 "How India’s choice of January 26 as Republic Day is linked to events that transpired in Lahore")
On Sunday, India will be celebrating its 76th Republic Day in full elan and panache. The iconic Republic Day parade will take over the capital where the Indian military, the different states and union territories will showcase their might in one way or the other. While India celebrates its Independence Day on 15th August, few may wonder why the country celebrates Republic Day months after getting independence.
To find the answer to the question one might need to dive into the country’s history. During the deep dive, an interesting aspect which will come out is the fact that the significance of the date, January 26, lies in the history of a city, which no longer is part of India.
Just 424 kilometres away from Delhi, lies the old city of Lahore in India’s neighbouring nation, Pakistan. Before the devastating partition of India in 1947 and the formation of Pakistan, Lahore saw several significant political events that became crucial to Indian history.
So here’s a look at why we celebrate Republic Day on 26th January and what the city of Lahore has to do with it.
Why does India celebrate Republic Day?
India got its Independence from the 200-year-long British rule on August 15, 1947. While Indians had the passion to build the nation, the country needed a constitution. The leaders of that time believed that the constitution would not only safeguard the rights of its citizens but would also ensure that the nation did not fall into anarchy following a power vacuum left by the fallen British Raj.
Just days after gaining independence, on August 29, 1947, the Drafting Committee was formed which was tasked with drafting the Constitution of India. Dr BR Ambedkar served as the chairman of this committee, which also had on board K.M. Munshi, Gopala Swami Ayyangar, Muhammed Saadulah, Alladi Krishnaswamy Iyer, N Madhava Rao (who replaced BL Mitter), and TT Krishnamachari (who replaced DP Khaitan).
The committee eventually presented a formal draft of the constitution to the Constituent Assembly on November 4, 1948. following this, the Assembly conducted several sessions and incorporated numerous changes to the initial draft. The constitution was finally adopted on November 26 1949 and came into effect on January 26, 1950.
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More ShortsThe turn of events that made January 26 a politically significant date
As mentioned before, the Pakistani city of Lahore played a crucial role in making January 26 a politically prominent date. Before we discuss what exactly happened on January 26, let’s take a look at the events that transpired before a historic session.
Located on the main road of Lahore, the Gulab Devi Hospital has changed over the years. for young Pakistani citizens, the name of the hospital would not ring a bell. Even many Indian nationals might have forgotten the historical significance of the building that stands tall on 40 acres of land on the other side of the border.
Constructed in the year 1934, the Gulab Devi Hospital was inaugurated by Mahatma Gandhi. The hospital was named after the mother of one of the most prominent leaders of the Indian National Congress, Lala Lajpat Rai. One of the main reasons why the hospital is in Lahore was because Gulab Devi had died of Tuberculosis in the now-Pakistani city.
Following her death, Rai formed a trust in 1927 and decided to build the hospital in his mother’s memory. However, the following year, he died after succumbing to a fatal blow to his head at the Lahore Railway Station where he was leading a protest against the Simon Commission.
The prelude to the Lahore Session
In the same year when Rai was killed, Motilal Nehru, the father of the first Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and then-president of Congress presented the Nehru Report of 1928. The report demanded dominion status for India just like the British crown granted to countries like Canada, Australia and New Zealand in 1926.
However, the report was not that popular within the INC, Motilal Nehru’s own son Jawaharlal Nehru and Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose called for a more radical call, i.e. breaking all ties with the British empire. Nehru and Bose’s ambition got a stamp of approval from the party after Viceroy Irwin went back on his words.
In 1929, the British viceroy abruptly announced that India would be granted dominion status in the future under the Irwin Declaration. However, the viceroy’s plan faced major flak back home since Brits were not willing to give any autonomy to India. After facing immense pressure, Irwin told in a meeting with Gandhi, Muslim League’s Muhammad Ali Jinnah and a few other leaders that he could not promise the colony a dominion status anytime soon.
The Lahore session that unified the freedom fighters
Both Rai’s demise and Irwin’s betrayal angered the Indian leaders to a great extent. On December 19, 1929, INC conducted its session in Lahore where it passed the “Poorna Swaraj” resolution. The Declaration of Freedom was ultimately promulgated on January 26, 1930, and the Congress urged Indians to come out and celebrate complete “independence” from the British Raj.
“The British government in India has not only deprived the Indian people of their freedom but has based itself on the exploitation of the masses, and has ruined India economically, politically, culturally and spiritually…. Therefore…India must sever the British connection and attain Poorna Swaraj or complete independence," the declaration read indicating the unified ambition of the Indian leaders.
The events that took place at the Lahore session of the INC, became one of the major reasons why January 26 was the date that was chosen to put the Constitution into effect.
Lahore: The city with a fading history
Following the partition, the names, just like another multi-religious site of Lahore faded over the years. In fact, the Gulab Devi Hospital managed to retain its name because it is run by a Trust, and one of its conditions is that the hospital’s name cannot be changed. Other than the hospital, Lahore has several sites which witnessed the glory of Indian freedom struggle.
As a part of Gandhi’s non-cooperation movement, Rai founded the National College in Lahore to cater to the youth who were now boycotting British colonial institutes. Meanwhile, Bradlaugh Hall, which witnessed the fervent Indian freedom struggle, currently lies locked and has fallen into despair. The same building housed Rai’s college and it was the same place where Bhagat Singh and his friends received their initial doses of nationalism.
A few streets down the block, the freedom fighter and his comrades assassinated Assistant Superintendent of Police John P Saunders to avenge the death of Lala Lajpat Rai. Following the incident, Singh was tried in the same city and his parent used to receive visitors and sympathisers right outside the Bradlaugh Hall.
Not very far from where the Congress conducted its Lahore session, on the other end of the Ravi Road, is the Iqbal Park, which was formally known as the Minto Park. At the heart of the area is Minar-i-Pakistan, where the Muslim League passed a resolution and demanded provincial autonomy on March 23, 1940.
Every year, March 23 is celebrated as Pakistan Day. While hundreds visit Minar-i-Pakistan to pay homage to Pakistan’s founders, they consciously or unconsciously forget Nehru’s declaration of independence, Lala Lajpat Rai’s contribution and Bhagat Singh’s sacrifice, whose symbol lies just a few kilometres away. The city lost touch with the freedom fighters, who it warmly received once.
As India celebrates its Republic Day tomorrow, the city of Lahore will operate its usual way, completely unaware of the role it plays and the sacrifices it witnessed for the independence of two nations which were once united.
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