Moharram is not festival to celebrate

Moharram is an annual reminder to mankind to learn the art of defeating mightiest misrule, by humble self sacrifice.

Moharram is not festival to celebrate but an annual reminder to learn the art of defeating mightiest misrule by humble sacrifices. Late Dr. Radha Kishan our former president, and great thinker & philosopher said “ Arms are needed to fight against oppression and injustice, if we are prepared to offer sacrifice like Imam Husain.

Since the start of the history of mankind there had always been confrontation between Dharma(Truth) and Adharma(Falsehood). It may be Ramayana or Mahabharata in which Lord Rama and Pandava attained victory ultimately when Lord Rama  killed Ravana and Pandava killed Kaurava.

However, Imam Husain(A.S) the beloved grandson of  Prophet  Mohammad (P.B.U.H) redefined the concept of victory. Imam Husain fought a battle against Yazeed at Karbala and apparently he was martyred along with his 71 companions. But he won the battle against injustice and oppression. His battle was not to attain any kingdom but was a demonstration against injustice and oppression. And he was successful in setting an example of how to and how much to sacrifice while fighting against injustice. Till the end of mankind any nation who wants to rise against injustice will derive courage from the exemplary martyrdom of Imam Husain.

The list of martyrs of Karbala ranges from a 62 year old Habib ibne Mazahir (companion of Imam Husain) to a toddler, Ali Asghar, the six month old son of Imam Husain. They were surrounded by 30,000 strong army of Yazeed, the tyrant ruler of Arab. The water and food supply routes were cut off and they were subjected to extreme hunger and thirst for three days. Yazeed was confident that Imam Husain will succumb under pressure when his companions will leave him alone due to intensity of thirst and hunger. On the contrary the number of martyrs kept on increasing till the last day. In the night 9^th Moharram, Imam Husain gathered all his companions and put off the lights in his camps. He advised his companions to leave him alone since Yazeed was only after his head. He told them that they can use the darkness to hide their faces while leaving if they are feeling ashamed. Yet not a single companion left him but vowed to sacrifice their lives on him. His companions has full faith in him (Imam Husain). Therefore, stuck to him. For Imam Husain cause was supreme, whereas for his companions Husain was the cause

After the martyrdom of Imam Husain and his companions, the camps of Imam Husain were set ablaze and the women and children of his household were arrested. The heads of entire 72 martyrs were raised over spears. They were made to march from Karbala in Iraq to Damascus in Syria. They were presented before Yazeed in his court who had misled his courtiers that he had crushed uprising against a rebel. Zainab, sister of Imam Husain was a courageous daredevil lady inspite of being tortured and oppressed throughout the journey from Karbala to Damascus, rebuked Yazid for his dastardly act in front of his courtiers. Imam Zainul Abideen, the only remaining son of Imam Husain who was sick and in chains introduced his father as the grandson of Prophet Mohammed. Learning this fact the entire court became furious with the action of Yazid. To handle the situation Yazeed shifted the responsibility of Karbala massacre over others, who were directly involved. This was the first victory of Imam Husain over Yazid.

 To give a brief background of this tragedy, Yazeed took over the throne on 22^nd Rajab, 60 Hijri, after the death of his father Muaviya and immediately sent his messenger to Medina, ordering Waleed, the Governor of Medina to take allegiance (unconditional approval) from Imam Husain. He was an alcoholic tyrant ruler who wanted to undo the reformations brought by Prophet Mohammed. Imam Husain declined allegiance and left Medina in order to wake up the nation which was silent in the face of injustices of Yazid. He was forced to land at Karbala, Iraq on 2^nd Moharram along with his small band of companions and family. From 7^th Moharrum, the food and water supply was cutoff and

on 10^th Moharrum, Imam Husain was martyred along with his companions and relatives.

 Lord Krishna said I take birth on the earth whenever Adharma reaches to its climax. Holy Quran says God has sent His messengers to every nation. Holy books were revealed in different periods in different parts of World for the reformation of mankind. Ved and Purans maybe are among Holy books sent to mankind. It cannot be denied that Almighty must have sent messengers to India as well.

The message of Imam Husain is for the whole mankind. He has shown us way to fight for our honor and freedom. Graceful death is better than disgraced life. He is torch bearer for freedom movement till this world exists. His message reverberates in this world: “Say No to Humiliation”. Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi said, “ Mai Bharat ki azadi ke liye apne deshwasio ke liye koi nai cheez leke nahi aya. Mai ne Karbala ke 72 Janbazo se  jo seekha hai use pesh kar diya”. (I did not come with any thing new for the fight for the freedom for our Nation, but took lesson from 72 martyrs of Karbala.--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------विचार, व्यक्ति के व्यक्तित्व की अभिव्यक्ति होते हैं. इन्हीं से पहचान होती है. 'समग्र विचार मंच' से जुड़कर अपने विचारों को साझा कीजिये. सदस्य बनिए और अपने विचार-प्रधान-लेखों का ई-लेखन के माध्यम से पाठकों तक पहुँचने का प्रयास कीजिये. यह मंच आपका स्वागत करता है. --नीना गर्ग  (प्रबंध संपादक)