THOSE FAIREST FLOWERS OF HUMANITY

Young Bhagat Singh gave his life for the freedom of our country. What more can I say than that the blood of these valiant ones freed us from the vile force called British imperialism? We owe it to these heroes for our laughs and our joys and the air we breathe, untainted by colonial exploitation, unhindered by racist repression, unfettered by vulgar subjugation. Their sacrifices ought not to go in vain. We must stand up as living memorials to their honour, as the guardians of the freedom they had bled for and as rightful heirs to their glorious legacy.

Barely 23 and the hero, along with his two associates, Sukhdev and Rajguru, was hanged, so redolent of Kshudiram Bose who had entered a like martyrdom even fresher at 18. The rear wall of the jail was broken to surreptitiously cremate the bodies before daybreak and dispose of the ashes in the Sutlej, lest the corpses created a terrible reaction in the masses that would gather outside the jail on the morrow.

These and so many other heroic sons and daughters of Mother India bled to their deaths to remove her shackles and set her free. It was not merely non-violence that brought us freedom but glorious violence as well, for often it was that the protagonists of non-violence were so very violent in their mind and modes in a variant way, and these fairest flowers of humanity that sacrificed their all for the freedom of their Mother, were armed in the strength of genuine non-violence, that of the Spirit that knows no meanness but has the avowed objective, liberation of the Motherland. The history of the freedom struggle ought to be rewritten setting its various movements in perspective as significant factors contributing to India’s eventual liberation and not as footnotes as hired historians would have us believe. Socio-political processes are inexact sciences and so elude mathematical formulation whereby the exact contribution of each of these movements towards the liberation of India could be ascertained. Since independence we have been fed routinely the Gandhi-Nehru version of non-violence as being the primary cause for freedom with other mainstream movements such as the one initiated by Netaji and his INA relegated to being of marginal importance. In this carefully conducted indoctrination of half-truths and untruths it becomes difficult for the average unsuspecting citizen to sift the grain from the chaff and only a discerning few among the citizenry may be able to arrive at the right historical conclusions. Even there one will face insurmountable barriers to overcome as a great deal of vital historical information is kept out of bounds of the common man as highly classified material to which none may be privy. Such careful orchestration of statecraft may prolong the reign of falsity for a while more and preserve the powers that be at the helm of affairs but cannot forever suppress the voice of truth.

The blood of the martyrs will be avenged and history will reveal its secrets at an opportune moment. The declassification of the Netaji Files by the West Bengal Government is the indication of the onset of such a sprightly season when the seeds of secrecy will have germinated and the sapling of truth will sprout through the cover of the dense foliage that can no longer conceal it. The Bose family along with the eminent researcher who has done such a yeoman’s service to the cause of the resurrection of our national hero is scheduled to have conference with the Prime Minister at his 7, Race Course Road residence on 14 October, 1700 hours when they will demand declassification of all Netaji Files held at the Centre and possibly the tabling of the Mukherjee Commission Report before Parliament for due deliberation on its contents.

The hour draws near and we must be prepared either for release of the files or for a deferment of declassification on the usual grounds that have been staple to the discussion in the past. Either way, the ground is laid and the ball has been set rolling too. Now, who can stop its motion? Today or tomorrow, the files will be out and God alone knows what shall surface. For once we may be sure that Netaji and his leonine followers will be rendered their true place in history and with it shall all the masculine breed of revolutionaries be redeemed and their glorious sacrifice for the freedom of their Motherland sanctified. The boy Kshudiram, young Bhagat, Sukhdev and Rajguru, their souls will finally rest in peace when they have known that the India of their dreams no longer negates their lonesome struggle for freedom but warmly embraces them as the heroes who dared the might of the Empire and shook it off for good when at a later date their acts echoed in their brethren, the INA led by Netaji, and led India to freedom.

And may I here call in all to salute the young Bhagat, the boys Kshudiram and Prafulla Chaki, Sukhdev, Rajguru, Chandrasekhar Azad and Ram Prasad Bismil, Jatin Das, Bagha Jatin, Masterda, Benoy, Badal, Dinesh, Pritilata Waddedar and Batukeshwar Dutta, and those countless mothers and sisters who gave their all, their love and care and shelter to these fairest flowers of humanity who perished in the bloom of their lives that we may see the sunshine of life and freedom!