Restore siren to mark Bapu's assassination: Gandhi kin to Prez

As India prepares to observe the 73rd anniversary of the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi on January 30 his descendants have appealed to restore an old tradition marking the exact time when the Father of the Nation fell to an assassins bullets stunning humanityGreatgrandson of Mahatma Gandhi Tushar A Gandhi and others have urged President Ram Nath Kovind to use his august office and revive the tradition of sounding the siren as a tribute to Bapu every year since his assassination on January 30 1948It was started soon after he was killed on that cold fateful evening at 1717 hrs 517 pm as an outraged nations silent homage to Bapu The objective was simple all should voluntarily rise to observe a brief silence in his memory Tushar Gandhi told IANSHowever since schools and government or private offices were shut by 5 pm it was not possible for people to adhere to the normSometime later it was decided to pay the tribute at 1100 am on January 30 every year so all institutions could comply since it was also declared a Martyrs Day he pointed outThis continued till many decades but sometime around the late 1980s or early 1990s it was slowly abandoned and gradually disappearedTo make a fresh start this new decade I humbly request Honble President Kovindji to consider and make an appeal on these lines to the nation and countrymen in his Republic Dayeve speech on Monday Tushar Gandhi saidIn these turbulent times globally plus a situation where concerted moves are on to willynilly legitimise Bapus assassination and eulogise his killer it is all the more imperative to remember Gandhijis supreme sacrifice for his nation Tushar Gandhi urged the PresidentI clearly remember as a student the siren would sound and many others in the villages and towns would also blare we observed the twominute silence followed by a short closing siren reminisced an oldtimer Shrikant Matondkar 82Later working with the erstwhile Grindlays Bank Matondkar who is father of actress and Shiv Sena leader Urmila Matondkar rued that at some point the custom quietly died down but hopes it will be resurrected for the massesA prominent Mumbai businessman Pratap S Bohra 66 recounted memories of his Fatehpur Sikar Rajasthan school principal and teachers issuing special advance reminders to students and all proudly participated come January 30Why only sirens With modern technology the government can give a reminder to all people on mobile phones on TV radio channels and social media also It was a good nationalistic practice and the new generations must be made aware of it Bohra told IANSTushar Gandhi said that across the country the sirens would sound guns or bugles were sounded by the defence forces and trains and ships sounded their horns without fail to rekindle the martyrs memories in public mindsAlthough it would be a tokenism of sorts the 1717 hrs reminder can be revived people can voluntarily stand up observe a brief silence and quietly resolve that such a heinous mistake Bapus assassination should never recur in this land of peace exhorted Tushar GandhiWhen contacted a top Maharashtra Police officer said that the custom is very much alive on Martyrs Day but is now largely practiced by government officesPeriodically the Ministry of Home Affairs MHA issues elaborate directives for government private offices educational institutions chambers of commerce and industry and all other organisations on how to solemnly mark the important day the officer told IANS requesting anonymityThese include befitting activities like speeches special events filmsdocumentaries depicting the significance of the day the role and contribution of the freedom fighters to earn our hardearned independence and to inculcate a sense of patriotism brotherhood and national integrationThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever