Author: IANS
Publication: Mid Day
Date: August 8, 2007
URL: http://mid-day.com/news/otherheadlines/2007/august/162055.htm
Somar Sundi feels the bullet and baton injuries
he suffered in the Quit India movement of 1942 pale in the face of his miseries
today.
He is 83 years old and pulls a rickshaw on
the streets of Jharkhand.
No pension
Deprived of a freedom fighter's pension and
deserted by the children from his first marriage, Sundi, a resident of Hazaribagh
district, took to pulling rickshaws after suffering huge losses in the vegetable
business two years ago.
Sundi had sustained two bullet wounds on his
shoulder in a police firing during the Quit India movement. "I fought
for freedom along with Jayaprakash Narayan," he said.
"Those who are in power have forgotten
the freedom fighters and the importance of independence."
The emaciated Sundi does not get any pension,
as he has no records to prove that he was a freedom fighter, though his neighbours
vouch for it.
Sometimes he has to cut down on food to pay
the house rent. Sundi said the children from his second marriage were too
young to earn a living. "There is no one who can help us. At present
I have no option but to pull a rickshaw for survival," he said.
He wishes things could change once again.
"We need to launch a second movement to end corruption and poverty to
fulfil the desire of Mahatma Gandhi."
Country's plight
Jaswa Devi, his second wife, is also bitter:
"The person who gave his youth to the country's independence is struggling
to eke out a living. This reflects the plight of the country."
