“I will give you a talisman. Whenever you are in doubt, or when the self becomes too much with you, apply the following test. Recall the face of the poorest and the weakest man (woman) whom you may have seen, and ask yourself, if the step you contemplate is going to be of any use to him (her). Will he (she) gain anything by it? Will it restore him (her) to a control over his (her) own life and destiny? In other words, will it lead to swaraj (freedom) for the hungry and spiritually starving millions? Then you will find your doubts and your self melt away.”
The famous quote of Gandhiji reminds us about attitude, behaviour and duties towards the weaker sections of the society. The meaning of Swaraj is incomplete if the lowest strata of the society felt starved ,undignified and without self esteem. It is very disheartening that after so much sacrifice, unbearable pain and untiring struggle of our freedom fighters led by Gandhiji, inadequate provision of resources, effort and act of justice have been reflected on the ground for the upliftment of downtrodden.
The brutal gangrape of Nirbhaya of Hathras in broad daylight by four accused on 14th September 2020 and subsequent unfolding events, simply shows how we are paying the last tribute to Gandhian Principle of equality, justice and nonviolence. The victim later took last breath in Safdarjung Hospital ,Delhi on 29th September and given her dying declaration to the police. The role of police, administration and government was disgusting, totally sham and against principle of justice.
Initially local police had lodged FIR for attempt to murder instead of rape. Police was pressurising victim ‘s family to compromise. Police were also involved in bullying witnesses, sabotage evidences and brutally beating those who were raising voice for justice.
On 29th September, the brave Girl succumbed to her Spinal cord injury, broken neck and slit tongue. Hathras rape victim’s corpse was cremated against her family wish and presence at 3 AM on 30th September 2020.
The electronic media since 3 months are only raking news of Sushant Singh Rajput suicide case and Riya Chakrabarti in prime time. They have no time, clue and coverage for the real issues on the ground and has become mouthpiece of state.
They are only dying for TRPs and the government’s blessings for their bread-butter. The fourth pillar of democracy has developed many cracks because of their servile mindset towards state. Initially they were negating the victim’s rape allegation and portraying the Hathras rape case only scuffle among victim and accused. After tremendous public outrage and agitation on social media and road for justice, they have started shedding tears for the victim. The same media has only made local police and administration responsible and spared the state government for law order issues in UP.
The leaderships of the present state Government in UP and Center were totally silent and didn’t bother about the incident. They had no empathy and concern for the brave girl until the matter had become national headlines.
Today we are celebrating the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.The very soul of Gandhi ji must be crying after seeing injustice to our fellow citizens by those who are in power. The talisman given by Bapu has become joke and laughing stocks to our present political leaders. It is very apt time to change our value, vision and priorities. We must shed our thousands years old caste based system. We must reform police to make it people’s police rather than exploiter. The wheels of justice must move for the dignity of indigent, Dalits and women. We must foil the very nefarious design to fail country of Gandhi’s Dream.
The justice and relief to brave Nirbhaya and his family and exemplary punishment to the perpetrators of the heinous crime is must for bringing confidence of common man in the Indian democracy and to make Gandhian Philosophy of Swaraj relevant to them.
