INTO THE PAST WITH PAIN...224

INTO THE PAST WITH PAIN…224
Dr K Prabhakar Rao

(Gandhi, Nehru and patel are seen walking at Jhansi bazaar. They are conversing with each other and discussions appears to be tense )

Gandhi. patel. This town does not appear very big. It is medieval in appearance.

Patel. True Bapu. This is an ancient town and has great historical importance.

Nehru. It became famous only after 1857 war due to Rani Laxmi Bai’s involvement in the war.

Gandhi. I hears so. You are a historian. Please throw some light.

Nehru. That is fine Bapu. But Patel will say something. He always critical. He can nota appreciate my work.

Gandhi. Why? Why he should say? Even if he says what bothers you? Look Jawaharlal, please try to accept criticism too. You have been PM of India for 16 years.

Nehru. There was no opposition to me except Dr Ram Manohar Lohia, the MP. Even he was respectful and we had great regards for each other.

Gandhi. Ok. I want to see the Jhansi fort today before it is dark.

Patel. Let us go there. Iam also itching to go there.

( The trio go to the fort that is very much within city and purchase a ticket and enter the fort)

Gandhi. What a fort! How strong it is! Can our guys build such edifices?

Patel. Surely not Bapu. Look at our projects. Many dams have been breached after few rains. Innumerable roads have been destroyed after little rains. Where is the quality? The government engineers are hand in glove with the contractors and siphon off funds. There is a share everywhere to all people. Even some engineers are know to have acquired degrees from some university where they were exempted from passing two subjects.

Gandhi. How? How such guys can be given degrees. Which is that university?

Patel. Why name it Bapu? Every one knows it. Soon the number of subjects exempted my rise too. Any thing can happen in India and in AP.

Gandhi. Oh, That means it is in AP. Now I got it. I have zeroed it.

Patel. If such guys get into service what can be expected from them? Any how it is hundred percent sure that Indian guys can not build forts like Jhansi at present. They will eat away the money. These forts withstood large canon shots during 1857. If our guys build there is no necessity of cannon fire. If some fires a Diwali pistol at it the bastions will collapse.

Nehru. Please do not exaggerate things.

Patel. It will be like that only.

( They go around the fort with lot of interest. They come to the place where the Rani of Jhansi jumped over the wall and escaped after the fort fell to the Englishmen.)

Gandhi. It is amazing indeed. The Rani seated on horse jumped over the wall and escaped.

Patel. Such were the heroes Bapu. We must appreciate things.

Nehru. Why she should escape? Is it not showing ones back to enemy?

Patel. It is necessary to retrieve situation from some other place. It is not Mahabharatha war. There is no point in getting arrested and being hanged by East India Company.

Gandhi. I learnt from some book that a traitor opened the gate of fort after taking bribe from Europeans.

Pate. Bapu. It was always like that. Traitors are there everywhere. Our history is full of such incidents. Even in Mahbharatha war and Ramayana traitors were there. In Ramayana Vibheeshan the brother of king Ravana of Lanka was dubbed as traitor. Even people who are traitors today are called by name Vibheeshan. Ramayana has its own clarification for it. Vibheeshan also gave away the secret to kill Ravana to Rama and said that unless his stomach was shot through, Ravana would not die. This was because nectar was present in the stomach. So, Rama shot an arrow at Ravana’s stomach. However shooting below naval was against individual battle code. So Rama shot an arrow high and god of wind at the request of Hanuman made the arrow to bend its path and struck Ravana’s stomach and he died.

Gandhi. Good explanation it is. Patel, You appear to be well versed in the scriptures.

Patel. Thanks Bapu. I can tell many things.

Gandhi. Please go ahead. This is very interesting.

Patel. Vibheeshan also betrayed Ravana’s son Indrajeet.

Gandhi. How?

Patel. At one stage during the battle Indrajeet went to perform Yagna to appease gods and once he performed it, he would have become invincible. Vibheeshan gave this secret to Rama and soon Hanuman led Laxman to the site and they challenged Indrajeet by disturbing him. In the ensuing battle Laxman killed Indrajeet. In Mahbharatha war also great warrior Shalya was undermining Kaurava cause.

Gandhi. What he did, Iam not sure of it?.

Patel. Shalya was the charioteer to Karna when he fought Arjuna. Shalya always derided Karna, thus demotivating him. When Karna’s chariot was stuck in ground he refused to help him to lift the wheel and ultimately Arjuna killed Karna while he was unarmed trying to lift the wheel of chariot. There is also a criticism against Shakuni too. He planned and saw that Kauravas were destroyed. This is because his sister was married to the blind king Dhritharashtra.

Gandhi. So our ancestors too were victims of these things. What a shame!

Patel. Bapu, You know that during medieval times there were many traitors in India, They helped our enemies and India was enslaved first by Muslims and then by Europeans.

Gandhi. Who were they? I have poor memory.

