India is going through a phase of unparalleled hatred to one another according to their religion, caste, culture, linguistic affiliation etc. It need not be that way. We are all human beings with common origins. It’s history that divided us. We can break these human made barriers if we accept that we are one family.
Hundreds of thousands of Indians die every year, due to lack of facility for blood transfusion for the needy. This happens due to lack of blood collection facility, ignorance about blood donation, timely availability of blood for the needy. We can change it if we all come forward to donate blood.
Blood donation is symbolic in many ways. Hindu blood mixes with Muslim blood, upper caste blood mixes with lower caste blood, Malayali blood mixes with Bengali blood. All for the noble cause of saving lives. It will also break the barriers that divide our society. “Divided by barriers, United by blood’’ should be the clarion call to unite India.
There should be a massive blood donation campaign to unite India. In fact, it is the only way to unite India and break its man-made barriers. Let a thousand blood donation camps bloom in different parts of India and let’s share our bloods for the unity of India, unity of humanity.
Binu Mathew is the editor of Countercurrents.org. He can be reached at editor@countercurrents.org
You have given an apt reasoning for blood donation. This need to be spread among the people of all hues and views. It will partly if not entirely remove the superstition and hatred among castes and religions.
Only a rare editor who lives through the heart – as Binu does – could write this small piece. His suggestion if followed would yield communal harmony. In 1984, the Sikh activists working amongst the victims of anti-Sikh violence decided to donate blood for the Hindu victims in Punjab when Khalistani militants indulged in selective killing of Hindus by segregating them out from a State Transport Bus. Sanjay Suri (presently political editor for Europe at CNN-IBN) then a young crime reporter with Indian Express ensured that the senior most photo-journalist working with the paper captured the images of Sikhs donating blood for Hindu victims. The I.E. carried the pictures prominently with a story by Sanjay Suri. These photographs had a devastating effect on those indulging in communal killings in Punjab.
It’s a good idea.