Gandhiji fought the hardest battle of his life when he
pitched against casteism- an
electoral grapevine tailor-made for the politicians of today’s India. He was
visionary enough to realize the assimilation of all pillars of the society- to
give them equal satisfaction- to put them on the same quarter- to hand them the
realization that British were driven out by everyone’s collective effort and hence to lay claims on the freedom so-earned
would not be the private privilege of a few.
Though the country got freedom, still remains to be seen if
the rule of Animal Farm can be negated. It, rather, cultivates and blossoms
uninterrupted- disparaging our idea of freedom. While in our daily lives, we
are encountering the filthiest of the scams in every possible arena- be it
natural resources, public offices, electromagnetic signals and spectrum, etc. -
the head of our government pronounces with vehement opposition the lacunae in
our thought process- decrying further about the non-existence of money plants
as if we live in an utopian island, and stooping to the lowest levels in the defense
of its soot-smeared coterie of shameless but brazen council of wise men. Even under
these tough conditions, it is the commonest of the man who does not sacrifices
ego and speak truth- hailing Gandhi in some or some other way.
While flipping through the pages of India’s Struggle for
Independence- a common trait I found amongst the then nationalists or
revolutionaries was ‘truth’ and its protection with all means. I’m not
comparing these luminaries with those men. Non
pareil. When Bhagat Singh and Batukeshwar Dutt decided to throw harmless
smoke bombs in the Central Legislative Assembly against the Public Safety Bill
and the Trades Disputes Bill that were to curtail the civil liberties of the
citizens in general and workers in particular- they knew beforehand the
consequences that were to follow and stuck to truth till death. Many other
revered leaders and uncountable Hindustanis sacrificed themselves but never
bartered Satya. Similar feat shall
never be expected or even thought of. The dignity and grandeur with which they
upheld the modesty of truth remains a prayer to the common man.
Long ago I heard a non-fictional story* from my
grandfather-like old man Dr. Krishna Bihari Mishra. The narrative was that an
atheist of grand reputation came on a diplomatic mission to our country and
while leaving said that he had started believing in God- a country with such
bureaucracy and leaders, and diversity in all fields would not function a while without an active
intervention (or participation) of a supreme power called God. May be he was indirectly referring to the common man’s
sagacity and ideals- imbibed from those visionaries and revolutionaries- were
not they God in the garb of man!!
Jai Hind. Jai Bharat.
[N.B.
*I don’t have documents to support the claim though. Truth is what I believe
in.]
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