The Hunt

       

The Hunt

     We the Homo sapiens are the most evolved creature on the planet earth. In the process of evolution we travelled from caves to cities, we communicated by gestures then but now on mobile, we moved on foot then whereas now we can plan a journey to different planets in space, we went through cultural fusion, cultural invasion, cultural transformation, different civilizations flourished, some survived, some vanished, some metamorphosed, some remained only in history, some defied timeline and made history. The caveman hunted to survive, with the passage of time he  stopped hunting in open to quell hunger but the initial instincts of hunting remained. Not just dormant but very much alive manifesting itself time and again in the history. The killer remained inside though the target changed, the animal instinct of brute force did not vanish, it just waited for the opportunity which came frequently. Killing for survival to killing for fun this is how we travelled, we killed also to gain, maintain, and establish power. We embarked upon the unending path of inventing arsenals of mass destruction to the extent of endangering our own existence on the planet.

   There also came voices that taught love, affection, equality, we did our best to discredit them, punish them, outcast them but they went on with indomitable spirit. More than two thousand years ago one such human descended on earth. He preached humanity, service as worship of God, prayer to appeal Him to forgive our sins. It was the time when modern concept of humanity was yet to arrive but all the pain, suffering in the sea of humans was very much there. The establishment then saw in him a challenge to their power; they framed him, tried him, and finally crucified him. He died in pain but prayed for the killers that God should forgive them. He invited suffering for the humanity. The hunt began. Anybody who stood for humanity was targeted, anybody who stood for common man was hunted, those who claimed the truth through experiments and observations also met with the same fate as Galileo met.

     The only superpower that exists today was once a nation divided, with a stigma of slavery. Then came one of the greatest presidents of that nation and also one of the tallest world leaders, who was also a leader charismatic. He ended slavery, brought an end to inhuman practice, elevated the nation to high moral ground the legacy which it still falsely claims. He delivered most quoted speech in the history of that country, the Gettysburg address. It claimed the dedication of that country to the principles of nationalism, equal rights, liberty, and democracy. As he sat in a theater he was assassinated. A man, a leader who stood for human spirit was silenced. The hunt was relentless. It claimed another who spoke about elevation of humans to high moral ground.

   The same country witnessed similar assassination of a president who famously said in his speech as to think what you can do for your country and not what the country should do for you. He met with the same end. But there also was a man who derived inspiration from life and teachings of greatest humanitarian of the century who was a half naked frail looking but stubborn man inseparable with truth and nonviolence. He had a dream of the country that rejected disparity, opposed divisive policies based on colour. He fought for the rights of those who were discriminated against by virtue of their colour. He had a dream that one day all men would be equal. He fought with strict adherence to the non violence. The man who made history and would have changed it for better, while standing in a balcony  a bullet pierced through his chick down his spine, the king of human spirit was hunted. Our hunt for better souls claimed one more.

     But at the top of the list sit undisputed, we the people of India who hunted the greatest humanitarian of the century. That great soul evolved from man to mahatma as he fought for our rights in South Africa. He led the nation to freedom through non violent method. Till then the only way known was armed rebellion. He changed it. He believed in change of heart, faith in human spirit, equality of religion, multicultural, plural society, was unconventional in social approach, was eclectic in choosing from the religious texts of all religions, searched for the truth, remained committed to non violence. When our national boundaries were drawn with blood lines he was travelling in area that was burning, full of bloodbath, slaughter….he was not celebrating. He was putting his life to danger to calm people down, to tell that violence, vengeance would lead to nothing; he was ready to stake everything he had moral strength and power of self-suffering just to quell riots.

  He did it. Action in Pakistan and reaction in India saw thousands dead. A mindless mob killing innocents, these killings then driving another mob to seek revenge, to again kill innocents mindlessly, the cycle leads only to destruction, it never acts as a deterrent, it only spreads fear, hatred. The mahatma made the difference, made Hindus and Muslims realize this senseless violence will took then to nowhere. He did it. He stopped riots. His teachings became inspiration for the whole world and what we did, we hunted him. He was moving on to his prayers, a fanatic, driven by false assessment of historical events, pulled the trigger shot dead a man more than seventy five. The hunt claimed the best. We proved that we are the best at such hunt for we claimed the priceless scalp putting us on the top. The great soul who only would have helped the deprived live a better life, who would have strived for the religious equality, who would have fought for the rights of common man was silenced forever.

      Once at the top there was no way we would have turned back. Over the time we did our best to hunt anybody who stood for the common man, deprived lot. A leftist play writer who was using the drama, street play to expose ruling elite, was killed in our capital when he was performing on street. He was attacked, killed brutally. A message was sent to all not to challenge the establishment. A man who believed in people’s awareness through theater and literature was hunted down.

      Not long ago an inspired soul from IIT and an IIM alumnus took the wrong turn. They challenged the mafias, tried to expose the corrupt practices, they became whistleblowers in the national plunder in the road construction and in petroleum industry, silenced forever they were by hired assassins, once again a strong message, don’t ever dare stand against the corrupt, else you are sealing your fate.

     Jesus Christ, Abraham Lincoln, Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King,…. Great leaders, Safdar Hashmi… activist, Manjunath Shanmugam, Satyendranath Dubey … professionals … all were hunted. The list is too long to be published, the data too much to be searched for but the underlining common factor they were for the larger good for the humanity, their historical significance is known but common thread is missed. They were hunted for what they stood for. We are the best here also. Albert Einstein felt that it would be difficult to believe that a man like Gandhi ever lived upon this earth and we continued our hunt by trying to justify the assassination of Mahatma.

     Can an assassination ever be justified? That too of a man who for all his life fought for the common man, stubbornly stuck to the principles of Truth and non violence, believed in equality of all religions, put his life at stake to calm rioting mobs? We all educated, qualified people are bent on believing in perverted history  proposed by those who do not believe in secular India, but are not ready to have a look at the life of Mahatma. We don’t want to have a non political look. We don’t want to learn from the history that Pakistan built on singular religious identity did not progress and in fact Bangla Desh separated, a big blow to two nation theory. We still want to make the killer a hero on facebook? The world salutes him and we mock him. What a pity but he still is a source of inspiration. There still are many who are deriving energy from his life and serving country.

     His assassination in fact proved once and forever that the voice of non violent struggle is most difficult to stifle. The hunt may continue, and I am sure it will but there will always be Ann Sang Sue Kyi leading  a non violent struggle for democracy, Nelson Mandela fighting against the apartheid. ….Martin Luther King will always inspire….. The hunt will continue… the legacy of Mahatma will also live on….and .. yes also the indomitable spirit of non violent struggle for the just cause….and service to humanity….