Long Live the Great American People!

By Justice Markandey Katju
Former Judge
Supreme Court of India
Delhi, India

Today is 4th July, the American Independence Day, commemorating the Declaration of Independence adopted 250 years ago by the delegates to the Second Continental Congress meeting in Philadelphia.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Independence_Day_(United_States)

The Declaration of Independence asserted the then revolutionary principle that all individuals are born with unalienable rights — including "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness" — and that governments derive their legitimacy only from the "consent of the governed". The Declaration inspired oppressed people all over the world, e.g. in France, where during the great French Revolution its ideas were incorporated in the Declaration of the Rights of Man, passed by the French National Assembly in August 1789.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Declaration_of_Independence

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Declaration_of_the_Rights_of_Man_and_of_the_Citizen

Similarly, on September 2, 1945, the great Vietnamese leader Ho Chi Minh opened the Vietnamese Declaration of Independence by directly quoting the American Declaration of Independence, explicitly citing the famous lines: "All men are created equal. They are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness." 

https://www.americanyawp.com/reader/24-world-war-ii/declaration
-of-independence-of-the-democratic-republic-of-vietnam-1945/

It is true that subsequently America violated the principles in its Declaration of Independence by committing aggression on several countries and suppressing and trampling on their freedom.

But we must carefully distinguish between the US Government and the American people.

It is the former which committed these diabolical acts, not the latter. No doubt the American people, being misled by false propaganda, often initially supported their government, e.g. in the Vietnam war, but later when they realized that their government was doing something wrong, they strongly protested by launching massive demonstrations against it.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opposition_to_United_States_involvement_in_the_Vietnam_War

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_Kings_protests

This shows that the American people are good.

 I have visited America often, and found every American I met to be a fine, decent person.

I have written many articles, given below, praising the American people:

https://indicanews.com/july-4th-american-independence-day/

https://indicanews.com/long-live-the-american-people-2/

https://www.hastakshepnews.com/2023/11/why-justice-katju-said-most-americans.html

https://indicanews.com/long-live-america/

https://thephilox.com/good-qualities-in-americans-by-justice-katju/

https://indicanews.com/the-most-oppressed-team-in-the-world-cup/

Long live the great American people!

(Markandey Katju is an Indian jurist and former judge of the Supreme Court of India who served as chairman of the Press Council of India from 2011 to 2014)