Ghuman Literature Festival

                                        India is divided into distinct linguistic regions. Leaders of every major linguistic region project their own language to be the lingua franca of India. There are instances in our history where group of people have clashed over linguistic skills creating acrimony in society. In this madness of one upmanship a ray of sunshine is"The Ghuman Bahubhasha Sahitya Sammelan", a multi-lingual literary festival organised at Ghuman town in the border district of Gurdaspur in Punjab on April 3 and 4.

                                      Surprising it may sound, for organizing Marathi literary festival in Punjab but the reason behind it, is to commemorate the legacy of much revered saint Namdev, a legendary 13th-century reformist Marathi poet-saint Namdev from Maharashtra who lived in this village for nearly two decades. He was associated with the Bhakti Movement of that time. Locals embraced the saint as there own and incorporated 62 of the shabads(hyms) in sacred book of Sikhs, Guru Granth Sahib, as Namdevji ki Mukhbani.

                                   A Gurudwara named after saint Namdev bears testimony to the fact that the social and spiritual bond between two diverse cultures is beyond rhetoric of symbolic secularism. Thousands of pilgrims throng to Ghuman Gurudwara Darbar Sahib Baba Namdev Ji  for annual pilgrimage.

                                  Marathi language and literature acted as catalyst to support and bringing together different languages of India as most other literature festivals are dominated by English and Hindi. The Ghuman literature festival has also stimulated translation of literary work between Marathi and Punjabi languages and hopefully into other languages in future to benefit readers. The theme of this year Ghuman literature festival was “renewal and restoration” of Urdu, Punjabi, Kashmiri, Bodo and Hindi languages. 

                                   Celebrating the connections between two languages and cultures is also a way to pay tribute to the saint tradition which is progressive and liberal and literature plays a positive role in uniting the society through emotional and intellectual content in it. The Ghuman festival is aimed at building bridges between Maharashtra and Punjab through literature which hopefully will grow with time and include and revive other local endangered languages of India .

India On Edge

                                       In these political turbulent times sane voices are overruled and are steadily browbeaten into silence and cowardice. Unfortunately everyone today holds a piece of truth and claims they hold the entire truth with windows of dialogue firmly shut. The recent turmoil in Central Universities points towards this disturbing social trend with politicians playing there nefarious part for ulterior objectives for usurping power.  Like all developing countries India too has its share of vexed social problems. Many social ills plague our society but the biggest and ugliest is the caste cauldron.

                                      Universities play a decisive role in shaping the worldview of students regardless of there social or economic background. It provides an environment where debates are conducted and encouraged. Conflicting opinions and ideologies are freely exchanged and contemplated in harmonious environment. Unfortunately our universities have become a hunting grounds for politicians who have vitiated and surcharged political environment of campuses across India. All political parties have there students wing to propagate ideology and garner support among gullible ,idealistic and impressionable young minds.

                                         The suicide of Rohith Vemula (UOH) indicates the tug of war between different ideologies inside educational institutes. People with divergent ideologies doesn't allow other to flourish without consequences. The sad part is the witch hunt carried out by politicians and some organizations to demean a section of society after his death . Politicians from across political spectrum rushed in droves to politicize and benefit from unfortunate death. The self proclaimed saviors of underprivileged politicized the issue by sensationalizing and exploiting the sentiments of aggrieved only with ulterior objective of vote bank politics.

                                    The commotion in JNU wasn't different either where a politically affiliated group denounced and deplored constitution and  openly indulged in contempt of Apex court. The sloganeering and opinions expressed by ultra left group were rude and demean country in large and section of society in particular. The intrusion of political parties and clout they hold can be easily gauged when multiple parties rushed to accommodate an accused in total defiance of social and moral values. Surprisingly the blatant hero worship of an executed jihadi terrorist by accused wasn't an issue for these politicians.

                                      In the name of freedom of speech group of Islamist students and their leftist allies chanted slogans praising the convicted dead terrorist and also slogans were made for the breakup and destruction of India as the ultimate goal of this leftist-Islamist alliance inside JNU campus. This perverted group claims to own the ultimate truth about society and thus behaves like judge, jury, and executioner. The action taken by civil authorities thus was carefully portrayed as oppression and victimhood card was played to hilt.

                                      The economic reforms and education for all along with social reforms in harmony should be priority of government and social organizations should pitch in with ground realities for inclusiveness of underprivileged. The pious environment of Universities should be utilized for peacefully exchanging of ideas and deliberating upon the proper resource allocation for upliftment of marginalized, thus, doing away with social ills of the past for peaceful bright future. Concerted efforts by society should be made to refrain politicians from the hallowed gates of educational institutions. 

Martyr's Day

                                                               Hussainiwala Memorial 

                                   On 23rd March 1931, India pay homage to Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev Thapar and Shivaram Rajguru on their 85th martyrdom anniversary. Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev killed  John P. Saunders, an Assistant Superintendent of Police, as he was leaving the District Police Headquarters in Lahore on 17 December 1928 to avenge death of Lala Lajpat Rai but managed to successfully evade arrest.

                                 On 8 April 1929, Bhagat Singh accompanied by Batukeshwar Dutt, threw two bombs into the Assembly chamber from its public gallery while it was in session to protest against the British rule in India . The smoke from the bombs filled the Assembly so that Singh and Dutt could have escaped in the confusion had they wished. Instead, they stayed shouting the slogan "Inquilab Zindabad!" ("Long Live the Revolution") and threw leaflets. The two men were thus arrested.

                                      The Death Warrant Of Freedom Fighter Bhagat Singh

                                            On 15 April 1929 Sukhdev Thapar was arrested from Lahore and few days later Shivaram Rajguru was arrested too. Following a hasty trial of the Lahore Conspiracy Case, they were executed by the British a day earlier than the scheduled hanging in the Central Jail at Lahore at 7.15 pm on March 23, 1931.

                                                       Death Certificate Of Bhagat Singh

Happy Holi Friends