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| Celebrating 150 years of 1857 | | | | The year long celebrations of 150 years of 1st war of independence waged in 1857, have just concluded. The holding of year long celebration was announced officially by the Human Resources Development Minister Arjun Singh, the decision to which effect was taken by the cabinet, with a view to enliven the memory of a large number of freedom fighters who sacrificed their lives for the freedom of the motherland from the British. All those who fought the first rebellion against the British occupation of India, in 1857, either the last Mughal ruler Bahadur Shaw Zafar, Tantya Topi, Mangal Pandey who had fired the first shot prematurely, before the dead line set by the revolutionaries for launching the war and innumerable soldiers who participated in the rebellion and got martyred as well as all those who laid down their lives later in fighting against the tyranny of British rule and to attain independence for the country, including Sardar Bhagat Singh, Chander Shekher Azad, Bismillah and even hundred of those who were mercilessly killed within the Jhalianwala Bagh in Amritsar, all deserve to be honoured and suitably recognized by the present and the coming generations. The objective of year long celebrations of 1857 war of independence was to highlight their sacrifices, with a view to inculcate the spirit of patriotism among the people living these days as well as those who will come to live in the future. But it will be shocking to learn that while a whooping sum of Rs 130 crore out of Rs 150 crore earmarked for the celebrations, have actually been spent, yet no tangible result has been achieved. The members of National Implementation Committee on 1857 revolt have termed most of the expenditure as waste on a "national tamasha". A whooping Rs 26 crore was spent for organizing a lack luster extravaganza including a march from Meerut, the town which has the honoured distinction to be the place from where first shot was fired by the rebellious Indian soldiers in the British army, to Delhi at Red Fort. But many decisions taken by the NIC including setting up a chair in the name of Bhagat Singh at Jawaharlal Nehru University, another in the name of Bhadur Shaw Zafar at Indira Gandhi Open University and one at Jamia Milia Islamia has not yet been implementing. Similarly the NIC is yet to approve Rs 50 crore bollywood protection on another martyr of 1860 war Tantya Topi. No suitable memorial has yet been raised in honour of the martyrs since selection of a suitable site for the same in the country's capital is yet to be finalized. Similarly in all these celebrations the families of thousands of martyrs have found no place. At least one can expect that in celebrations of such events of national importance which are the common heritage of the nation as a whole, no politics should be introduced, nor should there be half hearted approach, non seriousness and insincerity. These should become the natural part of our life, like the religious and cultural festivals observed by all of us without any distinction of political affiliation, caste and creed. |
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