As another ‘Ninth August’ slips into history and perhaps into oblivion (as some would certainly like it to be), it is important that we bask in the significance of the day and what it holds in store for all and particularly for the journey ahead! This reflection therefore is about the past, present and future – three tenses all encapsulated into one reality!
The day was pregnant with meaning and hopefully, it will continue to be so! Several anniversaries on this day: much to learn from! Eighty years ago, in 1942 – Mahatma Gandhi and our other freedom fighters launched the ‘Quit India Movement’ which brought us our independence. That very day Edith Stein (St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross) was killed by the Nazis in the gas chambers of Auschwitz. In 1945, three days after the atomic bombing on Hiroshima, Nagasaki was also destroyed by another deadly atomic bomb. On ‘World Indigenous Peoples Day’ we remember our Adivasi sisters and brothers and their relentless struggle for identity, dignity and justice! Jai Adivasi! It is also the Ashura in Muharram: day of atonement, prayer, fasting and mourning our Muslim sisters and brothers! If there is one word that becomes the common denominator for the day is the word “Freedom”!
“Freedom”! It was a loud, unequivocal clarion call given by Mahatma Gandhi! On 8 August, 1942, at the Bombay session of All India Congress Committee, he introduced the resolution to start a ‘Quit India Movement’. The resolution was unanimously passed at that historic meeting. Later, Gandhi gave a fiery speech at Mumbai’s Gowalia Tank Maidan (today known as August Kranti Maidan) which marked the launch of the Quit India Movement. He said, “there is a mantra, a short one that I give you. You imprint it in your heart and let every breath of yours give an expression to it. The mantra is ‘do or die’. We shall either be free or die in the attempt.”. The next day on 9 August, the ‘kranti’ had begun; thousands were out on the streets vociferously demanding that the British should leave India immediately and unconditionally! Most of the leaders, who belonged to all strata of society were arrested (the same thing is happening today!). On expected lines, the ‘sanghis’ who belonged the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) (and founded in 1925) were conspicuous by their absence! None of them actually wanted the British to leave. There is plenty of historical evidence to show how they pandered to and ‘toed’ the line of their British masters. Sadly, these are the very same people who have seized power and rule the country today with their fascist approach! The people of India cry out in one voice for the fascists and those who are attempting to destroy the sanctity of the country to ‘quit India’ (many of their children and relatives are any way happily study and are settled abroad!) so that the citizens who truly love the country may enjoy their “Freedom!”!
“Freedom”! That’s what epitomised Edith Stein! She was a brilliant German philosopher who was born on 12 October 1891 in an orthodox Jewish family. In her early years, she was an agnostic- a seeker of the truth! Although Edith Stein had been brought up religiously by her Jewish mother, at the age of 14 she “had consciously and deliberately stopped praying…
“Freedom”! are what the world’s indigenous peoples have been celebrating all their lives. Today, the ‘International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples’ focussed on the theme ‘The Role of Indigenous Women in the Preservation and Transmission of Traditional Knowledge.’ Indigenous women are the backbone of indigenous peoples’ communities and play a crucial role in the preservation and transmission of traditional ancestral knowledge. They have an integral collective and community role as carers of natural resources and keepers of scientific knowledge. Many indigenous women are also taking the lead in the defence of lands and territories and advocating for indigenous peoples’ collective rights worldwide. The significance of indigenous peoples’ traditional knowledge is widely acknowledged “Long before the development of modern science, which is quite young, indigenous peoples have developed their ways of knowing how to survive and also of ideas about meanings, purposes and values.” Sadly, in India, whilst there is plenty of lip-service are Adivasis are not given their legitimate rights and freedom. The late Fr. Stan Swamy accompanied the Adivasis in their relentless struggle for identity and dignity, for the jal, jungle aurjameen which is systematically being denied to them, by the powerful and other vested interests. The Adivasis are the original inhabitants of the land and what they demand today are their legitimate rights to live in a society based on justice, equality and fraternity and in “Freedom”!
“Freedom”! is what the first month Muharram in the Islamic Calendar is all about! The 10th of Muharram or Ashura holds great significance among Muslims. Coincidentally this year Ashura in India was on 9 August! For the Shias Ashura is the date when Imam Hussain was martyred; on the other hand, the Sunnis, commemorate Ashura as the day that Allah parted the Red Sea for Moses and his followers to escape from the ruthless pharaoh. The day is normally spent in prayer, fasting, penance (sometimes in the past devotees used to flog themselves in public during the Tazia processions; today donating one’s blood is encouraged. The fact is the day becomes important for atonement, forgiveness and even reconciliation. All these are requisites for meaningful “Freedom”!
August ninth therefore, spells ‘freedom’. Something which became a reality for the people of India on 15 August 1947. Sadly, as we complete the 75th year of that Independence Day, this day (9 August) needs to become a motivating factor to one and all to work whole-heartedly for an India which commits itself to a society which is more inclusive, secular and pluralistic and based on truth, justice, liberty, equality, dignity and fraternity of all! A freedom which is able to internalise and actualise the motto of our nation ‘SatyamevaJayate’!
Fr. Cedric Prakash SJ
