News Analysis India

Tag: Independence Day

  • Fatehpur Sikri to Gandhi’s birthplace: Sites where ASI will hoist tricolour on Independence Day

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: From Lucknow’s historic Residency, place of key events during the 1857 Sepoy Mutiny, to Mahatma Gandhi’s birthplace in Porbander, Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) is gearing up to hoist the national flag at the sites of 150 of its monuments on Independence Day, officials said on Saturday.

    Besides, logistical work is also being done for illumination of 150 monuments in a tricolour theme, which is expected to start in a few days.

    “Our national flag would be hoisted at ASI sites spanning the length and breadth of the country in the true spirit of India’s diversity and the Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav.

    They will be hoisted at Fatehpur Sikri and Agra Fort in our Agra Circle.

    In Delhi, the tricolour will flutter high at the ruins of Kotla Feroz Shah and Purana Qila,” a senior official told PTI.

    Taj Mahal, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is not in the list of monument sites where the national flag would be hoisted on August 15, he said.

    The main Independence Day celebrations takes places annually at Red Fort where the Prime Minister hoists the national flag on the ramparts of the Mughal-era monument.

    It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, besides Qutub Minar and Humayun’s Tomb, in Delhi.

    The national flag will be hoisted at 150 heritage sites across India on Independence Day to mark the Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav, an ASI official had said on Thursday.

    Freedom fighters and Padma awardees will attend the programmes and flag hoisting ceremony, it had said.

    The central government has launched a ‘Har Ghar Tiranga’ campaign under which people are being encouraged to hoist the tricolour at their houses as part of the 75 years of India’s Independence.

    Among other sites where the tricolour would be hoisted include British-era Residency in Lucknow, Faizabad’s Gulab Bari, Fort Vellore (Chennai Circle), Warangal Fort (Hyderabad Circle) and Fort, Chitradurga (Bangalore Circle), the official said.

    “Our national flag would also be hoisted at Gandhiji’s birthplace in Gujarat’s Porbander, Akhnoor Fort, Ramnagar Palace, iconic Thiksay Monastery in Leh, Ajanta Ellora Caves site, Harappan-era Dholavira site, and several other monuments,” the official added.

    The flags at these 150 sites would stay there beyond August 15, though it has not been immediately decided if they will become a permanent fixture, officials said.

    Other sites include Daulatabad, Shergarh, Bhangarh, Jaisalmer Fort, Daman Fort, Diu Fort and Pavagarh.

    On the illumination of 150 monuments, the official said, trials are underway at newer sites.

    Hundred monuments were lit up when India’s COVID-19 vaccination programme had crossed the 100-crore milestone of doses being administered, and that experience has come handy, as we know already the exact pattern we require in consonance with the architectural glory of the monument, the official added.

    For UNESCO World Heritage Sites, there area guidelines which are followed, sources said.

    There are a total of 3,693 heritage sites in India protected by the ASI.

    Also, as part of the Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav, the Union culture ministry had announced free entry for visitors, domestic and foreign, to all ASI-protected monuments and sites across the country from August 5 to 15.

    Besides, flag hoisting and illumination, 37 circles of ASI will conduct different programmes such as tree plantation drives, school ‘samvaads’, lectures, and raising awareness among school children, as part of the celebrations.

    NEW DELHI: From Lucknow’s historic Residency, place of key events during the 1857 Sepoy Mutiny, to Mahatma Gandhi’s birthplace in Porbander, Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) is gearing up to hoist the national flag at the sites of 150 of its monuments on Independence Day, officials said on Saturday.

    Besides, logistical work is also being done for illumination of 150 monuments in a tricolour theme, which is expected to start in a few days.

    “Our national flag would be hoisted at ASI sites spanning the length and breadth of the country in the true spirit of India’s diversity and the Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav.

    They will be hoisted at Fatehpur Sikri and Agra Fort in our Agra Circle.

    In Delhi, the tricolour will flutter high at the ruins of Kotla Feroz Shah and Purana Qila,” a senior official told PTI.

