 "More than 3,000 men of the Indian Armed Forces marched in front of President Dr Rajendra Prasad as India celebrated its first Republic Day on 26 January 1950. Image courtesy: @IndiaHistorypic/X")
Today (26 January), India marks its 76th Republic Day and President Droupadi Murmu will lead the nation’s celebrations from Kartavya Path in New Delhi. The grand R-Day parade, which starts at 10.30 am, will exhibit India’s military might and its vibrant diversity.
This year, the theme is “Swarnim Bharat: Virasat aur Vikas” (Golden India: Legacy and Progress), which will highlight India’s rich cultural legacy and hopes for a brighter future.
As we celebrate today 75 years as a sovereign democratic republic and gear ourselves for a grand and majestic parade down Kartavya Path , let’s turn back the pages to revisit India’s first Republic Day celebrations.
India’s first R-Day parade in 1950
India became an independent country in 1947. However, two years later it was yet to sever all ties with the British Empire. It remained a British dominion, governed by the British-era Government of India Act of 1935, and officially still owing allegiance to the Crown.
However, this changed on 26 January 1950. It was on this very day that India’s newly drafted Constitution came into effect and the country became a sovereign republic.
It was decided by the leaders of the country then that India would hold a military parade on the day to commemorate this moment and to instil national pride in the hearts and minds of the people. It was also decided that India’s first president, Dr Rajendra Prasad, would take his oath at the parade.
According to historians, 26 January 1950, was a chilly Thursday morning and there was excitement in the air and among the people. The preparations were going on for weeks for the big day, the participants were rehearsing for the events on the historic day.
Chakravarti Rajagopalachari, the 34th and last governor-general of India, announced the birth of the Republic of India on 26 January.
After his oath ceremony, the first president of India addressed the crowd in Hindi and then in English.
“Today, for the first time in our long and chequered history we find the whole of this vast land… brought together under the jurisdiction of one constitution and one union which takes over responsibility for the welfare of more than 320 million men and women who inhabit it”, Dr Prasad was quoted as saying by BBC.
The Republic Day parade also had a chief guest in the form of then-Indonesian president Sukarno.
After being sworn in as the president, began the parade at the Irwin Amphitheatre opposite the Purana Qila, now known as the Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium.
Noted historian Ramchandra Guha in his book, India After Gandhi, writes that more than 3,000 men of the Indian Armed Forces marched in front of the president.
Moreover, after inspection of the parade by the President, the Artillery, fired a 31-gun salute, in three instalments. Notably, between these instalments, the parade fired a ‘Feu-de-joie’ or the fire of joy — a formal celebratory gunfire — thrice and then gave three ‘jais’ to the President of the Republic. Indian Air Force’s Liberator planes flew overhead, to end this amazing spectacle.
Following this, the President’s horse-drawn carriage entered the stadium and escorted President Dr Prasad back to Government House (now Rashtrapati Bhawan).
Changes in the R-Day parade
Until 1954, the Republic Day parade continued to be held at the Irwin Stadium and it was only in 1955 that the location shifted to Rajpath, now known as Kartavya Path.
In the late 1950s and early ’60s, India also began to witness linguistic tensions, as the Centre tried to implement Hindi as the national language. Realising this unrest, the government then introduced a cultural aspect to the parade, by introducing tableaux and flotillas.
This made the parade not only more cultural and colourful but also longer. As historian Srinath Raghavan said to the BBC, “For Indians, the parade was primarily a symbolic affair that reinforced their identity as part of a powerful republic.”
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And as the years passed by, the parades became a beautiful spectacle.
Commander Lieutenant General Bhavnish Kumar will lead the 90-minute parade. The parade commander is a second-generation officer. Major General Sumit Mehta, Chief of Staff, HQ Delhi Area will be the parade second-in-command. Thirty-one tableaux will roll down Kartavya Path; there will also be a cultural performance by 5,000 artists.
This year, some attractions will make the parade unmissable. For the first time, the parade will showcase a tri-services tableau, depicting a Joint Operations Room, to be used as a common point of communication among three services.
Tank T-90 (Bhishma); NAG Missile System along with BMP-2 Sarath; BrahMos; Pinaka Multi-launcher Rocket System, Agnibaan Multi-barrel Rocket Launcher; Akash Weapon System; Integrated Battlefield Surveillance System; All-Terrain Vehicle (Chetak), Light Specialist Vehicle (Bajrang), Vehicle Mounted Infantry Mortar System (Airawat), Quick Reaction Force Vehicles (Nandighosh & Tripurantak) and Short-Span Bridging System will also be on display at the Kartavya Path.
Like in 1950, the chief guest this year is from Indonesia, President Prabowo Subianto. Military contingents from his country will also participate in a march past, making it the first time an Indonesian marching and band contingent is participating in a national day parade abroad.
With inputs from agencies