Sixty eight years back, a salute of 21 guns and the unfurling of the Indian National flag by Dr. Rajendra Prasad heralded the historic birth of the Indian Republic on January 26, 1950. 26th of January has become a red-letter-day in the history of our nation. Celebrating Republic Day every year is the great honour for the people living in India as well as people of India in abroad. The word republic means a country that is ruled by people, elected by the people of that nation. Former Prime Minister of India Atal Behari Vajpayee had said “India has no dearth of brave young men and women and if they get the opportunity and help then we can compete with other nations in space exploration and one of them will fulfil her dreams.”
Though India became a free nation on August 15, 1947, it enjoyed the true spirit of Independence on January 26, 1950 when the Constitution of India finally came into force. Attaining independence and becoming a republic nation was the biggest challenge that India had to face in the 20th century.
The seeds for a republic were sown by Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru in the Lahore session of the Indian National Congress, held in the midnight of December 31, 1929 – January 1, 1930. People who were fighting for Independence of India took a pledge on the same day in 1930 at the banks of Ravi river in the Lahore to achieve a complete independence (means Poorna Swarajya) of India which was accomplished on 15th of August 1947.
The Constitution of India came into force on 26th of January in 1950, so we celebrate this day as the Republic Day every year. The fundamental rights and duties of the people of the Republic in India have been laid down in our constitution. Every citizen of India is equal in the eye of law, and no one will suffer because of religion, creed, caste, colour or race. Today is the best day when we should take an oath to preserve our country’s real meaning, position, status and most importantly culture of humanity. During the British Rule, two great personalities such as Mahatma Gandhi and Rabindranath Tagore gave the same message of peace, love, unity and equality. Republic Day conveys a message that India is one nation for all its citizens, whether they are Hindu, Muslims, Sikh or Christian.
(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)
