I hope most of us are still aware of Shanmugam Manjunath who sacrificed his life.
What for?
Many of us would dismiss that in just one go -- for honesty -- and for human values, values going deeper into backstage with each passing moment, and this all in the veil of pragmatism. On 19th Nov., 2005, this IIML grad and sales manager of Indian Oil Corporation was found shot dead in his car in Lakhimpur-Kheri, and that in the age of 27. And for what -- he had raided and sealed some petrol pumps for adulteration. S. Manjunath, the teacher of his IIML professors was no more between us.
But what was our responsibility? Could we adopt even an iota of values of pioneers like Manjunath, Satyendra Dubey, Binayak Sen or Himanshu Gandhi? A selfless struggle to bring the process of change on the horizon.
Some media reports have pegged Naxals’ annual extortion operation at around 1500 crore and see, a Madhu Koda can easily outmaneuvers them in just few years of political career. Who’re mercenaries of debased interests? Finding that is getting tougher and tougher. Identities are coalescing and tentacles of vested interests are infesting virtually every area of our social habitat now.
We need the change. We desperately need to save our social habitat. We need functionality of values back. Surely we need messengers of change. We always need to see that the sacrifices like Manjunath and all others do not vanish in the pages of history. We need to discourse the sensitivity. We need to see what has been the individual sensitivity? What has been the sensitivity of people as a whole? Are we able to question ourselves? I think we must question ourselves, our orientations.
I believe there are multitudes who share this sort of thinking. Such thoughts come to them time and again. I do believe that human consciousness will ultimately find its way one day when a Manjunath and a Satyendra Dubey would not have to get gunshots to follow their lives on the principles once the societies had accepted as functional norms.
