१८५७ का स्वातन्त्र्य समर (वीर विनायक दामोदर सावरकर - अंग्रेजों द्वारा छपने से पूर्व प्रतिबन्धित महाग्रन्थ)

THE VOLCANO
cartridges was started early in January and, before the
month had ended, the Government had to yield on yet
another point—a fresh regulation allowed the soldiers to
use the fat they themselves prepared. Further, Birch, at
the same time, by means of another Government memo-
randum, assured all the sepoys that not a single objection-
able cartridge had been sent into the army ! The Prince
of Lies could not have been more versatile ! Twenty-two
thousand and five-hundred cartridges from the Umballa
depôt alone and fourteen thousand from the Sialkot depôt
had been already sent in 1856 ! In the rifle classes in
various places, even at that very moment, practice in the
use of these cartridges was being given ! In the Gurkha
Regiments, the cartridges were being openly introduced !
And military authorities used to threaten the sepoys that
they would be physically forced to use the cartridges.
Why, in one or two places, when the sepoys were obsti-
nate in their refusal to use these cartridges, whole regi-
ments were punished severely.
So, the sepoys determined that, whether they had to
use these cartridges or not, they would not rest quiet until
they had destroyed this political slavery and this depend-
ence which was at the root of all this trouble. What reli-
gion can a slave have ? The first step towards Dharma is
to be a free man of a free country.
Rise, then, O Hindusthan, rise ! Even as Shri Ram-
das exhorted "Die for Dharma ; while dying, kill all your
enemies and win back Swarajya ; while killing, kill well."
Murmuring such sentiments to himself, every sepoy in
India began to sharpen his sword for the fight for Swa-
dharma and Swarajya !
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