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
Delight in what was achieved, disgust with what its become…..Samudra Gupta Kashyap
Padma Hazarika, 87, of Assam is disgusted with a corrupt country with nothing of what Gandhiji envisaged. He cannot stop talking, however, about being beaten up by soldiers in 1942, about being jailed and about giving the main Independence Day speech in his village in 1947 because the original speaker has been hijacked for another function.
His son Sanjeev, 52, award-winning filmmaker and actor, has been hearing about the freedom movement all his life but does not think we have really attained any freedom. Sanjeevs son Sapratibh, 16, in contrast, loves to hear his grandfathers stories.
Hazarika, who had quit school at Class IX in 1942, vividly recounts dates and events and effortlessly names those killed and arrested. On October 2, we organised a meeting at Rangagora, my ancestral village. We had hoisted the flag and started singing Vande Mataram when a truck full of soldiers pounced on us. They beat me up severely and took me and two others to jail… We were sentenced to five months. We spent two nights in Nagaon jail and were transferred to Jorhat where I came in close touch with Lokapriya Gopinath Bardoloi. When he learnt we were schoolboys, he insisted we go back to our studies. We refused.
The other two jailed with him were released after five months but Hazarika stayed in for reasons he has never understood. I have spent a lot of time in the past 60 years to find out why my term was extended but could not find any record anywhere. He finally matriculated in 1947.
About today, Hazarika, who retired as a government finance and accounts officer in 1986 and is now settled in Guwahati, says, What have we got? A corrupt country where nothing has remained of what Gandhiji dreamt and envisaged. I never imagined corruption, terrorism, unemployment and lack of human values would engulf India in such a way.
To son Sanjeev, whose films include Indian Panorama selections Haladhar (directors best film at National Awards) and Mimansa, freedom means the freedom to think and express ones views. But having heard so much about the freedom movement from my father, I dont think we have really attained any freedom… Everybody is accused of corruption. Where is democracy? Isnt it monarchy in disguise?
Sapratibh, who wants to be an engineer, loves his grandfathers terrific stories of courage and love for the country but wants a freedom of his own definition, freedom to do things that I want to do. But most importantly, I want to become a good citizen, so that I can not only keep up the reputation of my grandfather and father but also contribute to society.