    Taj Mahal, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is not in the list of monument sites where the national flag would be hoisted on August 15, he said.

    The main Independence Day celebrations takes places annually at Red Fort where the Prime Minister hoists the national flag on the ramparts of the Mughal-era monument.

    It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, besides Qutub Minar and Humayun’s Tomb, in Delhi.

    The national flag will be hoisted at 150 heritage sites across India on Independence Day to mark the Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav, an ASI official had said on Thursday.

    Freedom fighters and Padma awardees will attend the programmes and flag hoisting ceremony, it had said.

    The central government has launched a ‘Har Ghar Tiranga’ campaign under which people are being encouraged to hoist the tricolour at their houses as part of the 75 years of India’s Independence.

    Among other sites where the tricolour would be hoisted include British-era Residency in Lucknow, Faizabad’s Gulab Bari, Fort Vellore (Chennai Circle), Warangal Fort (Hyderabad Circle) and Fort, Chitradurga (Bangalore Circle), the official said.

    “Our national flag would also be hoisted at Gandhiji’s birthplace in Gujarat’s Porbander, Akhnoor Fort, Ramnagar Palace, iconic Thiksay Monastery in Leh, Ajanta Ellora Caves site, Harappan-era Dholavira site, and several other monuments,” the official added.

    The flags at these 150 sites would stay there beyond August 15, though it has not been immediately decided if they will become a permanent fixture, officials said.

    Other sites include Daulatabad, Shergarh, Bhangarh, Jaisalmer Fort, Daman Fort, Diu Fort and Pavagarh.

    On the illumination of 150 monuments, the official said, trials are underway at newer sites.

    Hundred monuments were lit up when India’s COVID-19 vaccination programme had crossed the 100-crore milestone of doses being administered, and that experience has come handy, as we know already the exact pattern we require in consonance with the architectural glory of the monument, the official added.

    For UNESCO World Heritage Sites, there area guidelines which are followed, sources said.

    There are a total of 3,693 heritage sites in India protected by the ASI.

    Also, as part of the Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav, the Union culture ministry had announced free entry for visitors, domestic and foreign, to all ASI-protected monuments and sites across the country from August 5 to 15.

    Besides, flag hoisting and illumination, 37 circles of ASI will conduct different programmes such as tree plantation drives, school ‘samvaads’, lectures, and raising awareness among school children, as part of the celebrations.

  • Government employees duty-bound to participate in Independence Day function: J&K administration

    By Express News Service

    SRINAGAR: The Jammu and Kashmir administration has directed government officials to attend the Independence Day function in twin capital cities of Srinagar and Jammu saying all government employees are duty-bound to participate in the I-Day functions

    “Independence Day is an important national event celebrated on August 15 every year. All government employees are duty-bound to participate in commemorating such an important turning point in the history of our nation,” reads a circular issued by Principal Secretary to Government Manoj Kumar Dwivedi.

    In the circular, all the officers above the rank of Under Secretaries stationed at Srinagar or Jammu were enjoined upon to attend the main function of the Independence Day at the Jammu & Kashmir Cricket Stadium, Sonawar, Srinagar or Maulana Azad Stadium, Jammu respectively, as part of their official duty.

    “Any absence shall be only permissible with prior permission of their immediate superior,” it stated.

    All the Administrative Secretaries, Heads of the Departments, Managing Directors/Chief Executives of the Public Sector Undertakings have also been directed to ensure that all officers working under their administrative control, and stationed at Srinagar or Jammu, attend the function at their respective places.

    The government is expecting an attendance of 15,000 people at the Bakshi Stadium in Srinagar, where the main Independence Day function would be held in the Union Territory. This where Lt Governor Manoj Sinha will unfurl the tricolor.

    SRINAGAR: The Jammu and Kashmir administration has directed government officials to attend the Independence Day function in twin capital cities of Srinagar and Jammu saying all government employees are duty-bound to participate in the I-Day functions

    “Independence Day is an important national event celebrated on August 15 every year. All government employees are duty-bound to participate in commemorating such an important turning point in the history of our nation,” reads a circular issued by Principal Secretary to Government Manoj Kumar Dwivedi.

