hidden image

“JAI JAWAAN! JAI KISAAN!!”

Ladislaus Louis D’Souza Ladislaus Louis D’Souza
08 Feb 2021

Old timers would recall that the title of this article hails from a 1966 Hindi movie named ‘Shankar Khan’. The lead song ‘Jai Jawaan! Jai Kisaan!’ of this film did not take time to turn into a patriotic song of sorts that came to be sung or broadcast with gusto on and around Independence Day and Republic Day as a timely reminder of the fact that the two, viz the country’s soldiers and its farmers were equally important to independent India and her citizens, the former protecting the country from foreign enemies and the latter ensuring that food was never wanting through the year! That equality has now been thrown to the winds, even trampled underfoot in recent times as is evident from the unduly long-drawn protest of our farmers against three draconian laws brought forth by the government in relation to farms, farmers and farm produce.

From the kind up steady build-up one observes—barricades, trenches, barbed wire fences, ground spikes and what not!—within the country’s borders, i.e. barely a few kilometers from the country’s capital, it becomes apparent that the country seems to be preparing for a 21st century version of the 20th century Jallianwallah Bagh British massacre of the country’s citizens, this time at the hands of the country’s own police and probably para-military personnel. Apparently, the government has virtually stopped short of calling in the jawaans to gun down the kisaans in a do-or-die episode which certainly does not augur well for both the present and the future of the country, besmirching forever as it does a page of democratic India’s history with blood that is not likely to be wiped off for eons.

The ball of negotiations is obviously in the government’s court. And it is the bounden duty of the government to gracefully face reality and strive to break the stalemate, eyeing a peaceful and amicable solution. That is what DEMOCRACY per se is all about: a government of the people, by the people and for the people. Unless the Modi-Shah government believes it to be otherwise, i.e. ‘of the BJP, by the BJP and for the BJP’!
 

Recent Posts

Amidst whispers of combating the rampant spread of misinformation, the Government orchestrated an amendment to the IT Act
apicture Aakash
25 Mar 2024
I was pleasantly surprised to receive your letter dated March 15 in both Hindi and English. You mentioned in your letter how you have received trust and support from 140 crore people
apicture A. J. Philip
25 Mar 2024
On January 12, 2024, a couple came to the USM to invite the community to their daughter's wedding. While sitting and talking, the conversation turned to Fr. Varghese Alengaden
apicture Jacob Peenikaparambil
25 Mar 2024
The Church's response to the Indian general election in a pluralistic world should be multifaceted
apicture Dr. John Singarayar
25 Mar 2024
We have seen different ruling styles. China recently concluded its weeklong annual parliamentary meeting in Beijing in an exultant tone.
apicture Thomas Menamparampil
25 Mar 2024
Half a decade ago, a Bollywood movie took the entire industry by storm. The Manoj Kumar starrer "Roti, Kapda aur Makaan"
apicture Jaswant Kaur
25 Mar 2024
Every time, movie lovers can't wait for the release of the latest James Bond production. James Bond movies focus on the titular character, a fictional British Secret
apicture Peter Fernandes, SFX
25 Mar 2024
The supreme iconoclast, Howard Zinn, observed that there is no such thing as impartial history. Even the most conscientious historians are partial in two ways
apicture Mathew John & Annie Mathew
25 Mar 2024
Securing 87 per cent votes in the 2024 presidential election with a voter turnout of 77.5 per cent, the 71-year-old Vladimir Putin will become the President of Russia for a fifth term
apicture Sacaria Joseph
25 Mar 2024
I raise this question mainly in the backdrop of the recent installations of bishops and an Archbishop in some of the north Indian dioceses
apicture M L Satyan
25 Mar 2024