{"id":15530,"date":"2011-08-26T07:19:26","date_gmt":"2011-08-26T11:19:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kanglaonline.com\/?p=22723"},"modified":"2011-08-26T07:19:26","modified_gmt":"2011-08-26T11:19:26","slug":"had-gandhiji-been-born-in-the-land-of-sharmila-%e2%80%a6","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.manipur.org\/news\/2011\/08\/26\/had-gandhiji-been-born-in-the-land-of-sharmila-%e2%80%a6\/","title":{"rendered":"HAD GANDHIJI BEEN BORN IN THE LAND OF SHARMILA \u2026. ?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <script type=\"text\/javascript\">var addthis_product='wpp-252';var addthis_options=\"Google+1\"<\/script><script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"http:\/\/s7.addthis.com\/js\/250\/addthis_widget.js#pubid=kanglaonline\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p id=\"internal-source-marker_0.08850056930236272\" dir=\"ltr\">By: Seram Neken<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><strong>\u201cIf  Irom Chanu Sharmila fasted for corruption and if Septuagenarian Anna  Hazare protested against AFSPA, the matters would have been different.  If Sharmila hails from mainland India and if Hazare is a native of  Manipur, the vice versa of what is being strongly addressed by the  government might have happened. This time, Sharmila expressed her  whole-hearted moral support to Anna Hazare\u2019s protest following the  latter\u2019s invitation. Had the invitation for joining the protest come  from Sharmila to Anna Hazare, would the latter have responded readily ? \u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Great  personalities are created where there is respect for human values. The  dignity the British attached to Gandhiji as a freedom fighter helped him  gain the fame worldwide and glorify his non-violence. Had MK Gandhi  been born in a place like Manipur or had he undergone his protests  against a government such as that of today\u2019s Manipur, Gandhijis  non-violence would not have gained its fame and he would not have been  recognized as the father of the nation. Indifference of the rulers might  have jeopardized his cause half-way or he might have ended his life in  the bullets of mindless security people of this land.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">The  strikers whom politicians, media persons and the intellectuals are  attentive to or glorify most, are considered as strong revolutionaries  fighting for the people\u2019s cause. If <a title=\"Manipur issues differ from those of Delhi, says Iron Lady Sharmila\" href=\"http:\/\/kanglaonline.com\/2011\/08\/manipur-issues-differ-from-those-of-delhi-says-iron-lady-sharmila\/\" ><strong>Irom Chanu Sharmila<\/strong><\/a> fasted for  corruption and if Septuagenarian <strong>Anna Hazare<\/strong> protested against <strong>AFSPA<\/strong>,  the matters would have been different. If Sharmila hails from mainland  India and if Hazare is a native of Manipur, the vice versa of what is  being addressed by the government might have happened. Let us examine  the importance of the two causes between corruption and human rights,  and let us compare the personalities of Sharmila and Hazare. Personality  cult seems to out-do the issues. Sharmila has readily extended her  support to the cause of Hazare\u2019s protest following the latter\u2019s  invitation to join him. However, the nation has not responded to the  call of Irom Chanu Sharmila for over ten years.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Sharmila  has now become a symbol of peace, in the true sense of the term. She  has earned the reputation of having the strongest will and heart for  protection of human rights around the globe. She is not a mere striker,  but a model of truth and justice. Gandhijis non-violence has been  glorified by her personality in the twenty first century. It is not  politically motivated and her demands represent the general will of the  hapless people residing amidst the draconian laws of democratic India.  In spite of neglects and indifference of the rulers for more than a  decade, she never goes back. It is natural that Anna Hazare invited  Sharmila to join his crusade against corruption. It is more natural that  the Iron Lady expressed her moral support to the cause, but declined to  join the fast in New Delhi for the Hazare cause. She rather blamed the  nation for its indifference to the cause of human right violations.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">The  national media is <strong>highly discriminatory<\/strong> as did the government and  political parties at the national level in regard to the dual cases of  Sharmila and Hazare. Both strikers have been fighting for the social  good, both have been following the non-violent means of fasting.  However, Sharmila has almost crossed a decade of fasting, while Hazare\u2019s  appearance on the scene is quite recent as compared to the former.  However, the national media have been disproportionately viewing the two  protests. Intensity of the protests and the causes themselves have to  be considered in balance while reporting to the people and drawing  government\u2019s attention.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Meanwhile,  Dr. Manmohan Singh has written a nice letter to the septuagenarian  protester with the highest concern for the latter\u2019s health. In the  letter, the Prime Minister says : \u201cOver  the last few days, I have watched with increasing concern of your  health. Despite the differences between the government and your team, I  don\u2019t think that anybody is or should be in any doubt about the deep and  abiding concern \u00a0which I and our government share about your health,  arising from your continuing fast. I have no hesitation in saying that  we need your views and actions in the service of the nation, from a  robust physical condition and not in the context of frail and failing  health\u2026\u2026..\u201d The  emotional care of the leader of the nation towards a Gandhian as shown  in the letter is indeed envious and courteous, and highly expected of a  leadership where the father of the nation was born. It is really  lamentable that during the last more than a decade of Sharmila\u2019s  fasting, not a single courtesy of such kind has been exhibited towards  her from the end of a nation\u2019s leadership. Barring independent writers,  political motivators and select media personalities, the nation has been  keeping mum on her cause and protest. Now that Anna Hazare and his  cause have gained widespread media coverage and government attention in a  comparatively short duration, has reflected some kind of nostalgia in  the hearts of the so called Indian citizens residing in the far border  hilly state of Manipur. Let us uphold human rights while fighting  against corruption at all levels.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">(The writer is a freelance journalist)<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">The article was sent to Kanglaonline.com by Seram Neken.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<div class=\"zemanta-pixie\"><a class=\"zemanta-pixie-a\" title=\"Enhanced by Zemanta\" href=\"http:\/\/www.zemanta.com\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"zemanta-pixie-img\" src=\"http:\/\/img.zemanta.com\/zemified_e.png?x-id=bb060df9-fb46-49d1-bf7a-7a94cb5fd5b6\" alt=\"Enhanced by Zemanta\" \/><\/a><\/div>\n\n<p class=\"syndicated-attribution\">Read more \/ Original news source: <a href=\"http:\/\/kanglaonline.com\/2011\/08\/had-gandhiji-been-born-in-the-land-of-sharmila-%E2%80%A6\/\">http:\/\/kanglaonline.com\/2011\/08\/had-gandhiji-been-born-in-the-land-of-sharmila-%E2%80%A6\/<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By: Seram Neken \u201cIf Irom Chanu Sharmila fasted for corruption and if Septuagenarian Anna Hazare protested against AFSPA, the matters would have been different. If Sharmila hails from mainland India&#8230; <a href=\"http:\/\/kanglaonline.com\/2011\/08\/had-gandhiji-been-born-in-the-land-of-sharmila-%E2%80%A6\/\">Read more <span>&#187;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,4],"tags":[764,265,437,696,33,257,263,330,34,228,780],"class_list":["post-15530","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-kanglaonline","category-news","tag-anna-hazare","tag-armed-forces-special-powers-act-1958","tag-articlesopinion","tag-fasting","tag-india","tag-irom-chanu-sharmila","tag-irom-sharmila","tag-kanglaonline-2","tag-manipur","tag-manmohan-singh","tag-mohandas-karamchand-gandhi"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.manipur.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15530","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.manipur.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.manipur.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.manipur.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.manipur.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15530"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.manipur.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15530\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.manipur.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15530"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.manipur.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15530"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.manipur.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15530"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}