Rekindling the waning patriotism

​Jammikunta (Karimnagar): Come 8 am, August 15 as the loudspeakers across Jammikunta town, 185 kms northeast of State capital Hyderabad, come to life playing Jana Gana Mana, the local populace will come to a standstill à la in Thailand, where people no matter what they are doing, hang on and pay their respects to their national anthem.

In a bid to instil a sense of patriotism in each and every one, the Jammikunta police have come up with an action plan that perhaps the country had never witnessed before. The plan is to play Jana Gana Mana through loudspeakers set up in all corners of the town at 8 am every day starting with the upcoming Independence Day, make people to stop from what they are doing and pay their respect to the national anthem.

It may be noted here that Thais no matter what they are doing stop their work and pay respect to their national anthem, called ‘Pheng Chat Thai’, twice a day – 8 am and 6 pm. The anthem is also played on all the local televisions, radio stations and at all public places there.

Revealing his plan to The Hans India, Jammikunta Inspector Pingili Prashanth Reddy said: “We have taken up this programme to revive the waning patriotism among the people. Instead of twice a year – Independence Day and Republic Day – affair that we follow, saluting the nation daily creates a sense of unity and integrity.”

“Anyway our police station (PS) like any other in Karimnagar Police Commissionerate is carrying flag hosting daily and why not the nationalism be a part of everyone’s life, I thought,” he said, explaining what prompted him to campaign the idea of playing Jana Gana Mana daily in the town from August 15 onwards. He thanked Karimnagar Police Commissioner VB Kamalasan Reddy for his support in this regard.

The police with the help of senior citizens and local youth associations are trying to convince the locals to hang on voluntarily wherever they are, when the 52-second national anthem starts to play at 8 am daily, he said.

The police had identified major junctions – Gandhi Chowk, bus station, rail over bridge, Murali theatre, market, Shivalayam etc to install loudspeakers. This apart, the police also planned to avoid traffic hiccups during the playing of national anthem daily. The inspector is keen to spread the activity to entire Jammikunta circle if the plan gives desired result.

Welcoming the decision, Dr Mukka Rajeshwaraiah said: “Hopefully the programme will bring back the missing element of patriotic instinct among the current generation. If campaigned well in the town that has a population of around 45,000, the effort would be a success like we stand up and pay respect to the national anthem before the start of a movie in cinema halls these days.”

It may be noted here that Jammikunta PS that looks like a corporate office is a model PS in Karimnagar Commissionerate. The police installed 60 CCTV cameras worth around Rs 42 lakh for the surveillance of the town.