Honouring Unsung Heroes

“In India, a large part of our history was lost to the whims and fancies of a select few. An entire era was forgotten; nobody remembered it, nobody appreciated it, no one spoke of those times, and no one mentioned those people. They were the unsung heroes, and despite their supreme sacrifice, they were ‘unwept, unsung, and unhonoured.’ Mann Ki Baat has changed all that, one hero at a time.” - Igniting Collective Goodness, Chapter 16.

When I visit India, I bristle at misguided Western comments about the value brought to India by the British colonial occupation. I find it echoes the comments by the American fascists of today who laud slavery as a skill-building exercise for Africans. The stench of colonial occupation, in all its permutations, can only be eradicated with the fresh air of memory: Remembering the unsung heroes of freedom, those who gave their very lives, one person at a time, by Prime Minister Narendra Modi is vital to understanding India today. When he says their name, recites their heroic deeds, he brings them to life, recognises their sacrifice, dries our tears as we cherish the gift rather than regret the loss.

If only I had the room or knowledge to give the recognition so well deserved in these letters. When I read their struggles in the book Igniting Collective Goodness, I understand their yearning, the loss of their lives, and I weep. For they brought the world’s largest democracy to life, and now, in the Amrit Kaal, we must heed the words of PM Modi and bow in appreciation and celebration to those who have paved the path.

“Friends, amid the Amrit Mahotsav and the Independence Day celebrations, we will launch the Meri Miti Mera Desh Campaign to honour our martyred Bravehearts. In memory of those luminaries, special inscriptions will be installed in lakhs of village panchayats of the country. The Amrit Kalash Yatra will be organised across the country under this campaign… Carrying the soil in 7500 urns from every corner of the country, reaching Delhi… onboard are saplings from different parts of the country. An Amrit Vatika will be built near the National War Memorial.” - PM Modi, Episode 103 Mann Ki Baat.

“This great land, India, has given birth to innumerable great men, men whose deeds for the sake of humanity have been extraordinary, truly unforgettable. Our country is Bahuratna Vasundhara, the land of myriad gems.”

As the PM cites many examples of our unsung heroes, and the young lives given at Tarapur resonate with much of the violence we see in the totalitarian regimes around the globe today. “Jai Ram Viplava, a resident of Munger, has written to me about the Tarapur Martyr Day. On 15 February 1932, the British mercilessly killed several brave young patriots. Their only crime was that they were raising the slogans ‘Vande Mataram’ and ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’. I bow to those martyrs and remember their courage with reverence.” - PM Modi. Those young men heroically gave all for India to be a democracy.

Similarly, Modi talks about Tirot Sing in episode 91. Sing, chief of the Khasi tribe, fought the well-armed British with native weapons, such as a sword and shield, eventually dying in Dhaka, after hiding wounded in a cave. Sing was deported to Dhaka with a lifetime sentence, rather than submit his people to British rule under his leadership. He simply refused. He was approximately 45 years of age at the time of his death.

Modi elucidates his desire for understanding national heroes and its importance, “The more my young friends learn about Sri Aurobindo, the more they will learn about themselves, enriching themselves. The state of inner consciousness in which you are, where you are engaged in trying to achieve many resolves...”

“Freedom struggle is not just a history of a few years, few areas, or a few people,” Ibid.

“Bhagat Singh, along with his revolutionary friends, without caring for their own selves, carried out such daring acts, which had a huge bearing on the country attaining freedom… He had a single mission for as long as he lived, and he sacrificed his life for that mission. The mission was to free India of injustice and British rule.” - comments Filmmaker Ashoke Pandit, episode 66 Mann Ki Baat.

In episode 71, the Prime Minister quotes Sant Ravidas, “Ekai maati ke sab bhande, sab ka sirjanhaar, Ravidas, vyapai ekai ghat bheetar, sab ko ghadai kumhaar.” “All of us are earthen vessels of one clay; all of us have been coiled and shaped by one.”

Those heroes of India returned to the earth of the Mother and gave us freedom and life. We are grateful indeed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for reminding us to celebrate them in our daily life through Mann Ki Baat.