Jinhen Naaz Hai Hind Pe Woh Kahan Hain?

 

Jinhen Naaz Hai Hind Pe Woh Kahan Hain?

We are celebrating the 75^th anniversary of our Independence on

August 15 this year. We the people of India are here – Jinhen Naaz Hai Hind Pe. This poetic expression of Sahir Ludhianvi throws a gauntlet to the people like us and rightly so. Sahir compels us to sit and think to find an answer as to where  we are heading even after the seven long decades of  independence in 1947 and proclaiming to be a Republic in 1950 with the lofty principles of Equality, Liberty, Justice, Fraternity and ensuring the Dignity of an individual , rightly enshrined in our Constitution.

While, I take this opportunity to greet my fellow countrymen on the Independence Day, I would like to make one or two pertinent observations with regard to the trenched caste divide and caste discrimination which is not diminishing in spite of legal framework and often repeated or flouted so called ‘affirmative actions’ by the governments and the Thekedars – conscious keepers of the society. The immediate provocation in this regard is the treatment meted out to the hockey player, Vandana Katariya by the anti social people. The

Vandana Katariya

caste slur as reported in the media, more on social media, are shameful and tend to justify the questions raised by Sahir  many decades ago. Sahir’s question – Jinhen Naaza Hai Hind Pe Woh Kahan Hain? -  cries for an answer. It is not only shameful but also a crime under the law. The whole country should be proud of, and I think it is, Vandana who amply demonstrated her prowess with a hat-trick of goals in the Olympic Games.  It is not only Vandana but many more from the marginalized segments of the society who have done well and brought laurels to our motherland and held the Tri-colour on the high podiums of various international sporting events. We are to go a long way as yet to break this vicious circle of caste based discrimination, if we intend to save India from the uncivilized and inhuman tendencies. Many of us who cry from the house-tops against the ‘affirmative’ provisions of reservations and other ‘empowerment’ measures introduced and undertaken by successive governments must understand the problem in the parlance of the age old traditional saying ‘Jis Ke Paon Na Phati Vivai; Woh Kya Jaane Peed Parai’. It will not be fair if we say nothing has been done to arrest this divisive and inhuman traditional treatment done to the socially weaker sections of the society but much more is needed to be done. Mere lip service in this regard will not do. Mahatma Gandhi ostensibly did his bit but most of the people suffering from the ‘graded inequality’ in the society doubted his sincerity in addressing the problem. It is a matter of regret and concern that no political outfit and political players showed any real concern and priority in this regard. The spiritual and religious leadership of the mainstream of the society is blissfully silent on this important issue. They tended to support and nurture the traditional mindset of ‘caste ridden’ social edifice consciously or otherwise. It is time to revisit the problem afresh and do the needful in the 75^th year of our independence. Let it be very frank and candid, the ruling BJP who claims to represent the mainstream of the society and intends to associate and engage the socially weaker sections of the society give an added impetus to the eradication of caste based social maladies by education and practice. RSS, the biggest social outfit of the world, has given the slogan of ‘Samrasta’ and rightly so but matching efforts and actions are yet to

be seen on ground. RSS and other outfits like SGPC among others should look into this before it is too late. The main stream of the society that is the Hindu majority has a special responsibility to come forward and reform the society as per the needs of the contemporary times. It goes without saying that the problem is unique and difficult but it has to be addressed wholeheartedly, if India wants to remain India. The soon the better.

The problem is real. I recall a story which one of my friends, Hussan Baudh narrated to me some years ago. He was travelling on a train along with some of his friends or colleagues. One of them mentioned about some photos taken the other day and asked how they did like the photos. Another, belonging to the so called upper caste, replied with disdain and utter contempt ‘ Oh Yaar Photo Khaak Ani Thi Woh Saala Chamar Jo Saath Baitha Tha’ (How could the photo be good as that low caste was sitting next to me). Do we have any right to shout from the roof-tops against the Human Rights Activists or organizations like the Amnesty International? Let us first mend our outdated and deplorable mindsets to negate the poetic pick of Sahir Ludhanvi and Allama Iqbal who said long time ago:-

आह! शूद्र के लिए हिंदोस्तां गम खाना है
दर्दे इंसानी से उस बस्ती का दिल बेगाना है

The second observation is to negate Sahir again. Our boys and girls at Tokyo Olympics have made us proud. We the people of India are rejoicing on the excellent fete of our players led by Neeraj Chopra with a GOLD in athletics, Two SILVERs by Mirabai Chanu in

Neeraj Chopra

Weightlifting and Ravi Dahiya in Wrestling, Four BRONZES – one each by our Hockey Team, Bajrang Punia in Wrestling, Lovlina in Boxing and PV Sindhu in Badminton. Our Women’s Hockey Team and many individual players did their best and put up an excellent show – I believe some of them belong to the so called marginalized sections of the society. It gives a big slap on the faces of Casteist and anti social elements in the society. Beware of these snakes. India is a big country. We are to go a long way. Much more is needed to be done to find our due space and place in the comity of nations as a democratic, pluralistic and civilized society. Not only we are to kill the casteist snakes to clean and reform the society but also gear up to appear repeatedly on the high podiums of world events like Olympics. The Hindustan Times of August 9, 2021 has rightly said in an editorial, “Tokyo 2020: A new era begins – India’s success, both visible and invisible can mark the start of a new journey”.

We are determined to negate Sahirs and Iqbals, though they may be correct in their perceptions in a particular context, and are fully ready and geared up to pronounce loudly that  - Hamein Naaz Hai Hind Pe, Hamein Naaz Hai India Pe, Hamein Naaz Hai Bharat Pe.

Jai Hind – Jai Bharat