I was marvelled with Diwali celebrations on the eve of Holi (March 23) at our exulting victory in the T-20 cricket match against Bangladesh. Hail Indians as we have won a legendary cricket match against our Neighbour with a narrow margin of 1 run.
Manifolds over the excitement of Holi, It is now that the feeling of thrill runs through our core as if we have hit some big jackpot by making headways in T-20 cricket match. History is evident of the fact that over the years we Indians have harboured this passion for cricket all the more.
It would not be an exaggeration to say that cricket is now a sacrosanct entity and it would be a sacrilegious remark to comment on people’s passion about it even if we miss out or overlook something even more significant in the light of it.
Commendable is the patriotism of Indians that only a handful of us today remember the actual significance of March 23 in our history. We did not take of our eyes off even for a second during the match but how did we forget the execution of the great Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru, who were hanged yesterday long back at Lahore by the British.
We never get deterred to follow the cue and quote Bhagat Singh while presenting our revolutionary ideas but how can we cherish a revolutionary spirit without remembering this day and its significance – a day which reminds us of the atrocities of our cruel rulers, a day which reminds us of our freedom struggle, a day whose history mesmerizes us with the same indomitable spirit that flowed in the veins of these revolutionaries who sacrificed their lives in the prime of their youth so that our generation can breathe the air of freedom.
For those special people who still cannot recall the breath-taking incident of March 23, let me remind you that it was on this day in 1931 that the trio – Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev Thapar and Shivaram Rajguru were hanged by the British for being involved in the Lahore conspiracy case (assassination of Saunders, the superintendent of Police) in the Central Jail at Lahore. The trial of these patriots was executed on a sly so as to escape mass intervention which was apprehended by the British at that time. The schedule of their trial was moved forward by 11 hours and the three were hanged on 23rd March 1931 at 7:30 pm in the Lahore jail. It is reported that no magistrate at the time was willing to supervise Singh’s hanging as was required by law. The execution was supervised instead by an honorary judge, who also signed the three death warrants, as their original warrants had expired. They were then cremated at Hussainiwala on banks of Sutlej river.
Hats off to the over brimming nationalism in these legends that they showed no signs of any fear as they kissed the noose, chanting “Inquilab Zindabad”. Their patriotism and indomitable spirit is inexplicable.
I felt pricked when the youth of our country, who are struggling to raise voice against injustice, failed to acknowledge the MARTYRDOM DAY and were just stuck in the celebrations of the victory of yesterday’s match. Even the ones who remembered our great martyrs did so to achieve their political agendas.
I am not an anti-cricket person but my concern is that we, the youngsters of our country are heading towards a direction where we remain stuck in not-so-important issues and just keep debating and quarrelling over trivial political topics but never truly acknowledge the sacrifices of our great martyrs be it Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru or Lt Col Niranjan Kumar and Captain Pawan Kumar. If we aspire to take the revolution against injustice long way ahead, then we have to draw inspirations in true sense from our forerunners of freedom and walk on their path to make headways. It may seem to be trifle to forget yesterday’s incident but if we look at a more sublime level, we realize that we have missed out on something subtly important.
This actually is a wakeup call to keep alive the revolution started by the great revolutionaries – Bhagat Singh, Rajguru, Azad, Sukhdev and the then freedom fighters.
This Holi, we need to wash off the contemporary colourful masquerade of patriotism that we carry and delve our heart in the true tri colour of nationalism.
So now, ask yourself a question – Will you still remember March the 23rd for that single run at T-20 World Cup ?!
Happy Holi!
Bharat Mata ki Jai!
PS: I wish we win T-20 World Cup!
