Celebrating 74th Independence Day

When the voice for patriotism is raised by a bunch of people, who conjecture themselves to be the saviors (Messiah) of the nation. According to whom, showing love for the nation doesn’t extend beyond standing for the national anthem before the starting of movies, unfurling the national flag with the folk of influential people in the society to get in return any personal favours, and having a light snack at the end of the congregation. Flag hoisting should be observed as a true salute for those who selflessly sacrificed their lives for the sake of the Nation.

It’s time to change the style of celebrating Independence Day.

In my view, Independence Day should be solemnised as the end of the working year of the government; as March ending is observed as an end of the financial year. It should be celebrated as a report card for the achievements and accomplishments which the government has undertaken. It should show, the vertical and horizontal growth of the Nation.

For example, till last year suppose ‘X’ number of students were attending the school and due to the successful efforts of our government the tally increased to a certain percent.

New roads were constructed for ‘X’ kilometers during the course of the last year. These are two examples, to name a few. Won’t it be more meaningful to celebrate Independence Day?

It’s time for every individual to realize his duties.

The basic inclination of human nature is to blame others for any undesired situation. If an accident occurs the government is immediately blamed for not filling the pits or potholes while the accident occurred because of a driver’s recklessness and carelessness.

People impeach the government for the level of education imparted in public or local schools. But don’t dare to utter a word for the elite schools though they promise to give top-notch education but fails to fulfill it. On the contrary, people take pride in mentioning the school’s name, if their child is associated with it.

The above two examples are just to elaborate on the mood of the nation. This mood clearly demonstrates that nobody is ready to take the responsibility for his condition.

Each and every individual is equally responsible as Honourable PM of the nation. To understand this phenomenon lets introspect the following story;

A sage once asked his disciples that today I won’t deliver any sermon, I would like you to deliver, but the condition is, only one who has not done any sin in his life is permitted to deliver. These words surprised the disciples, they looked bewilderingly in each other’s eye, and nobody stood to deliver. Then sage said that if anyone who has committed two sins can deliver. Still nobody responded. Then sage started to increase the count and when he reached up to 100 sins. He explained, we know that our sins are countless and infinite, why we don’t engage ourselves in counting our sins? If we do so, we will not find time to discuss others matter.

I think this is the key to stick to our responsibilities and engross in our own self.

Why to observe the independence day an off day?

The beauty of India lies in the diversity of its cultures. We have holidays at religious festivals. Because we need time to perform our religious rituals. Hindus perform Puja and other religious rituals, Muslims pray Namaz, Christians attend churches, and so on. On all religious festivals, the holiday is to perform comfortably religious rituals keeping aside the regular work. So, according to me Independence Day is not simply taking off and refraining ourselves from daily chores. It should be observed as a religious day. Because Patriotism is also a religion.

As I am a Muslim I know Rasulullah SA states: حب الوطن من الايمان”   loving our country is integral faith of Iman (Islamic belief)”.  According to this notion which is present in every religion, it’s mandatory to observe Independence Day as a religious day. As people greet their community people during the festival, meet and celebrate with them. Why shouldn’t there be solidarity while celebrating this enormous and glorious festival?

Why only people who have performed in any renowned field are honored?

There is an old list of fields in which, those whoever excelled are honored at this occasion. This list needs an amendment. Why a sweeper, who if go beyond his performance, and make a remarkable effort in his field is not honored? Why a Rickshawala who passes beside a person, who just met an accident, and take him to the hospital is not honored? While others who are passing in Mercedes and BMW don’t bother to attend and pretend that they have more important work than saving a life. Why these extraordinary acts remain unnoticed?

Identifying the true meaning of patriotism.

Just chanting on the beats of the patriotic songs is not nationalism. Giving a well-scripted speech on this occasion in not patriotism. Just unfurling the national flag on this occasion is not enough. Wearing a tricolor T-shirt or adorning any clothes with tricolor without adopting the meaning of tricolor is just a fashion statement. Having sweets or any other dish in tricolor is just seizing the opportunity to enjoy a delicious meal.

We have good actors who can look and perform as a real martyr, but we need real-life performers. We all know that each one of us can’t become a real-life hero, but applauding the efforts of the real-life hero is in our hands. News of a small communal clash surfaces immediately as breaking news in headlines. But I have never seen any act of kindness ever flashed as a breaking news. An enormous mass of people gather around the house of actors but only a handful of people are seen around the house of martyrs.

Sushant Singh Rajputs CBI probe is the concern of the people, but spitting in public, breaking traffic rules, Swatch Bharat (to name a few) is not our concern. What a waste of energy for so many agencies who are directly not related to this incident. Also, the nation’s unnecessary concern and hype hinder the performance of the concerned agencies.

Let’s wake up for new India’s vision, no need to measure others’ love and faith towards the nation, just focusing on ours and contemplating our actions will make us realize how much work we have to accomplish.

As it’s truly said by Jeb Bush,

“By blaming others, we fail to find the real solutions to our problems and we do not carry out our own responsibilities”.
Performing and fulfilling our small duties properly is the best we can nurture in our self. Nation doesn’t ask a bigger sacrifice than this. No need to shout the slogans of patriotism if it’s not supported by placing a brick for the development of the Nation. Nation doesn’t require us to stand and fight at the border, it needs us to take care and help our neighbor, which is the best service to mankind. This remarkable example of patriotism was observed in Doctors and Nurses who are pushing their limits and selflessly serving the society by standing beside covid-19 patients. We salute to their service on this occasion. May Allah bestow you all good health and prosperity. 
Here are few revered excerpts from the sermons of His Holiness Syedna Aali Qadr Mufaddal Saifuddin TUS which clearly highlights the citizen’s duty towards his Nation.Syedna TUS states
“I urge my followers to be loyal and Law-abiding citizens… I encourage them to contribute to their country’s growth, development, and prosperity, and to pursue excellence in all fields of human activity through hard work, sincerity, and with the highest of morals. These are abiding principles of our religion Islam.”

“Our faith obligates us to express our love for our Nation by spreading the message of peace and goodwill”. 

“The essence of all knowledge and understanding is to be of benefit to your fellow men”.Happy Independence Day