Voices of America
A maiden trip to any country is not without its curiosities and anticipation; my US trip wasn’t either. Couple of weeks before my journey, an interesting slice of history caught my attention about United States link with India. In the heat of World War II, when India’s own struggle for Independence was reaching its inflection point, Franklin D Roosevelt (FDR) had attempted more than once to persuade Churchill to commit to self-government of colonies post-war, and with reference to India in particular. For some more context from history, FDR and Churchill had issued a joint declaration called the Atlantic Charter in August 1941, which was a statement of “common principles” towards the war aims. FDR’s nudge to Churchill for India’s freedom was under the agreed principles – peoples right to self-determination. The Atlantic Charter was one of the foundation stone to modern United Nations. As my flight touched down on JFK, the excitement did have some historic fervour. The cloudy ...