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Praising flag hoisting in submerged school is not enough. Flood-hit Assam needs help

Along with admiration Assam is receiving for celebrating Independence Day in spite of floods, people in the state need relief.

By Oneindia
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Google Oneindia News

Guwahati, August 16: Sometimes a picture conveys more than what our leaders in their hours-long 'lectures' fail to achieve. At a time when everyone is giving sermons to others as to how to prove your patriotism and nationalism, four teachers and two students of a flooded school in Assam subtly told the nation on its 70th Independence Day on Tuesday that nothing matters if you truly love your nation, not even fighting waist-deep water to hoist the Tricolour and sing the national anthem--Jana Gana Mana.

The images of a 'mini-class' of children and teachers standing in water that rose above their waists at the Naskara Lower Primary School in flood-hit Dhubri district of Assam truly portrayed what it means to be proud Indians, in spite of being stuck by a calamity.

floods tricolour

A couple of pictures where students and teachers were seen hoisting and saluting the Tricolour by bravely withstanding the floodwaters went viral on social media. The "rare" display of patriotism, which unfortunately has been taken over by rumbling and conflicting noises, has been described as the "defining" moment of the 70th Independence Day celebrations.

The simplistic, yet courageous, expression of love for the nation, by these teachers and their pupils, will remain etched in the hearts and minds of Indians for a long time to come.

The images tell many things at the same time. First of course, is one's love and duty towards the country. Second, nationalism is not the sole domain of a few who keep on hammering others about the importance of performance of patriotism, where all need to wear "love for one's nation on their sleeve".

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Love and respect for the country can be showcased in simple yet powerful manners (as done by this Assam school), without any camera capturing it. Third and the most important fact is that, flood situation in Assam is really critical and the affected people need immediate relief.

Unfortunately, in the noise of Independence Day celebrations, the sufferings of the flood-hit people in various parts of the country were totally ignored. Everyone thought that things are "fine" if one could wade through the "killer" floodwaters and climb on the dilapidated tin rooftop of the school building--as done by one teacher and two pupils--to unfurl the Tricolour.

In their "resilience" everyone believed that things are perfectly all right in their lives, which is nothing but deliberately ignoring the "reality". The reality of Assam is that since June, floods have killed at least 115 people.

After a few days of relief, floods have revisited the state with great ferocity in the last few days. The floods have affected 25 of Assam's 32 districts, displacing 33 lakh people.

The Brahmaputra river and its tributaries are flowing over the danger level snapping surface communications across Assam, even as flood waters submerged railway tracks at many places in Katihar and Alipurduar divisions of Northeast Frontier Railway, disrupting rail traffic in the region.

If these facts are not enough to cringe, then you should also know that thousands of displaced people, who have lost their homes and agricultural lands, are taking shelter in a hundreds of relief camps. There are also those who have failed to get access to a roof over their heads and are staying on roads. These people are also fighting for drinking water and food.

In this catastrophic situation, the elected representatives--both at the Centre and in the state--have failed these poor and vulnerable flood-affected people of the state. While the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)--having its government both in the state and at the Centre--is maintaining that rescue and relief operations are reaching the people, but ground situation totally contradicts the tall claims.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who visited Assam on August 1, after receiving massive criticism for neglecting the plight of the people of flood-hit state, gave a package of Rs 2,000 crore for the entire Northeast region. The PM's package has not been received well by the state, as people feel it was too little and too late.

The BJP, which formed its government for the first time in the state after the assembly elections last year, made tall election promises to mitigate the flood situation in Assam.

It is understandable that natural calamities like floods are usually beyond human control. Moreover, years of neglect by previous Congress regime to improve infrastructure to tame the swelling Brahmaputra river and its tributaries, has added woes to the people's plight.

However, the government has failed to showcase its urgency to distribute relief measures to the people (which it can definitely do, no matter what the previous governments did or not). Maybe, since elections are not scheduled in Assam in the near future, so the government is sitting comfortably without caring for the flood victims.

Till then, Assam can take some solace over the "salute" it is receiving from across the country for the feat achieved by the flooded school by hoisting the Tricolour.

OneIndia News

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