    In the circular, all the officers above the rank of Under Secretaries stationed at Srinagar or Jammu were enjoined upon to attend the main function of the Independence Day at the Jammu & Kashmir Cricket Stadium, Sonawar, Srinagar or Maulana Azad Stadium, Jammu respectively, as part of their official duty.

    “Any absence shall be only permissible with prior permission of their immediate superior,” it stated.

    All the Administrative Secretaries, Heads of the Departments, Managing Directors/Chief Executives of the Public Sector Undertakings have also been directed to ensure that all officers working under their administrative control, and stationed at Srinagar or Jammu, attend the function at their respective places.

    The government is expecting an attendance of 15,000 people at the Bakshi Stadium in Srinagar, where the main Independence Day function would be held in the Union Territory. This where Lt Governor Manoj Sinha will unfurl the tricolor.

  • Indian railways commence week-long iconic celebration ‘Aazadi Ki Rail Gadi aur Stations’

    Express News Service

    NEW DELHI: As part of the ongoing nationwide celebration of 75 years of independence, the Indian Railways started a week-long iconic celebration called “Aazadi Ki Rail Gadi aur Stations” on Monday with much fanfare. This iconic celebration will continue till July 23 at 75 selected railway stations, associated with the freedom struggle. 

    Sharing details, ADGPR Railway Rajiv Jain said that the iconic celebration will throw light on the railway stations and the trains having historical importance.

    “VK Tripathy, CEO-cum-chairman of Railway Board, inaugurated the week-long iconic celebration virtually from Rail Bhawan. The railway has identified 75 railway stations and 27 trains that are associated with the freedom struggle, “Jain said.

    Tripathy, after inaugurating this first-of-its-kind activity in the railways, said: “As part of the Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav, the event called ‘Azadi Ki Rail Gadi aur Stations” will be held during the week marked as iconic week ensuring ‘Jan-Bhagidari’ (people’s participation)”. 

    Through this kind of event, the railway will showcase the convergence of the values and glories of the freedom struggle with the aspirations and dreams of a young and iconic India.

    Dwelling upon the event, Jain further said that 75 railway stations have been identified as ‘Freedom Stations’ across 24 states, while 27 trains for spotlighting.

    A number of cultural activities, including street plays in local languages, light and sound shows and screening of video films and rendering of patriotic songs, would be organised for a week.

    At each of 75 identified ‘Freedom-Stations’, the railway has set up ‘selfi points’ in the backdrop of ‘Azadi Ki Rail Gadi’ and on July 23, 22 family members of freedom fighters from the respective areas will be invited to the stations to recall and share their stories.

    “One of the memorable activities is that 27 identified trains will be flagged off by freedom fighters’ family from the originating stations of concerned trains,” said Jain.

    NEW DELHI: As part of the ongoing nationwide celebration of 75 years of independence, the Indian Railways started a week-long iconic celebration called “Aazadi Ki Rail Gadi aur Stations” on Monday with much fanfare. This iconic celebration will continue till July 23 at 75 selected railway stations, associated with the freedom struggle. 

    Sharing details, ADGPR Railway Rajiv Jain said that the iconic celebration will throw light on the railway stations and the trains having historical importance.

    “VK Tripathy, CEO-cum-chairman of Railway Board, inaugurated the week-long iconic celebration virtually from Rail Bhawan. The railway has identified 75 railway stations and 27 trains that are associated with the freedom struggle, “Jain said.

    Tripathy, after inaugurating this first-of-its-kind activity in the railways, said: “As part of the Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav, the event called ‘Azadi Ki Rail Gadi aur Stations” will be held during the week marked as iconic week ensuring ‘Jan-Bhagidari’ (people’s participation)”. 

    Through this kind of event, the railway will showcase the convergence of the values and glories of the freedom struggle with the aspirations and dreams of a young and iconic India.

