India Celebrates Republic Day
Republic Day Parade (everydaysaholiday.org)
India is celebrating on Wednesday the Day of Republic in an atmosphere of peace in the province of Kashmir, after police blocked Hindu nationalists and Muslim separatists by forbidding them to raise any other flags than the Indian one.
For that purpose, thousands of security forces have kept India’s main opposition party Bharatiya Janata Party under control in Srinagar, the capital of Kashmir state, as the members of this party wanted to raise the flag of India in a square frequented by anti-Indian protesters.
Republic Day (daily-india-live.com)
The Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front wanted to raise a flag of their movement besides the national flag of India.
A leader of this party was arrested as he was leading a group of protesters in the streets of Srinagar.
In order to prevent clashes between groups, police imposed a curfew on Wednesday in the region.
Security measures were employed in the capital of India, New Delhi, where a military parade was held.
The security forces had been asking Bharatiya Janata Party leaders to call off their rally for fear that it could trigger some violent responses.
More than a 100 people died over the past year in Kashmir in a wave of violence.
Authorities in India began on Sunday sealing all roads and entry points in the state, making sure that the Hindu nationalists don’t arrive at Srinagar.
BJP said the march was intended to promote national unity in a region where separatist insurgency against Indian rule is very powerful.
However, the Prime Minister of the country, Manmohan Singh, said that raising the national flag would have promoted a “divisive agenda.”
The Republic Day in India celebrates January 26, 1950, when the Constitution came into force replacing the Government of India Act in 1935.
On the occasion, all Indians chant Jana Gana Mana, The National Anthem of India, composed by Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore, and sung for the first time in 1911, at the opening of the Indian Congress session.
Jana Gana Mana has been proclaimed by UNESCO the most beautiful anthem in the world, and indeed it is so. Enjoy it!
