Articles
Ninth of August 2026 spells ‘COURAGE '!
Opinion | Articles | Cedric Prakash | 09-Aug-2026
The Ninth of August 2026 spells ‘Courage’: It was on this day in 1942 that the ‘Quit India Movement’ went into action and thousands of our freedom fighters who were on the streets were arrested. The previous day (8 August), at the Bombay session of the All India Congress Committee, Mahatma Gandhi introduced a resolution to start a ‘Quit India Movement’. His was a clarion call: loud, determined, unequivocal and without compromise. India had suffered enough at the hands of their colonial masters, the British. It was time we got our freedom! The resolution was unanimously passed at that historic meeting. Later, Gandhi gave a fiery speech at Mumbai's Gowalia Tank Maidan (today known as ‘August Kranti Maidan’) which marked the launch of the Quit India Movement. He said, "There is a mantra, a short one that I give you. You imprint it in your heart and let every breath of yours give an expression to it. The mantra is ‘do or die’. We shall either be free or die in the attempt.” The next day, the ‘kranti’ had begun; thousands were out on the streets vociferously demanding that the British should leave India immediately and unconditionally! Most of the leaders, who belonged to all strata of society, were arrested (unfortunately, a similar reality is taking place in India today!). These were our courageous leaders, who were ready to die for the country. As expected, the ‘sanghis’ who belonged to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) [founded in 1925] were conspicuous by their absence! They were (as they are today) spineless! None of them wanted the British to leave. There is plenty of historical evidence to show how they pandered to and ‘toed’ the line of their British masters. These are the same people who have seized power and rule the country today with their brand of fascism The people of India cry out in one voice to these anti-national fascists and those who are attempting to destroy the sanctity of the Constitution of the country, to stop terrorising the nation or to ‘quit India’ (many of their kith and kin, have no qualms of conscience leaving India, to study and to even settle permanently abroad)so that the real patriotic citizens who truly love the country may live in peace her!
The Ninth of August 2026 spells ‘Courage’: that’s what epitomised a woman like Edith Stein. She was a brilliant German philosopher, born on 12 October 1891, in an orthodox Jewish family. In her early years, she was an agnostic: an authentic seeker of the truth! Although Edith Stein had been brought up religiously by her Jewish mother, at the age of 14 she “had consciously and deliberately stopped praying”. She wanted to rely exclusively on herself and was determined to assert her freedom in making decisions about her life. At the end of a long journey, she came to a courageous and path-breaking realisation: only those who commit themselves to the love of Christ become truly free! This woman had to face the challenges of a radically changing century, just like the times we live in today. Her experience is an example to us. Finally, in 1922, at the age of 30, with great courage, she embraced Catholicism. Twelve years later, she imitated Saint Teresa by becoming a Carmelite, taking the name Teresa Benedicta of the Cross. She campaigned publicly on issues relating to women’s rights and education. She had the courage to take on the Nazis and did not flinch from writing and speaking against their evil deeds. Stein is known primarily for her phenomenological work on empathy, affectivity and philosophical anthropology. In 1942, she was arrested by the Nazis from her Carmelite Monastery in the Netherlands, taken by a cattle train to the concentration camp in Auschwitz and killed in the gas chamber on 9, August 1942! Today, she is revered as a Saint of the Catholic Church, and by millions all over the world.
The Ninth of August 2026 spells ‘Courage’: The painful yet courageous cry of suffering can be heard from Nagasaki even today. In 1945, on that fateful 9 August, three days after Hiroshima was razed to the ground with the terrible nuclear bomb, the port city of Nagasaki met with the same inhuman tragedy! It was not on the original list of cities that were meant to be bombed by the US and their allies. It was apparently a last-minute inclusion. Being a shipbuilding centre, it was the industry intended for destruction. The bomb was dropped at 11:02 a.m., 1,650 feet above the city. The explosion unleashed the equivalent force of 22,000 tons of TNT. The hills that surrounded the city did a better job of containing the destructive force, but the number killed is estimated at anywhere between 60,000 and 80,000 (exact figures are impossible, the blast having obliterated bodies and disintegrated records). The pain, the suffering, the destruction and the death will forever remain etched in human memory. The nuclear bomb had to be abhorred. Japan soon surrendered unconditionally. World War II ended some weeks later, and the world said: “Never Again!” Today, we continue to have hate and violence everywhere: in Ukraine, Gaza(Palestine), Iran, Lebanon and elsewhere. The military-industrial complex continues to profit from these wars. Our world desperately yearns for non-violence, love and peace. Pope Leo constantly asks for peace!
The Ninth of August 2026 spells ‘Courage’: that’s what the world’s indigenous peoples have been celebrating all their lives. Today is the ‘International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples’. Today we are all called to look at the plight of the Adivasis/ Tribals in our country. The fact is that very often they are the victims of demolitions, displacement and delisting. There is plenty of lip-service and tokenism! Adivasis are not given their legitimate rights and freedom. Their forests are being taken away from them. The late Jesuit Fr. Stan Swamy (who was institutionally murdered whilst being incarcerated on 5 July 2021) had the courage to accompany the Adivasis in their relentless struggle for identity and dignity, for the jal, jungle aur jameen. All this is systematically denied to them by the mining mafia, the powerful other vested interests. The tribals of Manipur (particularly the Kuki -Zo people) have been facing violence, displacement and hostilities since May 2023. The Adivasis are the original inhabitants of the land, the forests and what they demand today are their legitimate rights to live in a society based on justice, equality and fraternity
The Ninth of August 2026 spells ‘Courage’: Every year on the second Sunday in August the Catholic Church in India observes ‘National Youth Sunday '. What a coincidence that it is today! The theme is ‘Take Courage! I Have Overcome the World’ (John 16:33). It is the theme for the ‘World Youth Days’ which will be held in Korea exactly a year from now (3-8 August 2027). Interestingly, the poster of the Ahmedabad Diocese Youth Day shows a picture of David slaying Goliath. David, we know, was a shepherd boy. But he had courage because he knew God was on his side. The Book of Samuel (Chapter 17) tells us that, “David put his hand in his bag, took from it a stone and slung it, striking the Philistine on his forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, so that he fell on his face to the ground. A young lad killing the all-powerful and seemingly invincible Goliath. How many of our Catholic Youth have the courage to take on the fascist, fundamentalist and fanatic forces in our country today? How many have got out on the streets, joined the Cockroach Janata Party and thousands of others last month, who were crying “Azadi! Azadi!”??
The Ninth of August 2026 spells ‘Courage’: On 15 August, we complete another year of ‘freedom’. But as a nation, are we actually free? We are living in an undeclared emergency in India today! The ninth of August needs to be a motivating factor to one and all to work wholeheartedly for an India (and a world) which courageously commits itself to a society which is more inclusive, secular and pluralistic and based on truth, justice, liberty, equality, dignity and fraternity of all! A freedom which can internalise and actualise the motto of our nation ‘Satyameva Jayate’!
(The author is a human rights, justice, reconciliation and peace activist/writer. Contact: cedricprakash@gmail.com. Views expressed are personal)