Friday, January 26, 2007
Happy Republic Day
Today is 57th Republic Day of India. So its been 56 years since India became a republic nation. I had been having doubts on what is the difference between celebrating Independence day and Republic day. In school days, we had to go to school even though it is a holiday. It would be fun though. No classes will be taken and everyone would be having the flag pinned to their shirts. Though our school dont provide them, it would be the work of some patriotic students that they either buy in the near by shops or would have troubled their parents to the maximum to buy them the best flag. As for me, I dont like the idea of pinning your flag to your shirt. I was( and still I am) really patriotic that even pinning the flag would hurt me as we are making a hole on the flag. I didnt like the idea that I will always keep it in inside my pocket. Sometimes, we would get the ID card cover for keeping the Flag safe.
Coming back to the day, I didnt know the difference other than the name. No one had ever given me a proper definition for republic day. I had wondered if there is any republic day for US. I still dont know the answer. Looks like it doesnt. A search in google ends up only on republic day of India and Turkey. So for 23 years of my life, I didnt know the real meaning of Republic day. I think I learnt something in my history & Civics subject about it. But as it was for acamedic purposes and I tend to forget most of the lessons once the exams are over, I forgot that too.
Enough of this bragging. I found out the right person to ask and found out the real meaning of Republic day and why India has different days for celebrating Independence and Republic day.
And the person is none other than our wikipedia. Here is what wikipedia has to say.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic_Day#January_26th_in_India
The Constitution of India came into force, and India declared itself as a "Republic" on January 26, 1950, a date thereafter celebrated annually as Republic Day in India. The Constitution had been prepared by the Constituent Assembly which was set up upon India gaining its independence from the British in 1947. This, in fact, was a deliberate act: the 26th of January was initially India's "Independence Day", one of Mahatma Gandhi's many symbolic acts during India's Freedom Struggle against the British colonial rule, and the adoption of the Constitution on this date was felt able to strengthen its initial meaning, one calling for Indians of all ages to declare their freedom from the British Raj. It is one of three annual national holidays in India, the other two being the nation's Independence Day on August 15 (since 1947) and the birthday of Mohandas K Gandhi or Mahatma Gandhi on October 2. And so, after the disposal of the Empire of India; King George VI was the last and only "King" of the modern India
So even though India got independence from British on August 15ht 1947, we still were ruled by British till january 26th 1950. Or am I wrong again? It was governed by King George VI. So pracitally it was still with British. I am bad at politics. So I am really not sure what happened in those two and a half years. Anyway, now its clear our constitution was made only on January 26th 1950 and we are celebrating as Republic Day!
Happy Republic Day!
Coming back to the day, I didnt know the difference other than the name. No one had ever given me a proper definition for republic day. I had wondered if there is any republic day for US. I still dont know the answer. Looks like it doesnt. A search in google ends up only on republic day of India and Turkey. So for 23 years of my life, I didnt know the real meaning of Republic day. I think I learnt something in my history & Civics subject about it. But as it was for acamedic purposes and I tend to forget most of the lessons once the exams are over, I forgot that too.
Enough of this bragging. I found out the right person to ask and found out the real meaning of Republic day and why India has different days for celebrating Independence and Republic day.
And the person is none other than our wikipedia. Here is what wikipedia has to say.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic_Day#January_26th_in_India
The Constitution of India came into force, and India declared itself as a "Republic" on January 26, 1950, a date thereafter celebrated annually as Republic Day in India. The Constitution had been prepared by the Constituent Assembly which was set up upon India gaining its independence from the British in 1947. This, in fact, was a deliberate act: the 26th of January was initially India's "Independence Day", one of Mahatma Gandhi's many symbolic acts during India's Freedom Struggle against the British colonial rule, and the adoption of the Constitution on this date was felt able to strengthen its initial meaning, one calling for Indians of all ages to declare their freedom from the British Raj. It is one of three annual national holidays in India, the other two being the nation's Independence Day on August 15 (since 1947) and the birthday of Mohandas K Gandhi or Mahatma Gandhi on October 2. And so, after the disposal of the Empire of India; King George VI was the last and only "King" of the modern India
So even though India got independence from British on August 15ht 1947, we still were ruled by British till january 26th 1950. Or am I wrong again? It was governed by King George VI. So pracitally it was still with British. I am bad at politics. So I am really not sure what happened in those two and a half years. Anyway, now its clear our constitution was made only on January 26th 1950 and we are celebrating as Republic Day!
Happy Republic Day!
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