Mahatma's own country - A Story by Ricky Singh

This story is dedicated to my dearest Mom. Happy Birthday Ma!!
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It is a beautiful sunny winter morning. The kind of morning where you want to take a book that transports you to the city you never been but always wanted to go, that talks about the love you wished you had in your life, that talks about the ending that leaves some questions unanswered. I took a deep breath, switched on my computer and opened a new word document. My mind shifted from a beautiful sunny morning in Victoria to a beautiful sunny morning in Lahore...

"Bhagat Singh ZINDABAD"
"Rajguru ZINDABAD"
"Sukhdev ZINDABAD"

The narrow alleys of Lahore were filled with people from all walks of lives. The name of Bhagat Singh was on everyone's lips. The news had spread rapidly that Bhagat Singh was hanged a day before the decided time. The anger was brewing in the streets all over India.

I was the President of Student's Union at National College, Lahore, the same college where Bhagat Singh studied the lives of revolutionaries of Ireland, Italy and Russia. We organized a peaceful march in our beautiful College ground.

National College, Lahore

"Bhagat Singh ZINDABAD"
"Rajguru ZINDABAD"
"Sukhdev ZINDABAD"

I knew that students were getting restless. Bhagat Singh's popularity had risen manifold after his arrest and the arrogance of Britishers to hang someone before his judgment day had angered the students. The situation had the possibility to go out of hand. It seemed like Bhagat Singh's idea of waking Indian youth to fight against the Britishers by becoming a martyr, was going to take effect.

"Bhagat Singh ZINDABAD"
"Rajguru ZINDABAD"
"Sukhdev ZINDABAD"

The anger in the voices seemed to be increasing with every chant of Bhagat Singh. Although, my mind agreed with Bhagat Singh's ideology of revenge, my heart still listened to Bapu and his words. I always choose my heart over my mind, sometimes foolishly.

I took the microphone and a sudden hush went through the crowd of few thousands students. My heart started to speak...

"Inquilab ZINDABAD"

An uproar went through the University, followed by another hush.

"A great injustice has been done today. Bhagat Singh is a martyr. Rajguru is a martyr. Sukhdev is a martyr. They fought and died for us. Their lives were taken before time. We cannot let their deaths to go waste. Our freedom struggle starts today. We cannot let another Bhagat Singh die. We need people like Bhagat Singh for our future. A retaliation against the British will lead to more Bhagat Singhs being hanged. Britishers will hang our future and we cannot let that happen. We will fight for our independence because we cannot let Bhagat Singh die in vain but we would not let another Bhagat Singh die."

There was silence in a crowd until someone shouted, "How will we fight for our Independence, then?"

I knew this was the question whose answer everyone was looking for. I knew I had to answer this...

"We will fight for our rights but we won't die for our rights. We will fight for our rights but we won't kill for our rights. We won't become the enemy because we know we are the 'right' one. We won't respond with violence against violence because we would then become our own enemy. We would stand our ground and show our enemy that we don't agree with them. We won't be cowed down by our enemy. We will fight for our right to live. Bhagat Singh died because he didn't wanted us to die. Bhagat Singh died because he wanted the youth to rise against the tyranny. Bhagat Singh stood his ground and we shall too..."

Now when I think about that, I cannot help but think, "Did I gave the right speech? Should I have listened to my mind instead? ", I don't know the answer myself but I know what Bapu would have said...

(To be continued...)

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