Kim Il Sung, the Sun of 20th century

Prof.( Dr.) S. P. Pathak,

Director, Board of Directors,ARIJI (india)

President, Society for the Study of Kimilsung-Kimjongilism of India

It is indeed too stupendous a task to encapsule the feats of Comrade Kim Il sung as his contribution to the world as such cannot be encompassed in a brief note. Still I shall try to do it as far as possible begging your forgiveness to have mentioned only some of his great contribution to the human race.

This great star emerged in the far eastern part of this planet in Mangyongdae a village in the suburb of Pyongyang on April 15, 1912. Right from the early years this child prodigy was extremely pained to see the pitiable condition of his people being ill treated by the foreign rulers-Japanese, He was very much inspired by his father who detested the cruel Japanese rule over his country.

Our Great Leader was a devout patriot who stood against the Japanese rule right from his boyhood. At a tender age he formed Down with the Imperialist Union and later also was an activist in Anti-Imperialist League and Anti-Japanese Peoples’ guerrilla Army. In short he was revolution personified. His sincerity, devotion and unalloyed love for the Fatherland and burning ambition to liberate his Fatherland from the tyrannical rule of the Japanese attracted the people and his most colorful adolescent and youthful days were fully devoted in the efforts to liberate the Fatherland from the foreign yoke. And ultimately his efforts raised an army of devoted people whose sole aim was to live and die for the fatherland So much so that we read about the singing stones, singing barks of the tree that he people used to pass on the secret messages through these stones and the barks of the trees. It may look to be very simple and laughable but a connoisseur can find the fire that Comrade Kim Il Sung generated in the hearts of the people to liberate the Fatherland. Ultimately the cruel Japanese had to leave the shores of the Fatherland bag and baggage and Korea attained its Independence. On August 15, 1945 it emerged as an Independent Nation.

Ostensibly the aim was realized but our Eternal President was a ma of exceptional wisdom and had a remarkable vision. The great President Knew that the common goal which tied his men together (achieve independence) was attained and hence they were to be provided with an ideal to be realized. In 2 order to bring about that unifying force which would give continuous inspiration to his people and thus put them on the path of progress and advancement he put forth his Juche idea; gave it more momentum so that his people would have an ideology to gain more strength.

And in this context he highlighted the Juche Philosophy. Its main tenets are INDEPENDENCE, CREATIVITY and CONSCIOUSNESS.

The great President says that independence is an attribute of man. In other words he said that man must have his Independence. In his own words:

“Independence is an attribute of Man who is desirous of living freely as master of the world.”

Here he was one with great men and thinkers all over this planet. Independence is an attribute of man was underscored by great philosophers across the world from time to time; for instance Rousseau the great French philosopher says: “Man is born free…….” Abraham Lincoln said that as he would not be a slave so he would not be a master. In my country the great freedom fighter Bal Gangadhar Tilak said that freedom was his birth right and that he would have it. A Hindi poet says figuratively that the birds put in a cage lament over their plight. They say that they are the birds of open sky and their wings would be crushed by the golden bars of their cage. All over the world in different regions from time to time, the people, if enslaved by the tyrants, did fight against the tyrant rulers to attain their freedom, How much freedom or independence is dear to the man can be gauged by this English saying:

“ It is better to rule in hell than to serve in Heaven.”

In short the great President knew this fact well and hence he propagated it through his Immortal Juche.

The Eternal President then talked about Creativity another tenet of his immortal Juche philosophy.

He says that Creativity is another innate quality of man keeping in consonance with his basic urge to be independent. It contributes to the well-being of his (Individuals) country and his people. In continuation I may say that creativity also has reference to create wealth or produce more for the sustenance and well being of the men. It clearly is a clarion call to his people to be up and doing and contribute to the prosperity of the Fatherland.

The next tenet is Consciousness. The president brought home to people the fact that they should be alive or conscious about their plight. While his people were groaning under the cruel rule they were not by and large conscious about their 3 awful pitiable plight. Perhaps they simply thought that it was so ordained by the God or it was their Fate. To make my point clear I may give a small story:

A wild lean, famished, thin dog incidentally entered a village. There he came across another well fed and robust dog . The village dog took airs and with great pride told the forest dog that it was leading a comfortable life. but the forest dog noticed a collar round the neck of this village dog and asked what was it. The village dog said that it was the symbol of his abject subservience to his master, but any way he was leading a comfortable life. It also invited the forest dog to come and join him. But the forest dog simply moved away.

The above parable in loudest terms give the message that it is better to rule in hell than to serve in Heaven.

Now the great Seer wanted his people to be conscious about their rights and the freedom which is the summum bonum of life.

Here another parable comes to my mind, Lord Hauman a great warrior had forgotten all about his invincible power and strength but Jamvant reminded him of his great strength. And Lord Hauman became conscious of his power and his strength. The result was that he accomplished many difficult tasks of Lord Ram.

So the great leader wanted to make his people conscious of their inner strength which was otherwise lying dormant. And indeed it was a great contribution to his people who were leading a depressed, hopeless and deprived life totally unaware of their strength.

In this way we find Juche an ideology of hope, well-being, prosperity and pride in one’s own prowess and strength.

In sum we can say that the Eternal President enlivened a sleeping people and made them aware of their intrinsic strength. In short Juche is the elixir to awaken the sleeping people and infusing in them hope, self assurance and belief in their capability .In short we can also say that it was a befitting reply to the powerful colonial rulers who used every method to perpetuate their hegemony over the simple unassuming people of the Fatherland.

Keeping the torch burning the Great General Secretary His Excellency Kim Jong Il gave his Songun Politics to the country. To equip it well with military power he gave precedence to army or military preparations and thus made the fatherland a world power in Self Defence. His Songun politics gave this nascent state the teeth to face the colonialists who, as ever, tried to subjugate it.

And even today the story continues. In the very safe hands of the present leader His Excellency Kim Jong Un the father land deals with the mightiest power on the earth at equal terms. Today Korea is keeping its flag aloft. It is dealing with the colonial powers on equal terms. The independence of the country is in safe hands. Be it said to the sagacity of His Excellency Kim Jong Un that economic development is also being adhered to in full swing. Recently the General Secretary H. E. Kim Jong Un visited in person the site of the construction of thousands of apartments for the people of the great Fatherland. In brief the all round development of the Fatherland is assured in spite of all the sanctions imposed on it by the Imperialists.