Commemorating the 150^th Anniversary

1857—FIRST WAR OF INDIAN INDEPENDENCE

Sadhu Prof. V. Rangarajan

Founder & Spiritual Head, Sri Bharatamata Gurukula Ashram &

Yogi Ramsuratkumar Indological Research Centre,

Sister Nivedita Academy, Sri Bharatamata Mandir

Srinivasanagar, Krishnarajapuram, BANGALORE 560 036

email: sadhurangarajan@vsnl.com;

Phone: 080-25610935 /25613716, Cell: 09448275935

The Land of the Brave

People of ancient world respected and revered the glorious scientific, cultural and spiritual heritage of Bharatavarsha dating back to the Vedic period beginning somewhere around 10,000 BC. Seekers of knowledge and wisdom came from distant lands to sit at the feet of the preceptors of this land to acquire the scientific and technological wisdom of this land and also to learn the meaning and purpose of human existence. Those who came in search of knowledge and wisdom were given a cordial welcome and extended the hospitality of the Hindu Nation. However, those who came out with drawn out sword to aggress and subjugate this land were thrown out by the valiant warriors of this land. Therefore this land came to be known as "Veera bhogyaa vasundaraa"—the land of the brave.

The heroic kings and emperors of Bharatavarsha had fought incessant battles against the aggressors on this land, right from the time of invasions by Shakas, Hunas, Mongols and Turks followed by the earliest Muslim invasions by Mohammed Gazhani and Mohammed Ghori and valiant heroes like Rana Pratap Singh, Chatrapati Shivaji and Guru Gobind Singh could successfully prevent the Mogul invaders from spreading their empire all over the country. Following the fall of the Mogul Empire, many regional kings, satraps, and feudal lords in different parts of the country became powerful rulers in their respective areas.

The fall of India has never been because of the might or higher military strength of the aggressors, but every time it was only because of the betrayal of our own people who stood by the aggressors to destroy our own country's independence. It was Jayachandra, own uncle of Prithviraj, who joined hands with Ghori to destroy the Hindu kingdom of Prithviraj. Similarly, during the Mogul rule, Hindu chieftains like Raja Mansingh, stood by the aliens to betray our own valiant heroes.

The Entry of the British

After the fall of Mogul Empire, the mutual strife and war among the Indian rulers gave an opportunity to the Portuguese, French and the British, who came as merchants into this country, to take advantage of the chaotic situation inside the country, set the kings and rulers against each other, and slowly swallow their kingdoms one after the other. The British who wanted to subjugate this country made it a point to destroy our culture as well as prosperity of the land and drive the people to poverty and helpless dependence on them The various measures that the British took destroyed our agriculture and industries. The British, who set up the East India Company in this land to do business, found the soil fertile for aggression and set the Muslims against the Hindus and one Hindu king against another. After the Plazy War of 1757, in which they defeated the Bengal Nawab Sirajuddaula who was betrayed by his own chieftain Mir Jaffer, became the rulers in this land. The vast army they constituted in this country consisted of a handful of British soldiers in command and thousands of mercenaries recruited from the Indian population. 

 
However, the rulers of Bharat did fight incessant battles against the British. The Wandavashi War of 1760. The Buxar war of 1763, The Anglo Mysore Wars of 1767-69, 1780, 1789 and 1790, The Anglo Maratha Wars of 1775-82, 1803 and 1817-18, the Gurkha War of 1814-16, the Anglo-Sikh Wars of 1838, 1845 and 1849, the Sannyasi Rebellion of 1773, the Sannyasi Rebellion of 1773, the rising up of great heroes like Veera Pandya Kattabomman (1792-99) and his brother Umai Thurai in Tamilnadu, Velu Thambi Dalavai (1808-09) and Pazhassi Raja in Kerala (1796-1804), Kittoor Rani Chennamma and Sangoli Rayanna in Karnataka (1824-29), and the Vellore Mutiny, which was just a rehersal of 1857 uprising, were all part and parcel of the incessant struggle of the children of  Bharat against the British rule.