    Dwelling upon the event, Jain further said that 75 railway stations have been identified as ‘Freedom Stations’ across 24 states, while 27 trains for spotlighting.

    A number of cultural activities, including street plays in local languages, light and sound shows and screening of video films and rendering of patriotic songs, would be organised for a week.

    At each of 75 identified ‘Freedom-Stations’, the railway has set up ‘selfi points’ in the backdrop of ‘Azadi Ki Rail Gadi’ and on July 23, 22 family members of freedom fighters from the respective areas will be invited to the stations to recall and share their stories.

    “One of the memorable activities is that 27 identified trains will be flagged off by freedom fighters’ family from the originating stations of concerned trains,” said Jain.

  • Agra’s religious leader, son booked for dishonouring national flag: Police

    By PTI

    AGRA: A religious leader of Agra and his son, a government teacher in a madrasa, have been booked for allegedly objecting to the hoisting of the national flag in the Islamic educational institution on Independence Day here, police said on Wednesday.

    Agra’s shahar mufti (city’s religious leader) Abdul Khubaib Roomi and his son Hammdul Kuddus, a UP government teacher for madrasas, were booked on charges of insulting the national flag and anthem under the Prevention of Insult to National Honour Act, 1971, Mantola Police Station’s SHO Vinod Kumar said.

    The two have also been slapped the charges of making imputations prejudicial to the national integration (section 153 B), statements conducing to public mischief (505) and causing public alarm (S 505 (1b) of the Indian Penal Code, the SHO said.

    The case was lodged on the complaint of the chairman of a local Islamic body, Haji Aslam Qureshi, on Tuesday night, Kumar said.

    He said the complaint was lodged after an audio clip of the father-son duo, objecting to the hoisting of the Tricolour and singing of the national anthem during the Independence Day function inside the madrasa, where Kuddus taught, went viral on social media.

    The two had objected to the holding of the function inside the madrasa, located within Agra’s Jama Masjid, as an un-Islamic act with Shahar Mufti saying “this will invite the wrath of the God,” Kumar added, quoting from the audio clip.

    The Independence Day function was presided over by UP Minority Commission chairperson, Ashfaq Saifi, a BJP leader.

    “I was invited by the madrasa’s manager Munawwar Khan Hussain to hoist the flag and address students on the occasion. So, I took part and hoisted the flag. The national anthem was sung and I also addressed students,” Saifi said.

    “After the event, I got to know of the audio clip purported to be that of the Shahr Mufti in which he had declared the flag hoisting within the madrasa as un-Islamic,” he said.

    “The shahar mufti should have apologized to the nation and withdrawn his statement,” he added.

    The shahar mufti did not respond to the calls by PTI.

    The national vice president of the All India Jamiatul Qureshi, Haji Jamilluddin Qureshi, supported the mufti, saying his motto was not to disrespect the national flag.

  • MP: Video shows woman being taken off stage after she chants ‘Bharat Mata ki jai’

    By PTI

    INDORE: A video purportedly showing a young woman being removed from the stage after she raised ‘Bharat Mata ki jai’ and ‘Jai Shri Ram’ slogans during an Independence Day function here has gone viral on social media.

    The incident occurred in Rajbada area of the city on Sunday during the event that was organised by a local resident named Bilal Khan, sources said.

    After the video started making rounds on social media, BJP MLA Malini Laxman Singh Gaud on Wednesday demanded legal action against the persons responsible for taking the woman off stage and said that “Taliban culture” will not be allowed in the country.

    In the video, the young woman is heard raising slogans of ‘Bharat Mata ki jai’ and then chanting ‘Jai Jai Shri Ram’.

    Following this, some youths from the audience stand up and start raising ‘Ya Hussain’ slogans.

    The video then shows some people arguing with the woman following the sloganeering, after which a policeman intervenes and she is taken off stage.

    Talking to reporters, MLA Gaud said, “I have seen this video today. The incident of the young woman being taken off the stage is shameful and we condemn the misbehaviour with her.”

