Freedom through 3 generations….VARINDER BHATIA
What Independence means to those who helped win it, to those who grew up with the legacy and to those born into it, as described by four freedom fighters, their children and grandchildren
What Independence means to those who helped win it, to those who grew up with the legacy and to those born into it, as described by four freedom fighters, their children and grandchildren
He takes pride in the means, they arent inspired by the end…. Sweta Dutta
Shaukat Hashmi, 91, of Delhi does not regret a lifetime of work agitating for freedom and continuing to serve with the Congress after Independence. What he does regret is that todays generations are not as motivated as his was.
His eldest son Asif Hashmi, 56, joined the Congress but also revived a family business of tailoring burqas; politics wasnt enough to make ends meet. Asifs youngest brother Nazim Ali, 35, and son Kashif Ali, 29, also working, dont value politics; they question what Shaukat Hashmi got for the sacrifices he made.
Hashmi, arrested twice during the freedom struggle, lives where he was born, a rented house in the narrowest bylanes of Bazaar Chitli Qabar in Old Delhi. On two Independence Day functions to honour him, he had requested the Prime Minister and the President for accommodation. His requests were turned down, says Nazim, who works in a handicrafts factory.
About the difference in attitude, Hashmi says, Our hunger for independence was unmatched. Todays generations can never work that selflessly. They have become mercenary. Even after we were arrested in 1941 during satyagraha, we didnt give up. In 1942, during the Quit India Movement, we were arrested again. For three months we were in jail and shifted from Delhi to Ferozepur in chains. But we were never afraid.
He says he was arrested after Independence, protesting Indira Gandhis imprisonment in 1978. That year I was elected block president, Matia Mahal.
He has been a source of awe for the family but only Asif Hashmi has been inspired enough for politics, having been drawn into the Congress early when he went along with his father to party events. My father gave up everything to work for the nation. He had little time for the family. We never complained but we could have done better had he pursued another profession, Asif says.
His youngest brother and son are even more dismissive. People who were below him in the party ranks have gone on to do well. They might have compromised on their principles but, at the end of the day, they are living in plush houses and their families are well taken care of. What did my father get in return for all the years of selfless service that he has put in? Nazim Ali says.
There is no future in politics, says Kashif Ali, who helps his father in the business. It is no longer a noble calling. I dont think that people of my generation are any less patriotic for their country but times are different. Today we dont have a freedom struggle but we need to make our country stable and powerful, for which each one of us needs to fend for himself.