Of our remembrances

Recently it was the birth anniversary of Lokmanya Tilak. Such is the identity politics obsession these days that it was almost absolutely forgotten. Most leaders are now conveniently grouped, and accordingly their anniversaries, birth or death, are celebrated.  

Very sad is this fact because in the process almost a-historically we tend to overlook the great contribution these people made. Lokmanya was for one thing a great patriot. In fact, he is one of the arch initiators of the freedom struggle in India.  He wrote blistering attacks on the British that awakened, enlightened his contemporaries, and terrorised and irritated the ruling British so much so that he was sent to Mandalay.

The time he spent there was equally unbelievable. He used the incarceration for brilliant theoretical analyses of the Bhagwad Geeta, of the Aryan debate, for instance.

Most selflessly, without caring much for his own health, his own self or his family, he gave his all for the nation, and he deserves our deepest gratitude and a humble remembrance devoted to his great contribution to the growth of our nation.

As it is, we are yet to pay a meaningful tribute to the millions of unknown men and women who selflessly sacrificed a lot during the freedom struggle. At least the great leaders such as Tilak, Bhagat Singh, Savarkar need be remembered with reverence.

Oh, yes, it is quite possible that their entire legacy may not be monolithically appreciated. After all, however radical thinkers and visionaries they might be, they were undeniably products of their times, too.

Unfortunately, the current craze for an alternative genealogy, rather than a balanced and honest evaluation, is so rapacious that the great past contributions are politically measured and calculated as per the caste equations which is very sad. Much worse is the misinterpretation of their great legacies, most often without reading the entire works or without consulting the contemporary contexts.

Well, neither our adulation nor our vicious ignorance ( in all the senses of this term) of such 'movers and shakers', to use a facile term popular today can take away their value addition as influencers, to use further the current lingo. On the contrary, such condescending partisanship belittles us, not them!

Pratima@ Whom we like, what we say about                      anyone indicates a lot about us                           than about our object(s)of                                   devotion or derision or                                         denigration.