    Talibani culture will not be allowed in this country and legal action should be taken against the people who took the girl off the stage, she said.

    Gaud said, “People living in India will have to chant ‘Bharat mata ki jai’ and ‘Vande Mataram’. Those who do not do so should be thrown out of here.”

    Sarafa police station in-charge Sunil Sharma told PTI that the woman had expressed a wish to speak during the Independence Day function, but the people present there opposed the controversial part of her speech.

    He said that the woman remained on the stage for a few minutes only and left soon after the uproar while the organisers of the event brought the situation under control.

    Police have registered a case under IPC section 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant) against Bilal Khan and others for organising the programme without permission of the administration, Sharma added.

  • UP: School principal suspended for not following norms for hoisting tricolour on I-Day

    By PTI

    BALLIA: The principal of a primary school here has been suspended for allegedly not following norms for hoisting the national flag on Independence Day, officials said on Tuesday.

    A detailed probe has also been ordered in the matter, they said.

    Basic Education Officer Shiv Narain Singh said he received a complaint that a primary school in Kharsara here did not follow norms for hoisting the national flag on Independence Day.

    It came to the fore that after hoisting the tricolour on Independence Day on Sunday, it was not brought down, he said.

    On the report of Block Education Officer Prabhat Kumar Srivastava, the school principal, Bindu Gaur, was suspended, Singh said.

    A detailed probe has been ordered in the matter and Srivastava has been asked to submit his report within 15 days, he said.

  • MP: FIRs against 24 people over clash between two groups during Independence Day function; two held

    By PTI

    INDORE: Police registered two FIRs against 24 people in connection with a clash and sloganeering during the Independence Day programme at a residential complex here in Madhya Pradesh and arrested two persons, an official said on Monday.

    Two persons were injured after members of one group hurled stones at another following an argument over alleged provocative sloganeering during the Independence Day function at the multi-storey residential complex on Sunday, police had said.

    Following the incident, both the sides lodged cross-FIRs against each other, Tejaji Nagar police station in-charge RD Kanwa said, adding the cases were registered under section 147 (Punishment for rioting) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

    One of the First Information Reports (FIRs) mentioned names of 19 persons and the other of five persons, he said.

    The accused persons named in the FIRs are being identified based on video clips, he said.

    The members of both the groups are residents of the same building, the police had said.

    Eyewitnesses had said that activists of Bajrang Dal reached the spot and registered their protest over the incident of stone-pelting.

  • UP: Video of DM hoisting national flag upside down goes viral, he says it happened during trial

    By PTI

    LUCKNOW; A video of the district magistrate of Auraiya in Uttar Pradesh hoisting the national flag upside down went viral on Sunday, but the officer claimed it happened during a trial.

    In the video clip, District Magistrate Sunil Kumar Verma can be seen hoisting the flag wrongly as people sing the national anthem.

    When contacted, Verma told PTI, “We were conducting the trial of flag hoisting when it was hoisted upside down, but its video and photograph went viral. The trial takes place around 7.45 am, while the actual flag hoisting takes place at 8 am.”

    He alleged that the local media deliberately spread photographs and video of the flag being wrongly hoisted.

    “It was a deliberate mischief,” he said.

    “My fault was that I was undertaking the trial. If anybody else had done the trial, it would not have become an issue,” he added.

  • MP minister Prem Singh Patel falls ill hours before Independence Day event; airlifted to Bhopal

    By PTI

    BURHANPUR: Madhya Pradesh Social Justice Minister Prem Singh Patel, who fell ill on Sunday hours before he was supposed to hoist the national flag at the Independence Day function in Burhanpur in the morning and later airlifted to Bhopal, was discharged from a private hospital in the state capital in the night, his aide said.

    Patel was flown to Bhopal around 4 pm after which he was rushed to a private hospital where he underwent more tests.

    “He has some minor heart problems. Patelji has returned to his bungalow after he felt good,” his personal secretary Amar Singh Rawat told PTI.

