Siddique Kappan. She mentioned the unrest that has engulfed the nation, the result of religious strife. She reminded a markedly ahistorical nation of the need to remember the collective sacrifice that made freedom a reality. This is an important point, given the current regime’s propensity to airbrush history and the freedom struggle. Ms Kappan also alluded to the current ambience of intimidation where views that are opposed to those disseminated by the State are vilified. The choice before the nation is clear. It must battle corruption — irrespective of political colour — as well as reclaim unity and fraternity that Ms Kappan correctly deduced are under duress.