Republic Day and Forgotten Sacrifices
✍🏻 By Khama Bakaf Muhammad Aadil Arariavi
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Respected readers, January 26th is the day when the blood of our martyrs gifted democracy to India. Whenever this day comes in our lives, it will remind us that the price of freedom and the constitution was paid with sacrifice and risking lives.
In the history of independent India, two days are of utmost importance: one is August 15th, when the country was freed from the clutches of the British, and the other is Republic Day, January 26th, when India was declared a democratic country. Republic Day is one of the two important and mandatory public holidays in India, the other being Independence Day on August 15th. Important and special Republic Day celebrations are held in New Delhi. On this day, meetings are held under the chairmanship of the President of India with great fanfare. Its main purpose is to pay tribute to India.
Throughout the country, every state, district, and even schools and madrassas celebrate these events. These events are also held in countries and places outside the country where Indian people live.
On Republic Day, tribute is paid to the country, but no effort is made to know who deserves the tribute. Since the country became independent, the Muslim community has been fighting for its existence in India, while Muslims and scholars shed so much blood in India's war of independence that no other community seems to compete with them in it. From the martyrdom of Sultan Tipu in 1799 to 1857, they fought this war alone and single-handedly, and it was their responsibility because the country was snatched from the hands of Muslims, and obviously, the one who suffers the injustice feels the pain. Therefore, for almost sixty years, the war of independence was fought only and only by Muslims. After the failure in 1857, the lives of scholars were made miserable. Thousands of scholars were hanged on trees on the streets of Delhi, thousands were roasted by putting them in burning oil, thousands were sentenced to Kala Pani (cellular jail), and millions of Muslims were slaughtered, as a result of which a group of sincere people established Darul Uloom Deoband in 1866 to prepare Mujahideen, and among whose descendants (Maulana Qasim Nanotvi, Maulana Rashid Ahmad Gangohi, Sheikh Al-Hind Maulana Mahmood al-Hasan, and Sheikh al-Arab wal-Ajam Maulana Syed Hussain Ahmad Madani, Maulana Ashraf Ali Thanvi, Mufti Kifayatullah Dehlavi, Ubaidullah Sindhi, Hifzur Rahman Seoharvi, etc., and other scholars Maulana Muhammad Ali Jauhar, Shaukat Ali, Maulana Fazl-e-Haq Khairabadi, and Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, etc.) made unparalleled sacrifices for the independence of the country. The question is, isn't it necessary to pay tribute to these brave freedom fighters along with other martyrs on the occasion of Republic Day?.
January 26th is actually the day of fulfillment of dreams, and in terms of the fulfillment of dreams, it is also a day of accountability, meaning we should reflect and think about what dreams India was the interpretation of, and to what extent those dreams have been fulfilled? So that those goals and objectives remain close to our eyes and minds, never fading away? For which our elders made countless sacrifices, offered the sacrifice of their lives, and irrigated the garden of India with the blood of their livers? Because the feeling of destination breaks the stagnation of insensitivity, it also creates a spirit of struggle and movement. Republic Day is a national day that is celebrated on a large scale throughout the country. The importance of this day is that the Government of India Act, which was in force since 1935, was repealed and the Constitution of India was formally enforced, and the implementation of the Constitution of India began. The Constitution of India was presented in the Constituent Assembly on November 26, 1949, and its enforcement was allowed on January 26, 1950. In this way, with the enforcement of the Constitution of India, a democratic system of government began in India. In terms of population, India is the world's largest parliamentary secular democracy. Its constitution and constitution have some important distinctions. The citizens here have the full right to elect their own government, and the people are considered the source of power and authority here. In this way, all residents, regardless of religion and creed, are woven into a common thread of democracy. The importance of religion has also been recognized in it, and it has been stated that this country will not rule on the basis of religion. Therefore, according to the 42nd Amendment of the Constitution, it has been called a secular state where respect for every religion will be necessary and no discriminatory treatment of any kind will be allowed on the basis of religion. No citizen will be deprived of citizenship rights on the basis of religion or caste, and every citizen will have full opportunity to benefit from national services. According to the Constitution, every Indian citizen is equal in the eyes of the law. Every citizen has the right to freedom of expression, freedom of thought, and freedom of religion. Minorities have also been given their rights in the Constitution to establish their separate educational institutions, maintain their culture, civilization, and language, and preach and propagate their religion, as well as manage their movable and immovable property for this purpose. At the same time, it has also been clarified that no one can be forced to pay tax on any income that is spent on preaching and propagating any religion. It is a historical fact and an unforgettable truth that Muslims were the first and the most to try to liberate this country and sacrificed their lives and bodies with the dreams of the independence of their beloved homeland in their eyes. They endured the harshest tortures, endured dangerous punishments, faced all kinds of calamities, were caught in situations and trials, but kept chanting the slogan of freedom and kept awakening every Indian. They never ran away from the field, nor did they ever lack love for the country and homeland. The great historian Maulana Aseer Adravi Sahib writes that our ancestors did not tolerate this white-skinned nation that trampled on the greatness and freedom of India until the last drop of blood in their veins. To protect the honor and dignity of the Indian nation living in India, which came into existence with different and contradictory elements of civilization and culture of different religions and schools of thought, we ourselves first offered ourselves for sacrifice. After 1857, we continued to try our strength in the war of independence alone to defeat the British Empire for half a century, and we shed so much blood in this path that others would not have shed even so much sweat in the entire field of the war of independence (Tehreek Azadi Aur Musalman 23).
Dr. Muzaffaruddin Farooqi writes that in the war of independence of 1857, the way Muslims collectively proved their opposition to the British opened the eyes of the British. The British knew very well that Muslims are the best nation in India. Therefore, Dr. Hunter writes, "The truth is that when this country came into our possession, Muslims were the highest nation. They were not superior in strength of heart and energy of arms, but also the best in the knowledge of politics and strategy" (Hindustan Ki Azadi Mein Musalmanon Ka Hissa 123).
O Lord, grant our country peace, prosperity, and justice, and make us appreciate sacrifices. Amen, O Lord of the Worlds.