Patel. They were Ambhi who betrayed King Porus in his battle with Alexander. Jai chand betrayed Prithivi Raj Chauhan king of Thaneswar when he fought Shahbuddin Mohammed Ghori. Then Mir Jafar betrayed King Sirajuddaula at battle of Plassey when he fought Clive of East India Company. In 1757. Abdulla Pani betrayed King Abul Hasan tanasha and opened gate of Golconda fort in Deccan when Aurangzeb laid seize to the fort. Even Jhansi fort was betrayed to East India Company by a greedy commander of Jhansi. Maratha commander in 1857 war, Tantya Tope was betrayed by his friend to East India Company while he was sleeping. Chatrapathi Maharaja Sambhaji was betrayed at Sangameswar by his brother in law Shirke to the Mughal commander and he was hanged later after great torture. He became Dharmaveer.

Gandhi. Patel. This is amazing indeed. You know so much of our history. I am impressed.

Patel. Thanks Bapu. Iam obliged.

Gnadhi. Any thing more?

Patel. Sarvai Papadu the daring ruler in Telangana in 18 century in Deccan was betrayed by some of his associates while he was sleeping to Mugahl commander. He was killed later. Aliya Rama raya of Vijaynagar was betrayed by his Muslim generals when he was about to win the battle of Tallikota in 1565 fought against Deccani sultans. He was captured and killed immediately. Vijaynagar was devastated completely by Muslim troops.. Velu Thambi the PM of Travancore cochin who fought East India Company in 19 century was betrayed to EIC forces while he was hiding at a temple along with his brother at Malladi in Kerala. He committed suicide. Rani Chinnamma was betrayed by a commander during her war with EIC at Kittur in 19 century. The betrayers ensured that gun powder was soaked in water. She lost war to EIC and was imprisoned for life. Vijayramaraja, Raja of Vijaynagaram colluded with Bussey the French governor in 1757 and betrayed Rao Gopala Krishna Ranga Raya, Raja of Bobbili in AP where all the warriors of Bobbili fought and died to save the honor.

Gandhi. Ohfo. There were so many Gaddars in India. Iam astonished.

Patel. They continue to be even now. What is happening now in India? There are some separatist outfits such as SIMI, Dargah E Shahdat, and some more who are colluding with enemies of India trying to destabilize India and again break it . They are the traitors.

Gandhi. I understand the seriousness. The country is not progressing by the acts of such criminals. They must be hanged immediately.

Patel. Is this Bapu saying?

Bapu. Why? What is there? Am I wrong?

Patel. Your words appear strange to me. You are known as apostle of peace and pleaded that people should be pardoned and excused.

Gandhi. Did I say That criminals should be excused?

Patel. You are known to be a man of appeasement of Muslims. You want to settle everything peacefully. Non violence was your motto. Why this strange words?

Gandhi. I can say some thing now. The acts of some traitors are debatable. Some say they are fighting for their genuine cause. Are we not glorifying Bhagat singh although he killed English police officer Saunders? For them he was only a criminal and he was hanged. Like this we had Alluri seetha Rama Raju from AP state, Veera Pandya Kattabommana from Tamil Nadu, Mangal Pandey from Meerut, Tantya tope the 1857 Maratha commander, These acts are therefore subject to much discussion. Some jihadi elements claim to be freedom fighters. Can we accept them? Surely not. But some world bodies probably are sympathetic to them.

Patel. Bapu. We see from our angles. Traitors have to be punished summarily. What is happening now is traitors are being treated in Jails with all comforts. Look at the cases of Afzal Guru and Kasab. The nation has already spent crores of rupees on them. Till now they are not hanged. Bapu, have you noted this?

Gandhi. I know it. There may be compulsions on the govt.

Patel. What compulsions they can have? They have nothing. It is pure vote bank politics to get minority votes and appease J and K guys.

Gandhi. Will you be happy if they are hanged?

Patel. Why not ?

Gandhi. Then why did you not hang Kasim Razvi the notorious Hyderabadi Razakar of 1948?

Patel. The court gave him lesser punishment of 10 years prison.

Gandhi. That too was reduced later and he was allowed to go to Pakistan and hang around there.

Patel. But he could not do any thing further. He lost his face and was neglected in Pakistan. He died there after some time.

Gandhi. But Razkar atrocities were very horrible. Kasim Razvi was squarely responsible for it. People thought that he would be hanged soon.

Patel. The trial team had judges from three religions, Hindu, Muslim and Christian. They knew it better. What we can say now after so many years? They knew it better. They go by evidence infact. He was not convicted for Shoibullah murder case

Nehru. Who was this Shoibullah?

Patel. I thought you knew him. He was the editor of Imroz daily, He was fearless., He was against Nizams policy on Hyderabad and wrote against Razkar atrocities. He was killed by Razakars.

