Martyr here, martyr there
I still remember my first utterance of the word “martyr” during my school days. I was told at that time that we had only four martyrs. Unfortunately, I couldn’t understand what a martyr really was. I didn’t know what kind of contributions they had made that made them legends. I often used to ponder over this. While thinking about them, what used to bother my unripe sense was the ending of their lives. I had lots of empathy for the pain that they suffered by their sacrifice to the nation.
Ironically, now when I know the meaning of the word well, I am again confused. Thus, I thought of reviewing my perception. It turned out to be a necessity because something unusual took place recently. This was when our government decided to declare a dead youth leader a martyr.
I was taught that a martyr is a person who sacrifices his or her life for the welfare of the country. He prefers death to a luxurious life. A martyr always maintains his lofty principle despite the risk of losing his life and all his possessions. His belief is his asset. He is a real hero and idol for the common people. He never dies, rather his death is commemorated. He grabs death that makes him a star, and thus everyone wants to pursue the same death. This is his moment. These features make him a legend that people never forget. This is all I have about a martyr.
But what made me surprised was the government’s decision to declare a jailed man a martyr. This is a slap in the face of law and justice. It has tainted the respectability of martyrs as well. The happening made not only me but all the citizens of the country wonder once again. I am not biased against any political party, hence the question I have raised is the query of the entire country.
I am just putting into words the notion that anybody cannot be declared a martyr for no particular reason. Making somebody a martyr just like that is something a majority of the people cannot accept. This is really pathetic and shameful to us. Such a move cannot produce any positive message to the children and their understanding about our real heroes. Rather, it spreads a negative connotation.
Since most of the people are discontented with this declaration, I am assured that I had great schooling, and my teacher taught me well about martyrs. But he couldn’t teach me that the definition could vary in the days to come.
Posted on: 2012-01-01 08:22
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