Remembering Mahatma Gandhi on this day

 

“How can one be compelled to accept slavery? I simply refuse to do the master's bidding. He may torture me, break my bones to atoms and even kill me. He will then have my dead body, not my obedience. Ultimately, therefore, it is I who am the victor and not he, for he has failed in getting me to do what he wanted done.”

-         Mahatma Gandhi

 

As we celebrate the 72^nd Independence Day today, it is pertinent to remember this quote by Mahatma Gandhi which is even relevant today. From the first war of Indian independence, the Sepoy Mutiny of 1857 to the Quit India Movement, which ultimately got us Independence, India’s freedom movement stands out in the world as a non-violent movement (barring the occasional and unavoidable bloodbaths) inspiring the world even today. Mahatma Gandhi after attaining the Congress leadership turned the then Indian National Congress led by an elite group into a mass movement involving millions of people. He knew that the future of India is not in the hands of a few urban educated elite but those who live in the villages struggling for their existence.

He visualized an India, where young and educated men and women will live happily in ideal villages rubbing shoulders and working for the welfare of the people as a whole. That is why during freedom struggle in one of his speeches he said: “The day a woman can walk freely on the roads at night, that day we can say that India has achieved independence.” That was his conviction and also the concern. Have we forgotten the Mahatma now when our girls are not even safe in shelter homes, forget about walking at night. He also believed that “complete independence will be complete only to the extent of our approach in practice to truth and nonviolence” – both are forgotten words now.

When India attained independence in the wee hours of August 14-15, the population in India was 390 million and after partition it remained 330 million. Today we are the second populous country in the world after China with a population of 120 billion. Much has changed since then. Yet many of the dreams of Mahatma Gandhi remain unfulfilled.

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Kenter Joya Riba

(Managing Editor)
      She is a graduate in Science with post graduation in Sociology from University of Pune. She has been in the media industry for nearly a decade. Before turning to print business, she has been associated with radio and television.
Email: kenterjoyaz@easternsentinel.in / editoreasternsentinel@gmail.com
Phone: 0360-2212313

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