JK youth Redefining Patriotism on REPUBLIC DAY

JK youth Redefining Patriotism on REPUBLIC DAY
 
“India the land of the martyrs who have embraced the gallows for their ideals, where every drop in the freedom fighter’s blood has fought not for itself but for
the nation, has today become indigent
instead of indigenous of ‘patriotism’”. Yes I am talking of ‘India’ where patriotism needs to be revived and redefined.

Yash Khajuria

Jammu, January 23: As the Republic Day is up to close everybody in the country is all set to witness the pride moments, especially the politicians are in the run very enthusiastically to prove them the greatest patriot by their actions. But after the session of national holidays and patriotic shows concludes nobody even think about the same.  

More often it’s being realized that at the time of a national event like Independence Day and Republic Day everybody like to talk about the feel of patriotism and announce him/her self proud to be an Indian. But don’t you really think that the incidents happening in the country from couple of months are irritating the meaning of our liberty and Republic could we really feel of the two honored Words?

Let’s have a small retrospective session. Ok I won’t stress your memory. Let’s talk about just a year back in time. So what did you really do on India’s 61th Republic Day? At home all day enjoying your holiday? Ok… made it for the function for the flag hoisting? Is it enough? Anyways, even if you did that, I am glad. But I can bet most of you just, looked up to the flag in great pride may be for a few moments and then you were back onto your home watching some latest CD/DVD movie and enjoying the holiday.

Interestingly, I heard two youngsters talking about a forthcoming holiday. That 'holiday' was The Republic Day.  The thing which upset me was that they treated this great day as just another holiday. Why we people have started taking these great days as days which have nothing very special about them.  They have become just another holidays, when we can relax, watch TV, sleep, and enjoy the day, like we do it on a Sunday!

Why this upsetting trend?  A number of factors are responsible for this. Firstly, the people have lost all hope on the politicians. They treat politicians as corrupt people who come to power not to serve the people but rather to serve themselves. Be it any political party, either at the centre or the state level, corruption does not stop, and the system remains marred with corruption .The various scams which the people come to know about, have frustrated the people and thus they no more care about 15th august, 26th January etc.
Due to high scale corruption prevailing in our country, the people feel that their money has gone to the politician's pocket. Thus the people feel looted by the politician. 

Secondly, the Governments have failed to deliver when it comes to punishing the guilty and send the culprits behind the bars. Even when the whole world knows that a particular person in the Government is corrupt, the Government in power looks the other way.

This fills prominently the youth among the common man with huge anger and therefore, realizing that there is little that he can do, he decides at that moment, that from that moment onwards, he will no longer cares about the government and will keep to his business. It is obvious that if the politician has looted the public money, why the public will be interested in the Government functions. Thus the Government can still put its act together by punishing the guilty and thus proving to the public that there is still some law left in our country.

But one cannot blame the whole breed; a class of social workers including saffron wearers (Anna Hazare group and Baba Ramdev with his followers) in recent past by aching their selves for the national goodwill has showed that in INDIA still there exists a minority of real patriots that puts efforts to make a more socially stable India. While the majority tries to draw mileage from every loop hole in the society and engages itself in building heavens of comfort and luxury, constructed on the debris of human purity.

  

For every soldier who sacrifices his life for the nation they echo only four words, “We will fight back”. But in that ‘We’ they are nowhere!
The common man of India is considered to be a puppet in the hands of the politicians, but in reality he finds his own profit in every act provoked by them. And what gets lost in this ‘unethical symbiosis’ is again patriotism!

Our feelings need to extend from those few moments you looked up to the flag to your entire day, from this one day in the year to the entire year, and yes certainly for your lifetime. And remember you are not the first one to do this… Martyrs have lived, died and relived in our hearts being as true Indians. Remember that Just an Indian citizenship doesn’t really make you an Indian from heart.

Youngsters who decide to stay away from the Republic Day celebrations have said,
 

1. Most probably we all remember patriotism when there is an Indo-Pak cricket match and whenever terrorist strikes our country. But we definitely forget it when we cast our vote in the elections, when a week long hungry beggar asks for a rupee, when we shamelessly bears and accelerate corruption and yet so many times more… Patriotism is observed as nothing else than the ‘pain on the prick of a pin’.
It is rather believed to be a formality, a formality of saluting the national flag and 52 seconds of a frozen figure during the national anthem. May be even a free zed heart with no gratitude                        for the martyrs because of whom we are living off so well.