Gandhi. Poor guy. May his soul rest in peace. Any how, all these things are old now. What we can gain by digging graves?

Patel. At times police digs graves to collect evidence in sorting out criminal cases. There is nothing new.

Gandhi. That means do you recommend retrial of Kasim Razvi?

Patel. I did not say that. Any how he is dead now. We can not retry and hang him now. As it is we are wasting time and money on Kasab and Afzal Guru. This shows that we are too lenient on traitors

Gandhi. OK Patel. We came here to see the fort. Let us see it fully.

( The trio keeps going around and enter an old dilapidated building. It looks damaged in shelling during 1857 war. The area is dark and looks haunted. Nehru is a bit worried)

Nehru. Bapu. Is it necessary to go into it? It may not be safe there. There may be snakes there.

Gandhi. Come on Jawaharlal. You are a freedom fighter.

Nehru. Bapu. Please do not call me by that name. In India now freedom fighter means, the guy who wants everything free. Phukat ka Master in Hindi.

Patel. Well said Jawaharlal. Hee..heee.

( Suddenly they come across a figure in Darkness . He appears to be a warrior and has a small child tied in a cloth behind his back. He is well armed with swords and shield. He has royal look and gait?)

Stranger. Hello. Guys. Who are you? What are you doing here at this time?

Gandhi. Sir . we are visitors to the fort. We came from long distance.

Stranger. That is good. What you have seen?

Patel. We have seen the fort. We have seen the great gun Kadak Bijli on the bastion. We have also seen the graves of Khudah Baksh and , Ghulam Ghouse khan. By the by, who are you? Why you are strangely dressed in this medieval costume?

Stranger. Iam Laxmi Bai of Jhansi. This fort belongs to me. This state belongs to me,

Gandhi. Oh. Jhansi ki Rani. We are honored by your visit.

Laxmi bai . You are the visitor. I belong to this place. This is my place. I never gave this place to the wretched Englishmen.

Patel. We knew your valor. You were an icon.

Gandhi. We are happy to see you. Madam Raniji. We are sorry to know that you lost the war and also your life in the war.

Laxmi bai. Nothing comes without sacrifice.

Gandhi. I agree. But only few princes fought the war. Many stayed away.

Laxmi bai. True. They were selfish men. They saved their skins. They had no commitment to national honor, Many preferred slavery to self respect.

Gandhi. But they were of opinion that you had specific grievances. So you fought and rebelled. They had no grievances.

Laxmibai. Haa..haa. They are selfish men and opportunists. They preferred cozy rooms of palaces and not battle fields. They preferred gulping liquor in their cozy palaces. They preferred embrace of wives and concubines in their palaces than embracing a warrior’s death on battle field. They did not want to fight against foreign domination. Who were these Englishmen of East India Company to dictate to us? They were to be thrown out. We fought for our commitment. In war, victory and defeat are in the hands of almighty. We did our job. We might have failed and died too. So what? We have become martyrs for a cause. We did not die like rats in holes. We have shown in the battle field what we were. Our swords spoke our words.

Patel. We are highly impressed Raniji. But for your sacrifice, the rule of East India Company would have continued. After the war, India came directly under Queen Victoria.

Gandhi .Raniji. We are much impressed with you. You have become an icon in India and role model.

Laxmi Bai. I am unhappy the way country is progressing. People have become selfish. I heard you have some type of system called democracy that has been usurped by a dynasty. It appears no other guy can rule apart from dynasty.

Nehru. Raniji. You are wrongly informed. Democracy prevails in India. Any one can rise to position.

Laxmibai. But the system has become so polluted and corrupt that honest men can not rise to positions. It is crooks galore in India.

Gnadhi. Changes do occur at some times.

Laxmi bai. Your system needs overhaul if the country is to be saved from disintegrating and domination by individuals.

Patel. I also said same thing Raniji. But no one listens. The multi party system has ruined things. Guys want to be in power till they go to grave. There was a wheel chair CM in India a month ago. We had a president in past who could not stand and walk. He had to be lifted up all the time. We have PM who is a mere dancing puppet . They have no individuality.

Laxmibai. That is disgraceful and shameful too. But you guys are happy like that. So suffer. Indians have lost all self respect. They fall for tid bits thrown at them I also learnt that ministers are corrupt. No one can change you. Your nation is doomed. Better I leave. No one can save you.

( Rani Vanishes waving her sword)

Nehru. Bapu. Iam scared. Better go away from here. It is also getting dark. If we come across Tantya Tope, the Martha commander in chief, we can not live. He will not spare us. Better run from here.

Patel. Iam not scared.

Gandhi. Patel. Better we leave, It is already getting dark.

Patel. As you say. You guys are shit scared lot.

Gandhi. That we are.

( The trio quickly walks back and goes out of fort of Jhansi. Nehru tightly holds hand of Gandhiji. He is scared to look back at the fort that stands imposing behind them)

CURTAIN FALLS