Off-centre | Har Ghar Tiranga: The Tricolour as a sacred symbol of national unity and resolve

As children, we always looked forward to Independence Day, especially the hoisting of the national flag. It was a solemn occasion followed, of course, by the distribution of snacks and sweets. The latter were the added attraction, especially for kids. But what struck me, even as a child, was how the adults were less enthusiastic than us. I wondered why that was: why scepticism, if not cynicism, about the nation crept in as people aged. I remember asking my dad. He replied gravely, “When you take some hard knocks in life, you lose your trust in the system, even in the way your country is run. Yet, this is one day when we must all come together.” My dad was born when India was still a British colony. He had a better sense of what it meant to be free. “Under this flag, all are equal — prince, peasant, or pauper,” added, as if explaining its inner meaning. I didn’t realise then that he was, albeit unconsciously, echoing the words of Sarojini Naidu. Speaking to the Constituted Assembly on 22 July 1947, the day the national flag, now fondly known as our Tricolour, was dedicated, she said, “Remember under this Flag there is no prince and there is no peasant, there is no rich and there is no poor. There is no privilege there is only duty and responsibility and sacrifice. Whether we be Hindus or Muslims, Christians, Jains, Sikhs or Zoroastrians and others, our Mother India has one undivided heart and one indivisible spirit. Men and women of reborn India rise and salute this Flag! I bid you, rise and salute the Flag.” As a child, I also wondered why we weren’t allowed to fly or even display the national flag in our homes. The flag code forbade it. As a PhD student in the United States, I found the stars and stripes unfurled in many American homes. Why couldn’t we do the same in India. Fortunately, the flag code was amended first in 2002, then again last year to make it much more open to ordinary Indians and citizen friendly. Now Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his latest “Mann ki Baat” address, has invited all of us not only to unfurl the flag in our homes in the campaign “Har Ghar Tiranga” — the tricolour in every home — but also post it on our social media handles and pin it virtually, for which we will also get a certificate. Truly, this signals the democratisation of the flag and the transfer of its ownership from the state to the people. Some of my most moving and proud moments were when I unfurled the national flag from the front lawns of the Indian Institute of Advanced Study, Shimla, as its Director. These premises used to be the Viceregal Lodge, the seat of British imperial authority and the summer capital of India, until our second president, Dr Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, handed them to the nation for an institute of higher research and study. Being free means so much more when we know all the struggles and sacrifices that went into earning that right and becoming a nation. More than ever, the possibilities of free India become all the more apparent when we embark on the celebration of India@75, Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav. On 2 August, the birthday of Pingali Venkayya, the freedom fighter who designed the flag, Home Minister Amit Shah launched the “Har Ghar Tiranga” anthem from the Indira Gandhi Arena in Delhi. The anthem, funded and produced by the Ministry of Culture, features many celebrities raising or saluting the flag, with a montage of vignettes across the length and breadth of the land. It is sung by Asha Bhosle and Sonu Nigam, with Amitabh Bachchan, also uttering a couple of lines. Anushka Sharma, Virat Kohli, Prabhas, Anupam Kher, Ajay Devgan, Akshay Kumar, PT Usha, Hardik Pandya, KL Rahul, Neeraj Chopra, PV Sindhu are among those who also appear in it. The catchy tune has been composed by Devi Sri Prasad, popularly known as Rockstar DSP. The video flaunts and vaunts the strength and diversity of India, our achievements in various fields, as well as the beauty of our country. What struck me is how marginalised tribal, ethnic communities were showcased. The most memorable images are not of what we are used to seeing in the streets of Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, or Mumbai, but rather of far-flung places and remote places, quite tantalising in their beauty and rarity. The video demonstrates the ongoing challenge of all these diverse regions and people becoming one nation under the Tiranga.

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Also Read **Stamped into history: Who is Pingali Venkayya, the man who designed India’s national flag?** **Har Ghar Tiranga: PM Modi urges Indians to hoist Tricolour as he recalls struggle for freedom** **Flag code tweak, tricolour for Rs 25, selfie points: How the Centre going all out to make Har Ghar Tiranga a hit**

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Those who want to read politics in its exclusions will find that the “father of the nation,” Mahatma Gandhi, isn’t in it, except in his bespectacled appropriation as a part of the “Swachh Bharat Abhiyan.” Jawaharlal Nehru, who dedicated the flag to the nation, is, of course, absent, as the Congress never tires of reminding us. They want to show him with the flag in their own tricolour counter-campaign. How ironic that the National Herald, which Nehru founded, is now the cause of an Enforcement Directorate money laundering case against his great grandson, Rahul Gandhi and his mother, Congress president, Sonia Gandhi. As to those who are in the anthem, the Congressman who actually features tall, in fact in the form of the world’s tallest statue, is Sardar Patel, but in the Modi’s Statue of Unity tribute to him. Also Swami Vivekananda and Subhas Chandra Bose, both of whose figures feature fleetingly. And of course the country’s “Hriday Samrat,” Modi himself, who appears as himself at the end and also in the photo in the last still in the film, the Azadi ka Mahotsav poster. The “Har Ghar Tiranga” is another example of a brilliant campaign by the Modi government. It strengthens the identification of the BJP with the national flag and the spirit of patriotism, rendering the Opposition not only weak, disunited, but envious. After all, who can go against the flag of a nation? It is the one prominent symbol of our identity as a free nation under which all of us must unite, regardless of our differences or disagreements. The Opposition, by cavilling and complaining, only ends up showing themselves up as bad losers. My only caveat is that no one should be forced to fly or display the flag, nor those, for whatever reasons who are unable to do so, targeted as unpatriotic or anti-national. As my father used to say, “All are the children of Mother India, whether enthusiastic or tardy.” The author is a professor of English at Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. Views expressed are personal. Read all the Latest News , Trending News ,  Cricket News , Bollywood News , India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.