A grim reminder of social lapse
   Date :22-Jul-2021

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Vijay Phanshikar :
 
THE real story of the Golibar Chowk in Central Nagpur -- as brought out by ‘The Hitavada’ Chief Reporter Mr. Kartik Lokhande (The Hitavada CityLine, Sunday, July 18, 2021) -- reminded us of a bright chapter in the city’s history -- of the members of the Koshti community steeled themselves against the mighty British administration to ask for strict prohibition (of production and sale of liquor). But seen from another angle, it also reminded the Nagpurians of a massive social lapse that we have allowed to continue to dog our public life for decades on end. And this lapse pertains to how we have allowed our brilliant history to be forgotten.
 
This is a matter of great shame for all of us -- to put it rather mildly! Of course, the loosefooter has been reminding the city of its history all along (as part of the ongoing efforts of ‘The Hitavada’ over decades) and also of the social lapse by way of which we have allowed our history to be forgotten. So pathetic has our apathy been on this count that we do not tell our youngsters any single story of Nagpur has been one of the greatest centres of revolutionary, social and political activity in the country. The publication of the real story of Golibar Chowk shook people out of their slumber. Most people, even from the Koshti community or living in that part of the city and elsewhere had thought that the Golibar Chowk came to be called so because a few people got martyred in police firing in 1942. The story wiped out that wrong impression authentically -- and made all of us red-faced (because we had forgotten the actual story). But then, many such stories abound around in Nagpur -- the story of Shahid Shankar, the story of Shahid Chowk, the story of Jungle Satyagraha, the story of revolutionaries such as Veer Baburao Harkare, the story of Dr. Pandurang Sadashiv Khankhoje (who was one of the leading lights of the world-famous Ghadar Movement).
 
The city also has forgotten many terrific chapters of its own history only because those are never told in homes or in schools or in colleges. So terrible is this apathy that the city also does not know the glorious details of the two royal dynasties of Nagpur -- the Gond Dynasty and the Bhonsla Dynasty -- who ruled not just the city but also the entire Central Indian region for long, long time. And let also not pardon on two more counts: 1. We have really not told our kids fully and correctly the story of how Dr. Keshav Baliram Hedgewar founded the world’s largest Hindu organisation -- the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) in Nagpur. So terrible has our apathy been that many, many, many Nagpurians would never be able to exactly show the house of Dr. Hedgewar (that is now being treated as a national memorial). 2. On another count, we have also not told our kids fully and correctly the story of how Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar led masses of depressed people to accept Buddhism in Nagpur. Most unfortunately, the larger society has always treated both these stories from the nation’s history only from political standpoints.
 
What a shame! In fact, what we need to do as part of preservation of our collective memory of our city’s history is to tell our younger generations those wonderful tales at dinner time or in schools and colleges, through museums and libraries and memorials. The loosefooter has created enemies for himself only because he has been campaigning for this for years -- of course for no reason. He just fails to understand as to why the people of Nagpur are so averse to telling themselves their own story of their own great past! n