1857 War—Well Planned and Nationwide

The War of 1857 was the first nationwide, organized and well-planned attempt to overthrow the British rule, launched by the people of India under the leadership of various kings, rulers and feudal lords from Kandahar to Kamakhya and Kashmir to Kanyakumari. As R.C. Majumdar has rightly pointed out, the fire of revolution spread from Kolhapur in the South to Peshawar in the North, Gujarat in the West to Bihar in the East. And it was 'continual upsurge of a popular character'.  Azimullah Khan, the right hand man of Nana Saheb Peshwa, and Rangoji Bapu, the emissary of Satara Kingdom met in London to chalk out a detailed plan. Rangoji travelled to Turkey, Russia, and Egypt to seek support for the revolution in India. Azimullah and Nanasaheb travelled throughout the country to contact various kings, chieftains and feudal lords for a nationwide uprising. He travelled to Varanasi, Prayag, Bateswar, Gaya, Puri, Panchavati, Rameswaram, Dwaraka, Nasik, Abu, Ujjain, Badri and Kamrup and visted army camps to inspire the soldiers.  Nana Saheb also wrote hundreds of letters to the kings and feudal lords regarding the preparations for the revolution. Nana had also raised a fund of five lakh pounds and deposited in British Banks for the purpose of revolution.  The circulation of 'lotus' among the self-respecting and patriotic soldiers in the army camps of the British rulers and 'chappatis' among rural people all over the country to alert them for the uprising was an amazing feat.

The British Government's '1813 Charter Act, Section 23' set the base for conversion of people in India into Christianity. The speed with which the British proceeded with their plans to convert first all the Hindu and Mussalman soldiers in the British Indian Army and then the people of the country into Christianity by destroying their religious faith and their plan to introduce cartridges containing fat of the cow and the pig to destroy the religious sentiments of the Hindus and Muslims respectively, triggered the explosion of the war even before its scheduled date. The uprising that started in Barrackpur with the first shot fired by Mangal Pandey against the British commandant, on March 29, 1857, spread like a wild fire to Meerut, Jhansi, Kanpur and Delhi. Revolution sprang up in Kalpi, Bihar, in Satara and Puna in Maharashtra, in Hyderabad, Rajamundry, Guntur and Kadappa in Andhra, Mysore, Karvar and Koppal in Karnataka, Madras, Chinglepet, North Arcot, Salem, Tanjore, Coimbatore, Tinneveli in Tamilnadu and Talasseri in Kerala.

Betrayal of Our Own Brethren

The cunning British knew very well the art of setting the Hindus against the Muslims, the Sikhs against the Marathas and the Marathas against the Sikhs, and both against the Rajputs. The Sikhs, the Nepalis and the Scyndia ruler of Gwalior betrayed the valiant freedom fighters. Though Bahadur Shah Zafar, the last Mogul whom the freedom fighters wanted to make the Indian Emperor, was acceptable to Hindu rulers as he was a Sufi and even proclaimed ban on cow slaughter as his first act immediately after he was proclaimed as emperor, and Amir Ali and Ramachandradas of Ayodhya even declared to rebuild the Rama Mandir in Ayodhya, the Sikhs and a section of the Marathas could not accept the Mogul, perhaps because of their memories of the past Muslim atrocities on Hindus and Sikhs, and they thought that the British rule was preferable to Muslim rule once again. The Sikhs of Punjab, the Hindu rulers of Nepal and Gwalior and even rulers of Hyderabad and Mysore sided with the British and betrayed the valiant revolutionaries. The British crushed the Indian War of Independence with the help of Indian mercenaries and Indian rulers.

Martyrdom of Great Heroes and Heroines

The martyrdom and self-sacrifice of the great heroes and heroines of 1857 War of Independence has been written in golden letters in the annals of Indian history. Even today, the children in the remote villages of northern India sing the glory of the heroes and martyrs in ballads and folk songs. Among them, the name of Jhansi Rani Lakshmibai has been immortalized by Subhadra Kumari Chauhan whose immortal song, "Khoob ladee mardaanee…Vah tho Jhansi wali Raanee thee" is on the lips of every Hindi speaking child of Bharat. She was the second wife of Gangadhar Rao. When the British refused to recognize her adopted son as the heir apparent to the Jhansi throne, she vowed not to lose the kingdom to the British and joined Nana Saheb and Tatya tope, and raised her sword against the British. She captured Gwalior. However, the British forces soon overpowered her. She fought like a lioness. Refusing to be held captive by the enemy, she fell fighting on the battlefield. Even the British commandant, Huge Rose, praised the valour, courage and martyrdom of the Rani. Nana Saheb, adopted son of Peshwa Baji Rao II, the king pin of the revolution, and Azimullah Khan took refuge in Nepal and died as free men in 1859. Mangal Pande who fired the first shot in the battle was caught and hanged. Kunwar Singh of Jagadishpur, Shahabad, Bihar, marched towards Delhi. He reached Arrah and inflicted crushing defeat on Le Grand's troops. However, because of a fatal wound, he died the following day as a victor. Tatya Tope alias Ramachandra Pandurang, waged a bitter battle at Bittur and proceeded to Gwalior. However, he was betrayed by Man Singh and was captured and executed by the British on April 18, 1859. Bahadur Shah Zafar was exiled to Rangoon and he died a pathetic death there. The British butchered all his kith and ken.

