The
greatest day for all of us is 15th August ~ Indian Independence
Day. Let us celebrate 70th Independence Day of the Nation in a
grand manner.
Independence was
granted by an Act – ‘The Indian Independence Act 1947’ passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom that
partitioned British India into the two new independent dominions of India and
Pakistan. The Act received the royal assent on 18 July 1947, and Pakistan came
into being on 15 August at the same time as Indian independence. However, due
to Mountbatten's need to be in New Delhi for the transfer of power, Pakistan
celebrated its formation a day ahead on 14 August 1947 to enable the viceroy
Lord Mountbatten to attend both events !
The legislation was formulated by the government of Prime Minister
Clement Attlee and the Governor General of India Lord Mountbatten, after
representatives of the Indian National Congress, the Muslim League, and the
Sikh community came to an agreement with the Viceroy of India, on what has come to be known as the 3 June
Plan or Mountbatten Plan.
Independence
was not achieved in a day ~ nor through a single enactment. The struggle and
sacrifices encompass millions of activities right from 1757 spanning 190 years
till 1947. Many names have been forgotten, many did not receive the honours
their sacrifices deserve – may be due to doctored history. Now,
as part of the Independence Day
celebrations a week-long festival 'Bharat Parv', aimed to generate patriotic
fervour, began at the Rajpath on Friday. Static bands of the Army, the Navy and
the Air Force performed at the opening ceremony.
Rajpath (meaning
"King's Way") is a ceremonial boulevard in New Delhi, that runs from Rashtrapati Bhavan on Raisina
Hill through Vijay Chowk and India Gate to National Stadium, Delhi. The avenue
is lined on both sides by huge lawns, canals and rows of trees. Considered to
be one of the most important roads in India, it is where the annual Republic
Day parade takes place on 26th January.
Across Rajpath in
Central Delhi at the eastern end is laid a huge archway that is made of stone
and is a pride that resembles victory. The monument is raised to a height of 42
meters and is formerly known as India Gate. It is not just a tourist sport ~ a war
memorial, compared to the Arc de Triomphe in Paris. The India Gate was part of
the work of the Imperial War Graves Commission(IWGC), which came into existence
in December 1917 for building war graves and memorials to soldiers killed in
the First World War. The foundation
stone of the All-India War Memorial was laid in Feb 1921 by the visiting Duke of Connaught in a solemn
soldierly ceremony attended by Officers and Men of the Indian Army, Imperial
Service Troops, the Commander in Chief, and Chelmsford, the viceroy. The King, in his message, read out by the Duke
said "On this spot, in the central vista of the Capital of India, there
will stand a Memorial Archway, designed to keep" in the thoughts of future
generations "the glorious sacrifice of the officers and men of the Indian
Army who fought and fell". Ten
years after the foundation stone laying ceremony, on February 12, 1931, the All
India War Memorial was inaugurated by Viceroy Lord Irwin. In the decade between the laying of
foundation stone of the War memorial and its inauguration, the rail-line was
shifted to run along the Yamuna river, and the New Delhi Railway Station was opened
in 1926.
India Gate is a memorial to 82,000 soldiers of
the undivided Indian Army who died in the period 1914–21 in the First World
War, in France, Flanders, Mesopotamia, Persia, East Africa, Gallipoli and
elsewhere in the Near and the Far East, and the Third Anglo-Afghan War. 13,300
servicemen's names, including some soldiers and officers from the United
Kingdom, are inscribed on the gate. In 1971,
following the Bangladesh Liberation war, a small simple structure, consisting
of a black marble plinth, with reversed rifle, capped by war helmet, bounded by
four eternal flames, was built beneath the soaring Memorial Archway. This
structure, called Amar Jawan Jyoti, or the Flame of the Immortal Soldier, since
1971 has served as India's Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
The pillar along
with whole monument representing the gate of India is built over the stone
platform including Red Bharatpur stone along with the cornice elements
alsoavailable. If you have a look at the monument, you will find that INDIA in
bold letters is encrypted on either ends of the monument. You will also find
the signs of XIX along with MCM. Throughout the walls of India Gate right from
top to bottom are scripted the names of all those soldiers who have sacrificed
their lives during the World War 1 as well as those of other names who have
given their lives in Afghan war.
Many of
you for sure know these details ~ for the others, next time, you visit New
Delhi, make it a point to go to this great place, stand silently before the
arch, think of our valiant soldiers who protect our motherland with their
sacrifices.
Jai Hind.
Jai Jawan, Bharat Mata ki Jai.
With regards – S.
Sampathkumar
14th Aug 2016.
