Hindus/Muslims unitedly fought for freedom

[Guest guest]

147th anniversary of 1857 freedom movement

"Hindus and Muslims unitedly fought for freedom"—Indresh Kumar

By Pramod Kumar

 

"This is a fact that Hindus and Muslims unitedly fought for the

freedom of the country. But a fact that creates curiosity in

everybody's thoughts is what was the contribution of Christians to

the freedom movement, especially from 1857 to 1947? People want to

know how many Christians sacrificed their lives for freedom? How

many participated in different agitations or movements? Were they in

favour of continuation of the British regime in the country? Whether

the historians forgot mentioning their contribution or indeed there

was nothing to mention?" asked Indresh Kumar, Sah-Sampark Pramukh of

RSS, while speaking at a function held by the Nationalist Muslim

Movement in New Delhi to celebrate the 147th anniversary of the 1857

freedom movement.

 

Shri Indresh Kumar said "the prime objective of organising this

function is to propagate the message that we are one by culture and

country and that no foreigner can pose a threat to our freedom

again."

 

He pointed out that the British amended the then laws to impose more

taxes in order to fetch more revenue, notwithstanding the paying

capacity of the people and that this ultimately angered even the

common man and they took to the streets against the British

regime. "Though the 1857 freedom movement had a mass base and it was

planned with caution, it could not produce the desired results as

there was total lack of proper leadership. The revolt in the army

and also among the general masses was to save their asmita. It was a

natural outpouring of anger among the general masses. Though the

movement almost died in 1959, the heroes of the movement were

forgotten by the countrymen," he pointed out.

 

Speaking at the function, Maulana Jafar Janakpuri, said that India

was the motherland of all Muslims and everybody has equal

opportunities here to make progress. Recalling his Pakistan visit

where, he said, the Pakistani rulers had created a misunderstanding

among its countrymen that Muslims were insecure in India, whereas

the Muslims were more safe in India than in Pakistan. "India is our

country and we have to live and die for it. We are sons of the same

forefathers and we all should join hands, forgetting all our

misunderstandings," he said.

 

Mohammad Afzal of the My Hindustan, said that the chapati (bread)

and kamal (lotus) played a key role in the 1857 movement. The

chapati moved one village to the other village seeking people´s

support and the kamal moved from one battalion of the army to the

other battalion, with the message that all armymen were ready for

the revolt. Maulana Umer Iliyasi, president of the Nationalist

Muslim Movement and Balbir Punj, BJP MP also shared the dais.

 

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