NEW DELHI: India celebrated its 76th Republic Day on Sunday with a grand parade on Kartavya Path, showcasing tableaux of various states and government schemes under the theme ‘Swarnim Bharat: Virasat aur Vikas’.
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Just like India’s maiden Republic Day celebration, where Indonesia’s first President Sukarno was the chief guest, this year Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto was the guest of honor.
The maiden Republic Day parade in 1950 was, however, held at the Irwin Amphitheatre, later renamed the National Stadium.
The Irwin Amphitheatre, designed by Robert Torr Russell, was built in 1933 as a gift from the Maharaja of Bhavnagar. It was renamed the National Stadium in 1951, just before hosting the Asian Games.
On January 26, 1950, India was declared a Sovereign Democratic Republic at a solemn ceremony in the Government House’s Durbar Hall, with Dr. Rajendra Prasad sworn in as the first president. The birth of the Indian Republic and the installation of its first president were announced by a 31-gun salute.
“At the most solemn ceremony, held in the brilliantly lit and high domes of Durbar Hall at Government House, India was declared a Sovereign Democratic Republic exactly at 18 minutes past 10 on the morning of Thursday, January 26, 1950. Six minutes later, Dr Rajendra Prasad was sworn in as president.”
Retiring Governor-General C Rajagopalachari read out the proclamation of the Republic of “India, that is, Bharat”, declaring that the nation would be a Union of States comprising the former Governor’s provinces, Indian states, and Chief Commissioners’ provinces.
“And whereas it has been declared by the said Constitution that India, that is, Bharat, shall be a Union of States comprising within the Union the territories which were hitherto the Governor’s provinces, the Indian states and the Chief Commissioners’ provinces.”
The first Republic Day celebrations saw President Prasad driving out of the Government House in a 35-year-old coach bearing the new emblem of Asoka’s capital, escorted by the president’s bodyguard. The procession made its way through the Irwin Amphitheatre, greeted by chants of “jai” from the gathered masses.
President Prasad, in his historic speech, emphasized the significance of the moment, stating that for the first time in India’s long and chequered history, the entire vast land was brought together under one Constitution and Union, responsible for the welfare of over 320 million people.
“Today, for the first time in our long and chequered history we find the whole of this vast land from Kashmir in the north to Cape Comorin in the South, from Kathiawad and Kutch in the west to Coconada and Kamrup in the east, brought together under the jurisdiction of one Constitution and one Union, which takes over the responsibility for the welfare of more than 320 million men and women that inhabit it.”
“The president drove out of the Government House (now Rashtrapati Bhavan) in state exactly at 2:30 pm in a 35-year-old coach specially renovated for the occasion bearing the new emblem of Asoka’s capital and drawn by six sturdy Australian horses, at a slow trot, escorted by the president’s bodyguard.”
The amphitheatre, housing 15,000 people, witnessed a magnificent military parade with 3,000 officers and men of the three Armed Services of India and the police, along with massed bands and native contingents adding color and precision to the solemn occasion.
