Stop Making the Mockery of Martyrs

On the evening of 23rd March 1931, when The British government hanged Bhagat Singh along with Sukhdev and Raj Guru, they were merely 23 years old. With a smile on their lips and sparkle in his eyes, they kissed the noose and met their death as if they were meeting a long lost friend. At 23 when our youth are still confused about what they intend to do in their lives, Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev inspired millions of Indians with their revolutionary ideas and the call for complete independence and laid down their life for his nation.

But today after 70 years of India’s independence, can we stand up and tell those martyrs that we have created an India of his dream? That their martyrdom has not been wasted and India has achieved total independence, from oppression, from obsession, and imperialism. The answer sadly is NO. We have not only failed Bhagat Singh but we destroyed his dream and built a nation that is being destroyed by its citizens and leaders more than its enemies.

Bhagat Singh envisaged a country where no one will be crazy for money or worldly desires and no one will be obsessed with religion, there will be no chains on the body or controls by the state. But what we created was a nation which as soon as got its independence from the foreign invaders, became a slave of its people who were given the reigns of nation-building. In the last 70 years, India has come to be associated with rampant corruption where British Raj gave way to Political and Bureaucratic Raj. Politicians and government servants who were supposed to be serving the ordinary citizens and the oppressed classes, themselves became the oppressors. As a result, the rich became richer, and the poor became poorer. The hunger for money and power has become insatiable.

Bhagat Singh’s thoughts on religion are well reflected in an essay that he wrote while he was in prison. “Why I am an Atheist” gives us a peek into the mind of this great martyr. He wrote, “As regards the origin of God, my thought is that man created God in his imagination when he realized his weaknesses, limitations, and shortcomings. In this way, he got the courage to face all the trying circumstances and to meet all dangers that might occur in his life and also to restrain his outbursts in prosperity and affluence. God, with his whimsical laws and parental generosity, was painted with variegated colors of imagination. He was used as a deterrent factor when his fury and his laws were repeatedly propagated so that man might not become a danger to society. He was the cry of the distressed soul for he was believed to stand as father and mother, sister and brother, brother and friend when in time of distress a man was left alone and helpless. He was Almighty and could do anything. The idea of God is helpful to a man in distress.” 

No words could be truer. His ideas on religion clearly state that he believed God should be the source of strength for the weak. However, instead of following his ideas, we used the religion to create a rift amongst the citizens, and till today religion is being used as a weapon to divide his country. We have bled this country numerous times in the name of religion and continue to hold a religious grudge in our hearts without realizing that religion is merely a tool to attain political power.

But it is not just the politicians and government servants who have betrayed martyrs like Bhagat Singh, Sukh Dev, and Raj Guru. We, the citizens of independent India are equally to be blamed. Since independence, we have placed blind faith in our leaders. Votes have been cast in the name of religion, caste, region, money, status, and any other reason, but merit. Even after being backstabbed in the form of multi-billion dollar scams, we continued to vote for the same leaders because they belonged to our caste, religion, or region. When someone is being oppressed by the powerful, we turn a blind eye till the eye of the oppressors turns to us. We are responsible for the rampant corruption that prevails in the country because we chose to pay bribes for our comfort.

As citizens of this country, everyone is aware of the rights that the constitution of India grants us. However, when it comes to our duties towards our nation, we start looking at the next person. What does it take for a citizen to perform his/her duties towards their nation? Nothing much, just respecting the law and a sense of belonging towards the nation. But even that becomes too much of a task for most of us. Waiting at a traffic signal is an insult to us, throwing trash on the roads, in the parks is fashion, disrespecting women and senior citizens give us a high, defacing the national monuments and our country with posters and graffiti is art in our eyes. We can kill for religion but have no time to save the life of someone injured in a road accident. And most importantly some of us even shield terrorists and throw stones at the soldiers fighting for them.

Bhagat Singh also had a choice. He could have chosen to live an ordinary life, marriage, family, and a peaceful life. But he realized his duty towards his motherland and left all the pleasures of life waiting for him and chose nation. He did not do it for himself; he didn't even live long enough to see the freedom. He did it for his country, for all of us, so that we can live in an independent India and can take it to greatness. If he would have been looking at us from heaven, he would be crying his heart out at our betrayal. It is time we realize our mistakes and the disrespect that we have been showing to the souls of Bhagat Singh and countless martyrs who laid down their lives for a dream of independent and developed India. Every Indian should take a pledge that we would honor the martyrdom of those great souls and contribute whatever we can towards building India of their dreams and India they laid their lives for. Pledge that we will do our duty towards our nation and will not allow anything or anyone to divide us. If we can do that only then we would have paid a proper tribute to Shaheed-e-Azam Bhagat Singh. Otherwise, let’s take down the statues of these great souls across the length and breadth of the country and stop the façade of showing respect to their martyrdom.