The 1857 War resulted in increase in the British forces and the machinations of the white man to bring clash between Hindus and Muslims. The efforts of some British historians to present the 1857 uprising as just a mutiny of some soldiers could not find acceptance by eminent historians who have well documented the events of the war. J.B. Mallison's "History of Indian Mutiny", Kayee's "History of Sepoy War", the articles published in 'The Times', Karl Marx's articles of the period in The New York Tribune which have come out in the form of a Soviet publication, "The First Indian War of Independence 1857-1859" and Veer Savarkar's historic work, "The Indian War of Independence (National Rising of 1857)" all point out to the fact that it was a national uprising. More than three lakhs of people were killed, thousands hanged from tree tops in the villages, thousands jailed, thousands of innocent women and children who were suspected to have helped the revolutionaries thrown into village wells, and many freedom fighters deported to Rangoon and Andamans and thousands of soldiers court-martialed. Quoting Keyees and Mallison, Lala Lajpatrai points out that for three months, daily 8 cartloads of corpses were collected and six thousand people were hanged from treetops and in market places.  Disraeli called the War of 1857 as "epoch-making event in human history".

Role of Sadhus and Sannyasins in Freedom Struggle

Behind all the movements for national liberation, there has been the role of Hindu Dharma and the Dharmacharyas. Hindu seers discovered that the entire manifest universe is the manifestation of one Cosmic Energy or Consciousness—Force. Modern scientists like Max Plank agree that the world is manifestation of Energy that arises out of Consciousness. Sages and saints of Bharat who have realized the Truth and identified themselves with the Supreme Consciousness have also realized that the land of Bharatavarsha is not just a geographical territory with hills, dales, rivers and mountains, but the manifestation of that Consciousness and the nucleus of the entire universe—Consciousness-Force or Mahashakti who is destined to become the preceptor of the entire mankind to teach them the meaning and purpose of human life. They could never compromise with loss of freedom and therefore they have always been behind the movements for the liberation of the Motherland whenever She has been attacked by the aliens. It was that spirit of protecting the Dharma of the nation that united many kings and emperors of the land to stand by the Pandavas in the Mahabaharata war and it was the lack of vision of that Dharma and love of Motherland that made Jayachandran to betray Prithviraj Chauhan when  Mohammad Ghori attacked Hindusthan. We find this spiritual force behind the movements of Guru Gobind Singh, Chatrapatio Shivaji and the building up of Vijayanagar Empire. Samarth Ramdas was behind the building up of Hindu Padpadshahi of Chhatrapati Shivaji, Vidyaranaya's spiritual force was behind the building up of Vijayanagar Empire. Bankim Chandra Chatterjee, who was a witness to the 1857 War, wrote the famous novel "Ananda Math", and depicted in it the history of the Sannyasi Rebellion of 1773 and incorporated in it the immortal song, Bande Mataram, to make Hindus realize that the fall of Hindusthan was because of the forgetfulness of the fact that Bharatamata is the Supreme Goddess to be adored and worshipped by Hindus. He stressed the need to worship Bharatamata by the entire Hindu society to make Hindus strong and united.

