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

MEERUT
years, and these religious martyrs were hurried away to
their prisons, bending under the heavy prisoners' chains !
What sign their compatriots made to these religious
martyrs at the time, the future will soon unfold. This
sign must have encouraged them ! We will destroy the
foreign slavery, under which to refuse cartridges mixed
with the blood of cows and pigs is an offence punishable
with ten years' hard labour ! We will soon break not only
the chains tightening round your legs but also the chains
of slavery riveted for one hundred years round the
feet of our dear Motherland ! This must have been the
meaning of the sign that they made.
This was in the morning. The Sepoys could not
possibly control themselves any longer. They returned
to their barracks, smarting inwardly under the insult and
shame of seeing their brethren being imprisoned by foreig-
ners for what was nothing more than an act of self-respect
in defence of their religion. When they strolled out in
the bazaars, the womenfolk of the town said to them
scornfully, “ Your brothers are in prison, and you are
lounging about here killing flies ! Fie upon your life ! ”³
How could they, already chafing under injury, hear wo-
men taunting them so in the open street, and still remain
doing nothing ? All over the lines that night there was
a number of secret meetings of the Sepoys. Were they
to wait now till the 31st of May ? Were they to sit like
dummies, while their compatriots were rotting in prisons?
Were they going to wait till others rose, when even the
women and children of the town were calling them traitors
in the streets? The 31st was yet very far off, and were they
to remain till then under the banner of the Feringhis ?
No, no. To-morrow is Sunday, and before the sun of
to-morrow sets, the chains of these patriots must be
smashed, the chains of the Motherland must be smashed,
and the banner of Independence must wave forth ! Im-
3. J. C. Wilson.
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