It was 1971. The India-Pakistan war was very much on. I was in Class 7 in Sri Kumara Gurupara Swamigal High School in Srivaikundam, a Divya Desam (in the parlance of Vaishnavites) in Tamil Nadu. The school had some 1,500 children and 60 teachers. We students wanted to do something to show our support for India and express our anger against the hostile neighbour, which was carrying out a genocide in the then East Pakistan.
We gathered under the leadership of our school pupil leader Kanaga Sabapathy, who later became a politician and advocate, and took a decision to take out a procession. When the morning school assembly was over, we came out as decided and took out a procession through the lanes and bylanes of the town, shouting slogans such as Bharat Mata Ki Jai! Down with Pakistan! Down with Yahya Khan! Long live Indira Amma and Mujibur Rahman Zindabad!—all of which reverberated through the town. The sloganeering touched its peak whenever the procession passed anywhere near any educational institution and the heads of schools instantly declared the day a holiday, adding to the strength of the procession. Men in uniform with lathis accompanied us all the way, supporting our fervour for the motherland.
As the procession reached the banks of River Thamirabarani, which courses through Srivaikundam, the crowd became huge. Every student was possessed by a spirit, the national spirit. An onlooker observed that these chivalrous boys would set the whole of Rawalpindi on fire, given a chance. Student leaders addressed the rally on the banks of the river. Whenever the name of General Manekshaw, the Army Chief, was mentioned, the crowd roared. When our NCC leader announced that nearly a lakh Pakistani soldiers had surrendered and that the birth of Bangladesh was a certainty, we danced in utter joy.
Now compare this fiery patriotism on the part of students during the 1971 war and the lack of it during the recent air strike inside Pakistan. Where has the national fervour of the students gone? Is it due to the influence of social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter and WhatsApp where unwholesome ideas are dished out and shared? This is no doubt a matter for deep contemplation and introspection.
Nataraja Perumal
Email: natarajgreen@gmail.com