One from the memories... (3rd)

Stop The Hatred


The cry fell towards the mountains. The victim of destiny started his journey once again. The cry was never received by any one. He is still striving in the same manner for salvation. Who was he then? Who is he now… Gandhi is not just a name from the pages of a 5th std. history book. Gandhi is the value that we refuse to rediscover within ourselves. He’s not just another piece in the puzzle of life... He’s the missing one!
When I was a kid, I never understood what they meant when they say somewhere some sort of danga or communal riot was going on. The disturbing visuals on the television were alien to me. I never understood why Tausif uncle never returned from Balasore after the 90’s riot. Which religion gives the right to take lives? Politics is the answer. What I knew was that I loved him and he was not going to come back ever. Tausif uncle’s son Shahid was my best friend. After his death his family moved to Bhubaneswar and gradually I lost touch.
After 12 years when I moved to Bhubaneswar, I met Shahid and we became close again. We were in the same tutorial. When he told me the real story behind Tausif uncle’s death, I was shocked. That day in Balasore humanity died. As a doctor Tausif uncle was visiting a friend who was down with cholera. But he never reached there; he was killed on the way in the riot. His body came back in pieces. In the biggest democracy of the world people were killing each other in the name of religion. How stupid are we people to be misleaded so easily by the so called leaders for their cheap political gain!
The biggest truth in our life is, we are Indians and everything else comes after that. Because at the end of the day its ‘we’ that matters. Shahid is as normal as me. He breaths like I do. He feels like I do. He is as keen to serve this country as I am. Our difference in religious beliefs doesn’t bind us to be enemies, to kill each other. If that’s what every religion teaches than to hell with it. We don’t want any stamp of religion to survive or serve our country. It’s high time now for the people to realize that; love and nonviolence are the weapons that will bring peace in the country not hatred. The Gandhian values have to be reestablished for the country to prosper.
That will be the final peace placed in the puzzle of life. Everything else will fall into place gradually. Independent India was founded upon the Gandhian values; without the foundation we can not build our home, our country.