Dreaming and acting for Swachch Bharat is simple and pure 'Desh
Bhakti. If fighting an outside enemy is essence of patriotism, fighting uncleanliness an enemy within is more than patriotism.
"Linking cleanness to patriotism? Are you mad? Hope there is no hidden agenda in the proposition…"
Sorry
dear there is no hidden agenda. Patriot defends his/her
country against enemies. Uncleanliness is greater enemy. It is enemy within.
We know developed countries like USA cherish very high standards of cleanliness even to the levels of obsessiveness. Katherin Ashenberg in her article in nytimes.com finds roots of this obsessiveness among Americans in American Civil War during which the Sanitary Commission stressed upon use of soap and water to reduce mortality of American soldiers. This idea caught up well duly fanned by spree of advertisements and by the end of the civil war; cleanliness was seen as patriotic, progressive and distinctively American.
Enemy from outside is identifiable but one within is difficult to. It is like terrorism. Terrorists mingle within society and conduct
anti -national attacks. Uncleanliness is
like terrorism. In some ways it is more fatal. (I am not saying terrorism is
not dangerous/fatal). Uncleanliness is with us,within us and is silent killer. During 2013
there were 690 terrorist incidents in India and about 467 were killed and 770
injured as per Global Terrorism Data Base (GTD). Such incidents create terror
and we become wary and alert. But silent killer diseases caused by unclean conditions like water contamination are more fatal.But we tend to neglect as we consider as part of our lives. The seriousness can be driven by the fact that one-lakh children
die of diarrhoea per annum in India as per The Global
Enteric Multicenter Study (GEMS) published in the medical journal Lancet in 2013.Therefore, fighting an enemy within and saving lives of our nation is nothing but simple and pure patriotism.
Our Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi's idea is to make development part of Jan Andolan. Similarly, Cleanliness also need to be made a Jan Andolan. Swachch Bharat shall become a People's movement… a National movement.
