INTO THE PAST WITH PAIN.....LIX

INTO THE PAST WITH PAIN…LIX

Prof Dr Colonel K Prabhakar Rao ( Retired)

( It is a street in Teheran ( Iran) and there are large crowds demonstrating on the road. They are shouting down with Dictator.. Death to dictator… Large police force is watching close by and they are armed to the hilt …. The atmosphere is tense…. Few Iranians are also seen talking to each other.. They are Rustom and Sohrab )

Rustom. Look Sohrab. These elections are disgusting and just fraud.

Sohrab. True. Look They have rigged up everything and ensured Ahmed in ejad wins

Rustom. Then what is the use of such elections?

Sohrab. But this is not just accepted. We Iraninas are great nation. We can not accept this nonsense.

Rustom. But look So much police force is there!The mullahs are very cruel. They may launch the revolutionary guards too. During the last 30 years, they have killed countless guys. We are afterall unarmed and simple guys.

Sohrab. Do you know Mr Gandhi of India? He brought freedom to India from the English men by peaceful means.

Rustom. But there was violence too by many. Then there was World War II. It weakened England. However Gandhi was great. Why you suddenly remembered him?

Sohrab. I wish we had a man like Gandhi.

Rustom. True. But Ahmed in Ejad would have killed him by now. Gandhi would have been hanged to a pole by these guys.

(Suddenly there is a flash in the sky and they find an old bald man ill clad in Dhoti with a half naked body with chappals and holding long stick. He is accompanied by two guys. They walk towards Rustom)

Gandhi. Good morning to you. I am Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. In India I am known as Mahatma Gandhi. However I do not claim myself to be a Mahatma.

Sohrab. Very good morning sir We heard about you and your deeds in India and south Africa. Who are these two gentlemen? Sir what do you mean by Mahatma?

Gandhi. Mahatma means great soul. He is Patel, the iron man of India. He was the first Deputy Prime Minister of India and the other guy is Jawaharlaal Nehru, the first PM of India. Although people call me Mahatma, I do not know whether I deserve the title.

Rustom. I see. Good morning to you sir. Sir, You are modest. Welcome to Iran. I am sorry we are in bad situation at present.

Gandhi. I heard some one remembered me here. Therefore I had to be here. What can I do for you? What you expect from me?

Sohrab. Mr Gandhi, This nation is in great turmoil now. We have been suffering rule of cruel fundamentalist Mullahs for the last 30 years. Shah Pehalwi- I was thrown out in 1979 and Ayotullah Khomeini took over. We lost all our basic rights as human beings all these years. How long we would suffer?

Gandhi. Look son. For every thing there has to be an end. Greatest dictators have vanished in to the dust bin of history. Have patience. Solution will be there. Didn’t Hitler, Mussolini, Musharraf, Zia ul Haq, Idi Amin, Ayub Khan, Arshad, Zia Ur Rehman, Stalin vanish from the earth. So would be the case with the Ejad and Mullahs

Sohrab. Sir. You are inspiring confidence in us. Can we be free finally?

Gandhi. Why not ( sings)

Look My dear son from the land of Iran
All this nonsense would finally go
Soon you would become free like a bird
While mullahs would get extinct like Australian bird DODO.

Rustom. Haa. Haa.. That was nice sir.

Patel. India suffered foreign rule for many centuries and finally we became independent.

Sohrab. Sir. In recent elections, everything has been rigged. Ahmed has won. He would be killing many now. Look how strong the protests are?

Gandhi. But I think violence can not be the answer. We must lead peaceful protests as. I did in India.

Sohrab. Sir! Things are different here. You actually fought with Englishmen. Many say that they were gentlemen. Guys here are just fundamentalists and crooks too. They would kill ruthlessly. Probably there will not be any trial. This is an Islamic world. Here Mullahs have tasted power and they will like to leave the seats. They will try their best to cling on ( Sings)

People here are suppressed by the guards
And the rulers are on killing spree
Women are the worst affected lot
And many have been hung to the near by tree

Gandhi. Oh. No. Is it so cruel here? Although I was leading the agitation in India Englishmen did not kill me. They jailed me several times. I was killed finally by an Indian. That too not by a Muslim.

Sohrab. That is the difference sir. Your non violence may not work here successfully. Your tricks may not be successful. But still there can be some hope

Gandhi. You must organize mass peaceful upsurge and peaceful non cooperation at every place. Can they kill all people? They can not. Finally your state troops would revolt after a limit. That is the end of Mullahs.

Sohrab. Good idea sir. That means the protests must go on along wit non co operation at every place
Gandhi. True. International opinion must be built up

Rustum. Already world countries are sympathetic to Iranians and the struggle.

Gandhi. Good. Keep it up


( In the mean time some police guys come close and enquire who the old man is )

Officer. Hoi. Who are you? You do not look like an Iranian. Are you a spy? Where are your travel documents and VISA and pass ports?

Gandhi. We do not have any thing. We are Indians. We are international travelers. We do not need visas or pass ports

Officer. Come on. Do not bluff. How did you arrive into Iran?

Gandhi. We came through sky ( Shows sky with finger). I am Gandhi Father of Indian nation. These are my advisers.

Officer. You have to come to police station. You are arrested for illegal entry into Iran.

Gandhi. We are not bound by your laws. We will not come there.

Officer. ( Looking at constables) Come on guys. Catch these nuts and put them in the truck.

Gandhi. That you can not do. Try to catch me atleast my hand. You shall know.

( The officer tries to catch his hand and fails. He catches only air. He gets puzzled and realizes that Gandhi is a ghost)

Officer. Oh. These are ghosts.. Run ( they run away)

Gandhi. Look friends. Plesae do not give up. Continue struggle of non cooperation and demonstrations. You are sure to win. Your own troops will refuse to kill you finally and that ends the matter. You shall see your Mullahs dumped in Iranian gulf never to rise. Best of luck.. Three cheers

( Gandhi and his friends vanish into sky while the protestors shout death to Ejad and Mullahs and long live Iranian freedom)

Dr K Prabhakar Rao