150 years ago, on the 10th of May in 1857, Indian Sepoys (soldiers) of the 20th Native Infantry in Meerut, an army cantonment near Delhi mutinied against their officers and the oppressive rule of the British in India – setting off what history would recall as the 1857 Sepoy Mutiny, or India’s First War of Independence.

While the issues against their foreign rulers had been building up since some time, the catalyst of this mutiny was the sentencing and subsequent humiliation of 85 Sepoys of the 3rd Light Infantry the day before, on the 9th of May. Their crime? Refusing to use certain weapons that were rumoured to be greased with the fat of cows and pigs, something extremely offensive to Hindu and Muslim Sepoys alike.

The mutiny spread like wildfire and caused great damage to the British Empire, which had to rush troops all the way from England to quell the unrest. It resulted in many deaths on both sides, as well as the birth of many national heroes like Rani (Queen) Lakshmi Bai, and the Mughal King Bahadur Shah Zafar who was killed along with his minor sons, who were buried alive by the British.

Admittedly the Mutiny was eventually put down, but it signalled the end of the tyrannical and arbitrary rule of of The East India Company, and the arrival of a more ‘understanding’ rule of the British Monarchy which then went on to focuss on the progress (albeit selfish) of ‘their’ India.

90 years later, on the 15th of August in 1947, India finally gained its Independence from the British Empire, thanks to the efforts of people like Mahatma Gandhi , Jawaharlal Nehru, Lal Bahadur Shastri, Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar, Sardar Patel, Lokmanya Tilak and many more dedicated and passionate freedom fighters of India.

Free India chose the path of democracy, wrote its own constitution, and offically became a “Republic” on 26th January 1950. Today, we are the world’s largest democracy. A secular nation speeding down the fast track of progress.

That’s the good news. The bad news is, we’re a nation still struggling with issues and oppressions of a different kind.

We’re a people ruled by apathy and laziness. We’re oppressed by corruption in all walks of life. Political parties put selfish myopic gain, above common good. And the average man on the street doesn’t give a damn about the once next to, or in front of him.

Common courtesy is absent in our daily lives. Respect for women and children is something restricted to legal documents filed in hidden corners of our society… the list is endless.

It’s not to say that no one wants to do anything to improve this situation. There are enough people who feel the pain, and understand the consequences of continuing to live like this. But there aren’t enough voices being raised, not enough people standing up to fix the situation. But again, while these voices are a minority, my belief is there is dormant majority of people who will rise like the Sepoys of 1857, against the corruption and apathy that exists today.

They will rise not against ‘weapons grease’ but the ‘grease in the palms’ of corrupt officials. They will mutiny against the insensitivity of politicians as well as common people around them.

Their weapons will be the Law of the Land, and the Conscience of the People. No blood will be shed, but the enemies of the people will certainly lose sleep.

Those who hold the nation back and clog up the lines of progress, will be flushed down the toilets like they so deserve to be.

My belief is, this new mutiny is real and imminent. And I would like to give voice to this movement. Add my two bits of conscience and voice to the effort.

That, is my way of celebrating 150 years of the First War of Independence.

Jai Hind!