February 26! Actually, it should be a day of quiet reflection leading to deep commitment. Instead, currently it is cacophonous. Why do I say so? Let me explain!
February 26 is the death anniversary of Veer Savarkar. Right in the morning itself, on this particular group, there was this awful message bad-mouthing him. Immediately i deleted it.
In fact, on a related group, a few days back, there was this message attacking Savarkar for tendering an apology to the British. There and then, I explained how the discourse in the early twentieth century used extremely formal, heavily ceremonious language. I explicated further that everyone, irrespective of political affiliations, used similar expressions. Biases, however, never die, however much viciously they smear reputations.
A very basic proof to support my argument can be a documentary by the Doordarshan. It is presented by researchers such as Sadanand More and Parth Baviskar. In other words, there should not be accusations of ideological alignments. The documentary narrates in detail the life of and works by the great patriot.
Personally, I must confess, I have not read all of his writings. Yet his poems, his "Kale Pani", his "Sanyast Khadga" and selected essays prove that despite an extremely tough life, he was a very thoughtful and sensitive author who hugely embellished the Marathi language, and had very many progressive reformist ideas. Why, he was the first one to call the 1857 "sepoy mutiny" the "war of independence" which completely changed the very focus and perception about it.
As for cherry picking sentences/arguments, quoting them out of context is not exactly scholarship. Hardly is it fair either. Currently, there are political leaders who thus accuse poor Bhagat Singh, my all time hero! Yes, I have read (partially translated, too) his complete writings, translated in to Hindi by his nephew.
I believe, moreover, that everyone, including geniuses, is always made of, bound by, related to the immediate contexts. It is bad and biased to impose contemporary debates on the past, whether it be on heroes or on the times/contexts!
Pratima@ What we think of a person, how we express it, such issues reveal more about us than anyone else! A finger pointed at others has the rest pointing at us!
Quote of the day: Says Gordon Brown, "I hate prejudices, discriminations and snobbishness of all kinds. They always reflect on the person judging, and not on the person being judged."
Word of the day: smear campaign. A smear campaign, or a smear tactic, is an intentional, premeditated effort to damage an individual's reputation, credibility, and character through misinformation, scandal-mongering, cheap exaggeration, silly rumors, innuendo, or, in some cases, outright falsehoods to alienate support.
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