Music
is said to bridge the widest gaps, but the conspicuous absence of Bapu’s
favourite hymn struck off this notion. Many arguments won, and so did some
counterarguments, but the music lost. The decision of excluding ‘Abide with me’
from ‘Beating Retreat’ was more painful than surprising. This was tried some
time back also. The decision had to be reversed due to a display of displeasure
across the nation. This year it seems to be a firm decision, even though the
displeasure is more intense than yesterday. The shifting of ‘Amar Jawan Jyoti’
on the grounds of wiping out the leftovers of British rule could not explain
the continuing existence of numerous architectural marvels of colonial times.
While we appreciate western countries for the practices of preserving
historical monuments, India saw and shall continue to witness the painful
demolition of a series of beautiful vintage constructions, including temples,
to create space for politically driven novel and ambitious projects. Right from
the very first one, every such decision was the brainchild of a solitary
thought process which misused the allotted authority to fulfil personal whims
and fancies. Each decision was taken with the sole purpose of short-term
political gains and reserved desires. Every such verdict highlighted the
profound and deep-rooted irresponsibility of the short-sighted self-proclaimed
visionaries. An ambitious foundation which was not even born when India became
sovereign is relentlessly trying to erase immortal verses inscribed by history
just to hide its own inability to etch constructive landmarks. This is sad, but
scary.
For seventy years, all innocent souls grew up watching themselves
or friends delivering speeches about the father of the nation or dressing up as
Netaji. Bhagat Singh, Azad, Nehru, Tilak followed in various forms and left an
enduring mark on everyone’s heart. Suddenly, the same old souls were fed with
maliciously twisted facts to raise a false alarm about the previous managers’
ignorance towards the great martyrs. Some of the freedom fighters were chosen
and brought into a new light and were presented in a conveniently altered form.
Memories of all such historical figures have been consistently leaving a
permanent mark on society in various physical forms, like statues, roads,
educational institutions, museums, libraries, airports and so on. The spiritual
space for these historical figures in people’s hearts is rather permanent. The
nation has been remembering these freedom fighters for a long time. Adding one
more statue or a memorial was just an addition rather than a beginning. At no
point in time, the nation forgot them. But this was not enough. Conflicts were
planted between two or more ideologies of the pre-independence times to ignite
various sections of society. Before anyone could realise, the conflicts
percolated, polluted and bled the innocent minds. Cunning and autocratic
administrators continue to create a dangerous aura of mistrust and
misinformation by means of hate speeches and false propaganda. People are being
taught animosity intentionally. Unfortunately, a large section of society is getting
carried away. Rapidly spreading chaos and ambiguity may lead the nation to an
anarchy-like situation.
In a democratic structure, the elected representatives must work
neither for a group of people nor for subjective ambitions, but for the benefit
of society as a whole. This very principle has been purposely and conveniently
kept under cover since the inception of democracy. A subtle authoritarian
attitude is obligatory for any director, but the thought seems to have crossed
all the limits in the present-day. Interests have become subjective, dangerous
and selfish. ‘Swaraaj’ is everyone's right. In a frenzy to enjoy it, we have
been exploiting freedom for a long time. We have been steadily forgetting that
it was earned by making a great sacrifice. Swaraaj was a precious gift which
should have been conserved to lead this beautiful nation to a magnificent ‘Suraaj’;
but today Swaraaj is being misinterpreted as arbitrary governance. Supremacy is
being misunderstood as an authority rather than accountability. Money and
muscle have become indispensable and are dominating almost all the branches of
many great republics. Custodians have become lords. Swaraaj is indeed a
pleasant reality; however, Suraaj still appears to be a far-fetched dream.
■ Martyrs' Day
