Saturday, 12 September 2009
Martyrs of India
On the eve of Independence day, I was looking at the meaning of martyr.The definition of this word is "One who makes great sacrifices or suffers much in order to further a belief, cause, or principle" and some names which instantaneously flash in my mind after reading the definition are Bhagat Singh,Chandra Shekhar Azaad, Rajguru, Subhash Chandra Bose;it goes without saying that there are many other names worth mentioning but those are the most common names anyone in India, given a chance, would mention. But do we know the names of people who gave their life for the country after independence. I would like to add that soldiers of Indian army are excluded from this discussion because their commitment and sacrifice go beyond the definition of martyrdom. They are heroes and remain heroes even after giving up their life for the nation. I am sure many people who are highly aware would be able to list some names but I guess most of the others would struggle to give me 5 names. Why is that so? I am sure there were many people who gave their lives for the principles which were held in the highest regards by them or is it that there have been so many of them after independence that we cannot remember them or to put it very bluntly we do not put the people, who gave their lives for the country after independence, in the same league as people before independence. I get a feeling that we have decided that our greatest struggle which was the struggle for independence is over which obviously is not the case. One of the greatest struggle which threatens to paralyse this country is corruption. India is full of martyrs who have tried to stand against this affliction. Although the government seems to be quite reluctant to call them as martyrs but it provides a lot "opportunities" for them to become one. An honest government official is always on the edge of being humiliated or even being mercilessly murdered by corrupt leaders. The predicament of such people is worse than that of a policeman caught in the middle of gun fight because they have a chance of defending themselves but what about a civilian who is just trying to abide by the law.Should the government make these honest officials sign a contract that the government will not be held responsible for any kind of humiliation or threat faced by the individual while carrying out the duties honestly or simply give them training for self defence. I believe that we are in a state of denial, that the worst is over. I am not sure how many more lives and sacrifices shall we need to realise that post independence the biggest struggle is still on and the more time we take to unite and stand against this oppression of corruption the harder this struggle is going to get.
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