In the 1857 war as well as the earlier movements, Sannyasis played a major role. The first was Swami Omanand of the Himalayas. In 1857, he was 162 years old. His disciple, Swami Purnanand of Kankal, Hardwar, was 100 years old. The latter's disciple Swami Virajanand was 79 years old and his successor, Swami Dayananda Saraswati, the founder of Arya Samaj, was 33 years old. All the four of them played a  very significant role. The four great persons organized 2000 Sadhus and Sants to spread the message of liberation throughout the country. Swami Omanand convened an assembly of sadhus, sants, fakirs and mutt heads at Hardwar in 1855. Feroze Shah, the son of Moghul Emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar, Bala Saheb Mahratta, Rango Bapu, Maulana Azimullah, Ramjaan Baig, and Nana Saheb Peshwa attended the gathering. Nana Saheb and Prince Feroze Shah donated 5000 rupees to the Sadhu organization. The second assembly was held under the presidentship of Swami Purnanand, on October 5, 1855 at Garh Ganga Mela. Sai Fakruddin, highly respected in Delhi Court, was vice-chairman. About 2500 people attended.  Again after six days, another assembly was convened by Swami Purnanand in the hills near Hardwar in which 370 Hindu sadhus and 195 Muslim fakirs attended. Among these, the blind sadhu, Swami Virajanand, and Swami Dayanand were also present. In 1855, Swami Dayanand went to the hermitage of Swami Purnanand at Mathura where a secret meeting took place. Chaudhari Mohar Singh of Shamli, District Muzaffarnagar, Jat Dada Sahaimull of Bijraul, District Meerut, Chaudhuri Daya Singh Jat of Dhakauli, District Merut, the Delhi Emperor, Bahadur Shah Zafar, Nana Sahib, Tantia Tope, Raja Kunwar Singh, Begum Hazarat Mahal, wife of the Nawab of Luknow, Maulana Azimullah, Rango Bapu, and Rani of Jhansi attended the meeting. In 1856, the main leaders of the freedom movement gathered under the leadership of Swami Virajanand and chalked out the form of the freedom movement of 1857. The account of Mir Mustaq Mirasi (Mir Elahi), who attended the gathering, has been published in the Urdu language paper, Milap, published from Jullundar, Punjab, on Ocotber 12, 1969, and in the Hindi magazine, Arya Maryada, published from Delhi. The "Raja Mahedra Pratap Abhinandan Granth" authored by Ramnarayan Agarwal includes this account of Mir Mustaq. Therein he says, "Nana Sahib Peshwa, Maulvi Azimullah Khan, Rango Bapu, and the son of the Emperor Bahadur Shah, gifted Ashartees (gold coins) with great respect." Swami Virjananda was the driving force behind the movement.

Swami Giriraj, in his book, "San 1857 ke Swatantratasangram se Swarajyapravartak Maharshi Swami Dayanand Saraswati ka Kriyaatmak Yogdaan" (Maharish Swami Dayanand's Contribution to the 1857 Independence Struggle), on page 12, presents the details. In Samvat 1913, 1856 AD, Swami Dayanand arrived at Hardwar and made his residence at the Chandi Mandir on the Neel Parwat. Nana Saheb Peswa alias Dhondhupant, Bala Sahib, Azimullah Khan, Tantia Tope and Kunwar Singh met the Swami in a secluded place and discussed the plan of revolution. Swamiji took upon himself the role of organizing the Sadhu organization. Two other revolutionaries, Raja Govind Rai and Rani Laxmi Bai also came in touch with the Swami. Seven or eight days after Rani of Jhansi left, Nana Saheb came to meet the Swami. The Swami gave him rupees 1101 received from Govind Rai, 1101 from Rani of Jhansi and 633 received from ordinary folk. Swamiji also cautioned Nana Saheb: "Leading a people, and playing with fire, both are dangerous. A small error can mean total destruction. Be careful. The message of revolution must spread throughout India by stealthy means." The fact that there is no account of Swamiji's life from 1857 to 1860 indicates that Swamiji took a major part in the 1857 independence movement. Swami Dayananda was a patriot saint and he wrote in Satyaarth Prakaash, "No matter how much anyone does, Self-Government is always supreme."

Because of the right understanding of the national dharma, many great sadhus and sants were behind the patriotic movements of great warriors and revolutionaries. Impelled by the devotion to the Divine Mother Bharatamata, Vasishtha Ganapathi Muni wrote his magnum opus, Uma Sahasram, but the British Government tried to seize the manuscript and the saint buried it in the sand on a riverbed in Tiruvannamalai. Because of torrential rain in the night, it was washed away. However, he sat with his ten disciples in the presence of Bhagavan Ramana and by the grace of the great sage of Tiruvannamalai, the thousand verses poured out of his mouth once again and his disciples recorded them.

