“Live as if you were to die tomorrow; learn as if you were to live forever.” – Mahatma Gandhi
Today, Jan. 30, Indian nation gratefully remembers the great sacrifice of Mahatma Gandhi for the freedom of India. He inspired India’s millions to cry freedom and to shake the foundations of the mighty British Empire. The British thought and gloated proudly that the sun would not set on the British Empire. That was not to be, so proved Gandhi by winning India’s freedom.
Gandhi was not alone in the fight. There were other tall leaders and the masses along with him. But he gave the lead. He gave up his law practice in South Africa and landed in India vowing to wrest India’s freedom from British colonial rule.
But he had enemies within and without. Those within conspired to kill him. RSS inspired Naturam Godse was the bullet man who pumped his bullet into this holy man on January 30, 1948. The dying Gandhi uttered ‘Ram’ and breathed his last.
Gandhi was ‘restless as mercury’, so said his sister. It was true. He was restless for India’s freedom from exploitation and from foreign domination. He was restless for the rise of common man/woman to a life of self sufficiency in his/her human and spiritual needs. He was restless wanting every Indian to remain free from all forms of external and internal exploitation, oppression, injustice, inequality and ill treatment.
Bapu’s contribution to India and to the world cannot be measured enough. He was gentle but strong-willed. He did not sway by the wind of fancy or glory.
“In a gentle way, you can shake the world” That was Gandhi’s inspiration to the world, especially to every Indian. He shook the British colonial foundation in a gentle way with non-violence. He did succeed. That is why India is free.
Where has gone Gandhi’s ‘gentle way’ today? Why have we Indians turned violent to seek our demands, our quest, and our needs?
Our religious fanaticism makes us crazy and creates hatred and violence against people who do not toe our line. Our narcissistic cultural ideology foments violence on other people and communities. When we want to celebrate festivals, we block roads, passages of vehicles and passengers and thereby create violent situation. We do not respect rule of law. We get provoked by other man’s religion. Our freemason gangsters force themselves into people’s homes and drag them out for eating animal flesh and kill them in public gaze. Our political leaders and religious gurus look the other way or justify such cruel deeds.
We create situations of danger for our women because at every corner there lurks a potential rapist. Raping women, killing them for dowry, ‘honor killing’ by mad people and communities, children forced into sex or slavish work, exploitation of the poor by money lenders, large scale corruption by bureaucrats and politicians, corruption and dishonesty in public life are but a few among many acts of violence among us.
Today once again Gandhi asks us if we can rise above these cruelties and inhuman violence. Can we be harbingers of peace, amity and fellowship? Can we not adopt the path of peaceful resistance in the face of non-fulfillment of our just demands? Can we root out caste discrimination from our midst and consider every person as a human being? Can we make sure that all of us Indians get the benefit of the constitutional provisions of our right to freedom, right to life, right to equality and right to enjoy the benefits of an honest democracy?
Then only the blood which was shed by the Mahatma will have any value and meaning for us Indians.