Dear Readers! Our beloved homeland, India, is a country whose uniqueness and multifaceted qualities have attracted the attention of the entire world. From the green and beautiful valleys of Kashmir to the splendour and beauty of Kanyakumari, it is a heavenly and magnificent land adorned with mountains, valleys, waterfalls, green meadows and deserts. In its lap flow the winding and playful waves of rivers such as the Ganga, Yamuna, Betwa, Gomti, Chambal and Sarda, making its beauty even more prominent.
Upon its bosom stands the neighbouring sky-reaching Himalayas, proclaiming its greatness and majesty. It is adorned with the milky-white views of the Taj Mahal; the Qutub Minar stands as a symbol of its lofty heights; the walls of the Red Fort tell the story of its strength and power; the attraction of the pink reflection of the Pink City; the caves of Ajanta and Ellora; the enchanting sight of tea gardens spread across the foothills of Darjeeling; the dewy charm of the beauty and elegance of Nainital; and the beauty of Kerala, inviting everyone to behold its magnificent landscapes.
Diu Island, St. Mary, Majuli, Ponnumthuruthu, Pazham, Lakshadweep, Andaman and Nicobar and other cool, enchanting and charming islands adorn this land. The smiling sights of waterfalls, the beautiful waves gently curling and playfully dancing along the shores, the enchanting scenes of dance and melody created by various animals, birds and countless colourful creatures in the green fields, and the sweet and melodious voice of the cuckoo in its gardens—what more can one say! It is as though a musical instrument is dissolving sweetness into the ears.
The confluence of the Ganga, Yamuna and Saraswati, the life of humans and jinn, the universe of birds and fish, the markets of the beauty and splendour of Egypt, Chamba, Mussoorie, Mount Abu, Goa and the glory and beauty of the Koh-i-Noor; cities, towns and villages settled in the foothills of lofty, green, dry and simple mountains; a land upon which the eyes of the entire world are captivated; illuminated by the brilliance of the descending rays of the sun; the vastness of the desert upon which the moonlight pours its milky treasures; the enchanting sight of thousands of rivers playing, leaping and flowing through its lap; the living earth that produces every kind of crop and harvest; the paradise-like land settled along the shores of the sea—this is my country, India, whose honour, greatness, glory and dignity are so exalted that the whole world is unable to provide an adequate example of them.
Because:
From the place where the fragrance reached the King of Arabia,
My homeland is that very land, my homeland is that very land.
That is why the Poet of the East, the physician of the nation, expressed himself in these words:
Better than the entire world is our Hindustan,
We are its nightingales, and this garden is ours.
It existed yesterday, it exists today, and it will continue to exist tomorrow. It is another matter that hundreds of hunters came to imprison this golden bird in a cage. Some broke its wings in order to take away its power of flight. Someone wanted to make it blind and therefore snatched diamonds like the Koh-i-Noor from its eyes. They tried to break its legs so that it could no longer stand on its own feet.
But ask the “growth of vegetation”: O beloved homeland, the auspicious mark of the height of destiny and the glory of fortune that shines upon your forehead—tell us, who bestowed this brilliance upon you? And who was killed in blood-soaked marketplaces for your protection? For the sake of the administration, construction and development of our country, whose bangles were deprived of the radiance of marital happiness? Who filled the parting of the country’s hair with the vermilion of the blood of young sons?
Then the history of India will answer: they were the aspirations of the Muslims of this homeland, which were transformed into heaps of corpses, because they were Muslims. And because they were Muslims, they were first and foremost the protectors of the honour and greatness of their country. For it is famously said among Muslims that the life of Muslims, the pride of the Prophets, carries the noble command:
“Love of the homeland is part of faith.”
For this reason, we are its guardians, and even today we cannot give preference to destruction over the construction of the honour and dignity of our country. For the protection of every border and boundary of the country, and every law and constitution of it, we shall accept the gallows with smiling faces. We shall hang upon the cross, endure bullets, withstand bombardment, and face cannons. We shall not allow the locusts of terrorism and sectarianism to descend upon the fertile fields of brotherhood and love!!
Tell me the truth, O homeland! O my earthly paradise! Whenever the flow of the blood running through your veins was obstructed by the dams of riots, and young men were needed to break those dams, who were those young men who risked their lives and freed you from those barriers? When the haemoglobin of your hot and crimson blood was afflicted with the disease of destruction, tell me the truth: who placed every drop of pure blood into your veins? Who protected the bindi upon your forehead? And who, for the sake of your marital honour, witnessed his own wife becoming a widow? Who was riddled with bullets for the protection of your vermilion? Who kissed the cross and the gallows for the sake of his love for you?
At this question, every particle of the entire country’s courage, honour and gratitude cries out that it was you who raised the voice of freedom, and it was you who launched the Silk Movement.
When the people were snatching the veil of modesty from the head of my honour, when the claws of beast-like people were reaching towards my chastity and dignity, when the conspiracies of destroyers were affecting my construction, and when the oppression of the white rulers began tearing my body apart, then, for my protection and for suppressing the oppressors, if anyone was the first to enter the battlefield, it was the Muslim community.
And among this community, the first to do so were, in 1767 CE, the sons of the illustrious Madariya order—the Malangs, the faqirs and the disciples—who laid the foundation stone of the freedom of the country. The foremost freedom fighter and the hero of the first war against the British was Hazrat Syedna Baba Majnoon Shah Madari Malang, along with his successors Isa Shah, Musa Shah, Chiragh Ali Shah and others.
They were the ones who first laid the foundation of the royal palace of freedom. The form they devised for freeing the country was drawn with the pen of destruction upon the paper of devastation, upon the table of ruined and deserted settlements, in the darkness of oppression and brutality, by taking away the light from their eyes and drawing the map with the blood of their loved ones. That very map paved the way for the freedom fighters, and by following that map, everyone ultimately reached the desired destination.
Those who had hearts of stone, and to whom the freedom of their homeland was dearer than their own children, witnessed their sons being torn apart before their eyes. They saw vultures and crows descending upon the corpses. They saw delicate bodies being trampled. They welcomed bullets and, while kissing the nooses, delivered the message:
O homeland, O homeland, we swear by you,
In your paths, we shall sacrifice our very lives.
What is the heart worth? At your feet,
We shall offer our heads as a sacrifice.
And they did offer them, yet they did not allow the honour and dignity of the country to be stained.
How many storms must have been brought against them, how many mountains of hardships must have been broken upon them, how many promises must have been made to weigh them down with wealth—but their determination was such that they never tired, so strong that they never broke, and so priceless that they could never be bought. Rather, they addressed this soil of their homeland in these words:
In exchange for even one handful of your soil,
I would never accept Paradise.
Their spirit of loyalty, sacrifice and devotion cut the chains of slavery and the shackles of captivity from the hands of this country and brought freedom to the nation.
We salute the courage of these loyal ones, and considering the footsteps of our ancestors as our guide to the destination, we take an oath to protect the honour, dignity and security of our homeland. Without discrimination of colour or race, we bear hostility towards no one, because:
Religion does not teach us to bear enmity with one another,
We are Indians; India is our homeland.
I pray before the court of the Lord that this may not remain confined merely to words spoken and heard, but rather:
May my very existence continue to adorn my homeland,
Just as flowers adorn a garden.