The Struggle that continued from 1857 to 1947

The uprising of 1857 ended only with the attainment of Independence in 1947. Immediately after the uprising, revolutionary movements sprang up throughout the length and breadth of the country. The Yugantar and Anusheelan Samity in Bengal, the Gaddar movement in Punjab, Abhinav Bharat in Maharashtra and the Bharatamata Sangham in Tamilnadu kept alive the burning embers of 1857 revolution and Lala Har Dayal, Veer Savarkar, Champakaraman Pillai, and Rash Bihari Bose carried the fire of revolution across the sea to distant lands where the children of Mother India had settled. "1857—First War of Indian Independence" by Veer Savarkar found repeated publication of underground copies by Lala Har Dayal, Bhagat Singh and Netaji Subhas Bose. It became the Gira of the revolutionaries and along with the works of Swami Vivekananda, was in the possession of every revolutionary. In Talwar, in 1909, Veer Savarkar wrote that the idea of writing the book on 1857 was not merely to create a record of history, but to kindle burning passion for struggle. The movement for the liberation of the Motherland which continued from there got inspiration from Swami Vivekananda.  Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose who was inspired by Swami Vivekananda consolidated the efforts of all these revolutionary movements into the founding of the Azad Hind Fauz.

Netaji—the Real 'Father of the Nation'

India won its Independence not through any non-violent struggle, but the final blow was given by the armed struggle of Netaji only. Evidences have come out to prove that Gandhi was planted in Indian National Congress by Lord Ampthill to wean away the Indian people from the influence of revolutionaries and extremists in the Congress, like Lala Lajpat Rai, Bipin Chandra Pal and Lokamanya Tilak. At a time when Congress in India was divided into two opposing groups—the extremists and the moderates—Gandhi had started the Natal Indian Congress in South Africa. Lord Ampthill wrote a letter to Gandhi asking about his ideas. Gandhi wrote in his reply that he was a “loyal citizen of British Empire” and he would never support the extremists.  Lord Ampthill summoned Gandhi and Gokhale to London and in his parley with them, advised Gandhi to go to India and take over the Congress organization by pushing out the extremists and revolutionaries. Gandhi did exactly the same thing. He refused to intervene to save the life of the great patriot and martyr, Bhagat Singh, who was sentenced to death by the British though he pleaded for mercy to be shown to his "Muslim brother" who assassinated the great patriot saint, Swami Shraddhanand. Gandhiji succeeded in throwing out Netaji Subhas from the Congress even though Netaji defeated Gandhiji's candidate, Pattabhi Seetaramayya, in the 1938 Tripura Congress Presidential election. However, Veer Savarkar advised Netaji to leave the shores of the country and go to Germany and Japan to organize the Indian war prisoners held captive by Japan and Germany and persuade them to fight for the liberation of their own Motherland. The Indian National Army conquered Andaman and Nicobar Islands and named them as Swaraj and Shaheed Islands respectively. On 30^th December 1943, the flag of Free India Government was hoisted by Netaji. Though Japan and Germany withdrew from the World War thereby upsetting the plans of Netaji, the INA soldiers who penetrated into the Indian Army, Navy and Air Force created mutiny in the three wings of Indian military in 1946, forcing the British to wind up their empire in India. Netaji did not die in plane crash as was propagated, but he was imprisoned in Siberia. Gandhi and Nehru knew this but made no efforts to get him released. Shri K.S. Sudharshanji, Sarsanghchalak of Rashtreeya Swayamsevak Sangh, has in his recent speech on 1857, rightly demanded the Government of India to table the report of Mukherji Commission which has gone into the disappearance of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, in Parliament, and has alleged that the reluctance to do so raises questions about its content. He has claimed that two Indian ambassadors, including Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit, had met Bose in a Russian jail in 1946. He further says, Netaji after some time, arrived in India and settled near Ayodhya as Gumnami Baba and died in 1985. He has pointed out that the forensic test of Baba's handwriting matched with that of Netaji. The Netaji Enquiry Commission had all the detailed information about this but the commission report is still concealed by the Government. Truth will however come out one day or other.

Earl Atlee, the British Prime Minister, confessed in the British Parliament that Britain had to give up empire in India because (1) the British army was shattered in the World War and Britain could not afford to send troops to India to maintain the empire, (2) the Indian mercenaries in the Indian Army, Navy and Air Force could not any more be relied upon and had revolted under the influence of INA creating mutiny in the three wings of military, (3) the non-violent movement of Gandhiji, which the British expected to keep the Indian people passive, had totally failed and the quit India movement turned violent forcing Gandhiji to withdraw his movement, and in these conditions, the British could not hold on to their empire in India.

Free and United India—Still A Dream

Though the British left India and the country gained Independence, .the real Freedom is yet to come. The country was vivisected by the cunning British, creating a Muslim majority Pakistan which later got divided into Pakistan and Bangla Desh.  Mahayogi Sri Aurobindo in his talk on the AIR on the occasion of Indian Independence on August 15, 1947, also stressed, “the partition of the country is unnatural and it must be undone at any cost”. The Akhand Hindusthan is yet to be realized. In the name of 'Secularism', the national ethos of the Hindu Nation have been totally uprooted. The Hindu race and nation is still groping in darkness. Like Socrates who was searching with a lantern in hand, in broad daylight in the market place in Greece, to find a 'man', we have to search to find a patriotic Hindu in India today.

It is only the spiritual force of Bharatavarsha that could save the country and our people. For that we have to reestablish the ancient Dharma of the land which looks upon man as the manifestation of Divinity. For that the message of Mahakavi Bharati, “Worship the Akhand Bharata as the Supreme Goddess” is once again to be spread. In ancient past, the country which consisted of various states like swarajyam, baujyam, parameshthyam rajyam, remained united under one powerful emperor who was elected through the system of Ashwamedha Yaga. The one who successfully performed the Yaga, promptly returned all the conquered territories to the respective kings who in turn accepted the suzerainty of the emperor. Great warrior saints like Parasurama and Viswamitra extended the territories of Bharatavarsha up to the Indian Ocean in south. The Gayatri mantra was given by Vishwamitra to a tribal girl, Ugra, in one of his expeditions to the South. It is not selfishness, but self-sacrifice as exhibited by the great kings and emperors that will save our Bharat. For that we must spread the cult of adoration and worship of Bharatamata as the Mother of all gods and goddesses. Worship of Bharatamta as the Supreme Goddesses and service to Her is the greatest sacred ritual that a true Hindu should perform.

Children of Mother India1 Keep up the spirit of love and adoration of the Motherland exhibited by the great martyrs and patriots of the land, lest the hard won freedom will be lost once again to the aliens! Keep the picture of Bharatamata in the sanctum sanctorum of your shrines at home as well as in temples and adore and worship Her along with your personal deities. Worshipping Bharatamata will not only save our great nation, but also contribute to the upliftment of humanity by protecting spiritual freedom of mankind. We should all think of ourselves as Bharatiyas first and last, and not a Kannadigas, Tamils, Telugus, or Marathas or Muslims, Christians, Vaishnavites or Shaivites.

Hindus Should Learn Lessons from History

One hundred and fifty years ago, Karl Marx analyzed the condition of Bharat and wrote: "A country not only divided between Mussalman and Hindu, but between tribe and tribe, between caste and caste, a society whose framework was based on a sort of equilibrium, resulting from a general repulsion and constitutional exclusiveness between all its members. Such a country and such a society, were they not the predestined pray of conquest?" The people of India should sit and ponder over this statement and find out whether the conditions in the country today is in any way different from what it was a century and a half ago. We do not have patriot saints like Swami Dayananda, SwamiVivekananda and Sri Aurobindo in our midst today nor do we have self-sacrificing leaders like Rani of Jhansi, Nana Saheb, Kunwar Singh, Tantia Tope, Veer Sarvarkar, and Netaji Subhas Bose. The great patriot-saint, Swami Rama Tirtha pointed out in his time that there were more than five lakhs of sadhus and sannyasins in the country and most of them were "useless scum" living a parasitic existence in the name of religion. Today, we have more than fifteen lakhs of Sadhus, sants, mathadheeswars and mission leaders, but how many of them are ready to sacrifice their everything including their positions and possessions to come out openly to defend the Hindu cause and fight for the Hindu rights. Everyone sings "Go maataa ki jai" in the morning and evening prayers, but no one is prepared to go to jail or sacrifice his life for the protection of the Go Mata demanding total ban on cow slaughter in this holy land. Everyone sings the glory of Hinduism, the Vedas and Upanishads and the Puranas and Itihasas, but keep away when it is a question of fight to protect the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya or the Ram Setu in Rameswaram or for the rights of the Hindus in this Hindu Nation. When will Mother Bharat give birth to valiant sons and daughters and true sadhus and sants once again? When will Hindu society learn the lessons from past history and when will they proudly proclaim that this is their Eternal Motherland, the Hindu Nation, Bharatavarsha? Time alone could answer!

(Summary of extempore talks delivered by Sadhu Rangarajan in three different gatherings to commemorate the 150^th Anniversary of 1857 War of Independence, at Bangalore, in May-June, 2007.)