Bhagat Singh, Rajguru, Sukhdev, Chandrashekhar Azad, Khudiram Bose, Ashfaqulla Khan, Ramaprasad Bismil have one thing in common. All of them gave up their lives for a single dream, a single cause.

They all dreamt of a free India.

A free India which we now enjoy in, cost so many people their blood. They could have stayed in their homes with their families like normal people but they didn't. There Gandhiji withdrew the Non-Cooperation movement after the Chauri Chaura incident, and here was young blood gushing down the veins of India crying out a single cry, "Inquilab Zindabad" That blood was red. Our's isn't anymore even if it seems to be.

I am not writing about the great freedom struggle. What I am asking you is this. Are we really free? No, we aren't. Not as long as we suffer from our rotten mentalities driven by religious sentiments?

All these martyrs are sons of a single mother. Our proud mother, India. She never differentiated between ethnicities, castes, creeds of her children. For her Rajguru was not a Maharashtrian. Bhagat Singh was not a Jat, Ashfaqulla Khan was not a Muslim, Khudiram Bose was not a Bengali. They were her Indian sons. But what are we?

We are proud Maharashtrians, North Indians, Bengalis, Madrasis, Christians, Muslims, etc, etc...... And our Mother India is not proud of us. We use our energy in fighting each other because of statements made by some stupid politicians, who just want to gain political mileage. We don't see what harm we are causing the nation by our stupid religious sentiments. Why don't we understand that the money wasted in these foolish wars of castes and creeds can be used in the development of the infrastructure of our own country. Can't we be responsible enough to not fall in such traps?

With all this hatered, where are we heading to?

The british came, observed and conquered. Coming and conquering became a child's play when they saw how divided we were. Now aren't we committing the same mistake? Are we waiting for someone to step in the British shoes?

What if the great martyrs who gave up their lives for our country fought for their own states and villages? Would their fight make any impact on the ruling British Empire?

Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru didn't have a hint of Punjab or Maharashtra in their minds when they embraced death. But as we live, we do.

So next time you make a proud statement about your ethnicity, make sure you say nothing less than, "I am an Indian."