What is courage? Is it to stand up and shout, to be a rebel, to vandalize public property, to harass the weak, to threaten people, and to kill those who do not believe in your ideology or religion? The list is long, for those who are deluded about the meaning of courage. [break]
But true courage is something different. Courage is when you can sit calm and listen to what hurts you the most, crushes your belief-system. Real courage is when you can stop yourself from becoming a vandal when you can become one with impunity, when you can stop someone strong from beating someone weaker. Courageous people are those who can remain silent and strike back when needed, irrespective of the size and power of their enemy. Courage is not in staging a Nepal banda, it is in convincing civilians to come together and join you for a common agenda.
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Courage is when you fight your war, not when you fight someone else’s war as a mercenary. Because in the end, it doesn’t matter who you fought with, or whether you lost or won, it only matters whether the war was worth fighting. Field Marshall Sam Manekshaw once famously stated “If a man says he is not afraid of dying, he is either lying or is a Gurkha.” I am not contending the general perception about the courage of Gurkhas, but would like to identify different facets of their courage here. There is a faint line that separates a murderer and a soldier. Although it seems a bad analogy, the truth is, they both kill, though for different causes.
The former is a coward, while the latter is courageous. Courageous were those Gurkha soldiers who fought the British and prevented the nation from being enslaved by them, not those Gurkhas who shot dead Punjabis in the infamous Jalianwala Bagh shootout when ordered to do so by the paranoid Brigadier-General Reginald EH Dyer. True courage would have been to refuse to shoot at unarmed civilians. Strict obedience is not always right. At times, disobedience is the right, and the more courageous, thing to do.
History can be argued with, but the concept of courage itself cannot be distorted by time. Our people are lured by the promise of applause into the wars of others for the true courage they possess. We have no national interest in the wars the US and the UK are fighting in Iraq or Afghanistan, but yet, Gurkhas’ blood is spilled in these wars.
Hasn’t the time come for us to sit down and think about it? Shouldn’t those fighting men get back in the country and lend their hands to the development of nation? Our country is not just a victim of brain-drain, but also of muscle-drain. We lack the political will to change the economic scenario so that youth can try to find their destiny within our own country. Isn’t this the right time for leadership to discuss the real problems of our country, rather than indulging in ways to divide the nation into smaller parts?
Petty selfishness, a materialistic approach to life, and a “doesn’t affect me/who-cares” attitude makes people cowardly. Many people have the habit of giving up when they are supposed to fight. The general tirade against politicians is an example, it is a form of escapism. Individuals who are too afraid to face problems and deal with them are the ones found to be indulging in these tirades.
Instead of blaming politicians for everything, this is the time when we youth should be questioning our own beliefs and fight for them. You cannot say that it’s not your job to solve the nation’s problem, because deep down, you know that it is, because you care about your nation. Deep down, you have the compassion for social-justice, development, and law and order. As youth, you should fight for everything you believe in. Fight for good governance. Fight for social justice. Fight for the nation, fight for yourself, instead of sitting back and letting politicians make a botch of it!
Youth are the pillar of any country. When the youth are motivated, things tend to change in right direction. Our youth need to have the courage to rise up and change the nation and society. The future won’t be changed by vandals who participate in Nepal bandas or Chakka jams, but by those who work hard to learn skills, are innovative, and have a creative approach to the problems of society.
Political outfits like YCL and Youth Force which mobilize youth for their own political agenda instead of inspiring them to learn and grow into productive and creative citizens are instilling a false sense of courage in youths. Rather, we should inspire youths to take part in the noble cause of nation building. Throughout history, youths of our country have proved their bravery as fighters. Now, the time has come for us to unite and show the courage to change ourselves for the better.
The author is a Researcher at Masdar Institute, Abu Dhabi, UAE
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