    Patel, guardian minister of Burhanpur, arrived here on Saturday evening for the Independence Day flag hoisting function.

    The minister complained of chest pains around 2 am on Sunday, following which a team of doctors conducted some tests and treated him, Burhanpur’s Chief Medical and Health Officer Dr M P Garg had said.

    “He was advised to rest. At around 7 am, a medical team visited him again. The minister complained of chest pain and uneasiness. He was taken to a private hospital around 10 am. The minister had insisted on getting an advanced health checkup done in Bhopal, following which he was airlifted to the state capital,” the official said.

    District Collector Praveen Singh hoisted the national flag at the main function here, he added.

  • CPI(M) celebrates Independence Day on grand scale, hits out at PM Modi

    By PTI

    KOLKATA: The CPI(M) celebrated Independence Day on a grand scale, hoisting the tricolour at all its party offices across West Bengal on Sunday.

    Left Front chairman Biman Bose hoisted the national flag at the party’s state headquarters in Alimuddin Street in Kolkata as the national anthem was played in the background.

    Politburo member Md Salim and central committee member Sujan Chakraborty were present along with other members of the party.

    As Bose hoisted the flag, it got entangled and unfurled top-down, but soon it was rectified.

    “This time the Central Committee asked all the party offices to hoist the tricolour as part of our decision to observe the 15th August in a grand manner on the 75th anniversary of Independence,” Chakraborty told PTI.

    In the past, the party used to mainly organise programmes like human chains to foster national integration on this day, while different wings of the CPI(M) used to hoist the national flag on their own, he said.

    In a resolution passed in the first week of August, the Central Committee decided that the party will observe the 75th anniversary, emphasising the role of the Communists in the freedom movement and its contribution in the building of modern India.

    “On the 75th year of Independence, the country faces bigger dangers — the threat from Hindutva forces, the threat of communalism,” Chakraborty said, explaining the decision to celebrate the day on a grand scale.

    “We will not confine our activities by organising human chains only. We will project the significance of the day throughout the year in a sustained manner,” he added.

    The national flag was also hoisted at CPIM offices across the state by local leaders.

    The party also described Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Independence Day speech as being full of “rhetoric, empty slogans and disinformation” and lacking in any reassurance for the people.

    Outlining the roadmap for a new and assertive India, Modi on Sunday announced a slew of development programmes, including a landmark Rs 100 lakh crore ‘Gatishakti’ initiative to boost infrastructure and employment opportunities.

    In his eighth consecutive address from the ramparts of Red Fort on the 75th Independence Day, Modi called for making the next 25 years glorious for India with “new thresholds, aspirations and dreams” in the run up to the centenary of its independence from British colonial rule.

    “Rhetoric, empty slogans & disinformation mark PMs speech. No reassurance to crores suffering from Covid mismanagement & vaccine shortages. Growing unemployment, poverty, hunger, backbreaking prices & misery. Ominous warning that our lives will continue to be ruined further,” CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury said in a tweet.

    Yechury further said India belongs to each one of us despite our differences.

    “India belong to all of us; of all faiths, castes, colours, sounds, tastes, choices, sizes and shapes. Our Freedom struggle drew this point home with great sacrifices. We must vanquish the horror of hate. Jai Hind. Inquilab Zindabad,” he said.

    Yechury also posted a picture of the nine founding Politburo members of the party and hailed them as “freedom fighters”.

    “In sharp contrast to the RSS that not only refused to be part of the freedom struggle but, at crucial times, collaborated with the British. India’s revolutionary freedom fighters,” said Yechury.

    CPI general secretary D Raja in a separate statement said that while the saffron party accused the Left of not celebrating Independence Day, it is the RSS that “played no role” in the freedom struggle.

    “Today, under the BJP rule, even our democratic structure faces challenges. Our party fought and played a frontline role in liberating the country from British rule, today we should take a pledge to fight and liberate the country from the BJP rule,” said Raja.