India, (29/1/2019): Though 30th January is the martyrdom day of Mahatma Gandhi but it is such a solemn occasion that on this day the Govt. of India has decided to remember all those Martyrs of the country who sacrificed their lives to give us the freedom which we are enjoying today and to preserve which we have to make certain further sacrifices at different levels and in different forms and fields, which we normally forget and these days keep on reminding us that we owe to the Nation certain liabilities, which probably we are not carrying out and need to be pledged again and again, in order to carry out corrections, in our day to day life, to bring our duties and acts in line with the progress and development of the Nation.
There are certain days in the life of an individual, religion, society, town, State, Country and even world which cannot be forgotten and are remembered every time the days come. Of course some are celebrated with great pomp and show and others are given due homage and respect befitting to the occasion. Martyrs Day is such a solemn occasion.
30TH January is one of such days which has been fixed as the Martyr’s Day primarily because the apostle of peace Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated on this day while coming to attend his prayer meeting in the evening at Birla House. He had entered the house and was proceeding towards the prayer place when the assassin came forward to greet him with folded hands in which he was holding a hidden pistol from which he fired three rounds killing Gandhiji then and there. Gandhiji uttered ‘Hare Ram’ before he succumbed to the shots and fell down dead. The whole country was plunged into grief on this heinous crime as the apostle of peace who lead the country to fight a non violent and peaceful war and achieve Independence. Such a great person was snatched away from the Country before he could enjoy the fruits of that hard earned Independence.
This shock wave stirred the Nation and Mahatma Gandhi was named the ‘Father of the Nation’ to honour that noble soul. The Government of India decided to observe 30th January, every year as Martyrs Day on 30th January, to not only remember Mahatma Gandhi but all the Martyrs who laid their lives for the sake of the country to achieve Freedom.
On this day two minutes silence is observed by all Indians all over the country at 1100hrs, when sirens are sounded and everything stands still. We all must observe this two minutes silence where ever we are, even by stopping voting and pay our tribute to those great souls who laid their lives to plant the tree of Independence which has grown big and fruits of which we are enjoying today. We are supposed to strengthen it and make its roots healthier and deeper so that it may have a sound growth which may face the onslaughts of all types of weather and stand erect, especially in the strong winds blowing all around of terrorism, opportunism and selfishness forgetting the good of the Nation.
Floral tributes are paid at the Samadhi of Mahatma Gandhi and other prominent leaders and functions are arranged to commemorate the day in a befitting manner and all foreign dignitaries go to pay their respects and regards, at the Samadhi of Mahatma Gandhi- The Father of the Nation.
Gandhiji, in tradition with old Saints renounced worldly pleasures and became a Mahatma when in 1921 when he resolved to wear only a loin cloth to propagate home spun cotton and to signify his identification with the poor people. Thousands joined him in his mass civil disobedience and courted arrests. Mahatma Gandhi lived an austere life, devoted to truth, non violence, abolition of untouchability, and to achieve Hindu Muslim unity besides propagating other finer qualities of life.
Actually all our leaders, who fought for Independence of the country, lived a simple life and gave all their resources and belongings to the cause of the country. But after attaining Independence this spirit is missing and they have started living in worldly pleasures and have started amassing wealth by fair or foul means, without thinking of the Nation and other poor and needy people. It is the main cause of corruption which has taken root everywhere and for removal of which Anna Hazaare, another disciple of Mahatma Gandhi, has started a crusade and has created an awakening. After Independence it is the first big such stir which took shape of National movement.
According to Mahatma Gandhi ‘simplicity is the essence of life’ and once you taste it no other taste, how so ever good it may taste to your tongue, appeals to your mind. Simplicity brings out truth and truth is God. If truth is there in our thinking, speech and action nothing can go wrong. But we are scared to say truth or even call a spade a spade because of the fear that someone may not report that I have said that and it may bring some harm.
Another thing which was very dear to Mahatma Gandhi was Ahimsa which again we are forgetting. More and more violence can be seen around. The pictures and media in their efforts to show the true incidents bring to light the ways and means how those were committed and youngsters miss no chances to emulate those in practice, resulting in spread of further violence. Same is the case with Sex and more and more cases of rape etc are the result of showing more sex in pictures and media in the name of bringing reality in the scenes.
Gandhiji wanted to remove untouchability and succeeded to a great extent. Slowly, it was dying its own death and people had started accepting this principle. Instead of helping those people, economically and otherwise, to come up to the general level, some people took advantage of the reservation policy and instead of allowing the benefits to trickle down to persons for whom those were meant, kept it to limited few. We are trying to create more rift by allowing more and more reservations to different class of people. Our criteria of help should be to bring up those who are backward or poor and not the castes where there are already rich people who in the name of poor eat away all the benefits and do not allow those to reach those for whom those are meant. After so many years we must think de-novo the whole concept of reservation or rather remove all reservation and help only those who actually need it, in order to bring them at par with others as Gandhiji advocated.
This day we must remember all our Martyrs who laid down their life for the country and try to emulate them and do something good for the country to remove poverty and illiteracy and help those who are economically weaker, irrespective of caste, creed or religion they belong. Each one of us can contribute in one’s own way and if all do, even little, it can add up to bring a major change in our society which we can mould as desired by our Martyrs.