- Lalit Katoch, Scholar- Jammu University
(from - Kishtwar)

2. Joining the Republic Day celebration does mean if the event make us feel at least something of ours Interest,  for example, After the Republic Day parade, and other events, the people should be invited to speak directly to the sitting Government officials. Suggestions should be invited from the public on increasing the efficacy of the Government in serving the people.  These suggestions, if found good and practical, should be implemented and this implementation, along with the name and address of the suggestion giver, should be publicized through the media. Thus the people will have a feeling that they are provided an opportunity of expressing their views on the governance of their state or country.  Without this and as traditional pattern of Republic days Celebrations it’s better to stay at home rather than spending time while listening a well decorated Speech for hours. 

- Gourav Sharma, Scholar Jammu University
(from - Kathua)

3. What I can say about the Republic and Independence, in the recent time the peacefulness and harmony of our state is often challenged more by internal disturbances than by external aggression. The diversity in the cultures of its subjects unfortunately is the prominent cause for hatred between religious opponents in J&K (Shree Amarnath Yatra Land row) and (Last Year’s High Profile Drama on Republic Day).

“India has subjects following a number of religions which have their own organizations to spread the greatness of their religion. Such organizations are very important in making a prosperous and patriotic India”.

It should be also important for these organizations to publicise patriotism as they find themselves amongst the biggest organizations in India. But sadly it never happens so. Religious aggression apart, we still distance ourselves with each other with castism.
 -Atul Bharti, Jammu University
(from - Sunderbani)

4. "In Democracy more often it comes to know that “In Democracy there is a Structure called ‘ Government’ of the people,  by the people, for the people but this all reflects completely deviated picture by only a single sight of Republic days Celebration".

 The Government will have to attract people to these functions through attractive advertising.  The function organized by the Government, should give the feeling of celebration to the people. The people should feel that they are 'celebrating ' the Republic Day of India and have not come there just to watch their child perform from his or her school. The people, of course don't want to go to a function where they are bullied by the police, nobody is there to welcome them, they have to wait for the netaji to come endlessly etc, etc.
It should appear to the public that the function is organized for them and not for the VIPs. Thus to observe this, the policemen should be asked to talk politely, at least, on these few days. VIPs should reach on time and must not keep the public waiting. The sitting arrangement for the general public should be good and comfortable and so on.  
This will send the message that the Government is not separate from them, the Government should send the message that the Government people are not inaccessible but are a part of the society we all belong.  They should learn from American President, who had danced with the children in our country.  And who appeared so accessible unlike Indian politicians.

- Radhu Rajput, Scholar Jammu University
(from - Kathua)

5.
I am not completely against of this Debate of National Days (Republic day and Independence Day) but there is a fact that the people should also keep in mind that there are good people also in our system. So there is still hope. Corruption is there in all countries. It is true that we stand among the toppers but still we can pin hopes on the people who have character and who are committed to fight against all odds to serve the country.

This situation should be unraveled in course of time and not suddenly.  What cannot be conquered should be tolerated. Patriotic emotions cannot be produced in a premium; they will have to be fixed on tender hearts that will remain peaceful in the storms of the puzzling future.

Our education policies thus need to be revalued and reformed. More national awareness and respect should be embedded into the scholastic curriculum. The paraphernalia could be nothing more than a sincere devotion for making a patriotic India.

- Wahid Wani, Scholar Jammu University
 (from - Doda)

Now let us consider what patriotism should be in true sense. Patriotism need not have a mass motive, it need not be national. Small things and actions persuaded with a concept of doing well to other countrymen is patriotism. Patriotism should be imbibed by us to put into our day to day lives.
We will have to give up the ignoble thinking that we have nurtured towards the society. That is the social divisions made by ourselves need to be blocked. Patriots don’t talk about taking life but of fasting until death for their country and being smashed for the nation’s goodwill.

At last I feel, what cannot describe patriotism better than this is –patriotism is like a needle that joins and unites and not a scissor that cuts and divides.