JOIN USRajnath Singh writes to Tamil Nadu, West Bengal CMs over Republic Day tableau row
As a row continued to unfold between the Centre and several states over inclusion in the Republic Day parade tableaux, defence minister Rajnath Singh wrote to the chief ministers of Tamil Nadu and West Benal to highlight the selection process.
In his letters to TN CM M K Stalin and West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee, Singh said that an expert committee makes the decisions.
“The experts’ committee examines the proposals on the basis of theme, concept, design and its visual impact before making its recommendations. As per the time slot allotted for tableaux in the overall duration of the parade, shortlisting of tableaux is done by the committee,” Singh’s letter said.
However, among the 12 states that made the cut include the poll-going states of Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand and Goa.
Singh also said that the respective states were included in the parade in previous years.
“This is also to bring to your kind information that during the last few years, tableau from the state of Tamil Nadu has been selected for participation in R-Day during 2017, 2019, 2020 and 2021,” Singh said in his letter to Stalin. “West Bengal's tableau has been selected for participation in R-Day during 2016, 2017, 2019 and 2021," the letter to Banerjee read.
Several states which did not make it to the list have aired their disappointment. Stalin earlier said that it was an “insult” to the people of Tamil Nadu that the state’s tableau was not being selected.
Bannerjee had written to PM Modi saying that she was “shocked” at Bengal’s exclusion. “It is even more baffling for us that the tableau was rejected without assigning any reasons or justifications,” she wrote. Bengal’s tableau celebrated icons like Rabindranath Tagore, Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, Swami Vivekananda and Sri Aurobindo.
Delhi’s tableau, too, did not make it to the cut. The government said that there will be no review of the process. On twitter, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that the government received 56 proposals, of which 21 were shortlisted. She also said that the CPWD’s tableau will commemorate the life of Subhash Chandra Bose.
The UP tableau will highlight the Kashi Vishwanath Dham temple as well as the state’s One District One Product (ODOP) scheme. The Uttarakhand tableau will focus on the state’s development schemes, while the Goa tableau will celebrate the symbols of Goan heritage. Punjab’s tableau will focus on the state’s contribution to the freedom struggle.
In addition, tableaux by nine ministries and government departments have been selected. This includes water sanitation ministry’s tableau on Jal Shakti Mission, culture ministry’s commemoration of the 150th’s anniversary of freedom fighter Aurobindo, and housing and urban development will have a tableau on Subhash Chandra Bose.
Congress’s Tamil Nadu in-charge Manickam Tagore said that the state’s tableau featuring “Rani Velunachiyar on a horse and Bharati with turban” was rejected on various grounds.
He said that various reasons were given; officials were told that if a state makes it to the cut three years in a row will not be selected. “The defence minister must institute an impartial inquiry,” he said.
Congress Assam president Bhupen Borah tweeted that it was an insult to Assam that the state’s tableau on freedom fighter Kanaklata Barua was not selected. “It’s a big insult to Assam and northeast … Perhaps, her case was not approved by the RSS,” Borah tweeted.
Other states include the BJP ruled states of Arunachal Pradesh, Haryana, Gujarat, and Karnataka, as well as Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra and Meghalaya.
Arunachal’s tableau will commemorate the Anglo-Abor War of 1894, documenting the resistance of the Adi tribe, also known as Abor, against the British Empire. Chhattisgarh will highlight its cow dung procurement scheme Godhan Yojana, and Haryana will celebrate the state’s contribution to sports.
Other ministries tableaux include the aviation ministry’s highlighting the steps to encourage the common man to fly, the law ministry’s tableau on the Lok Adalat system, and the textile ministry on the theme of ‘shuttling to the future’. Apart from that, one by India Post on women empowerment of the ministry of communication, another on the National Education Policy by the education ministry, while another on the CRPF by the home ministry.
To be selected, states and government departments have to send in proposals in drawings, and then build a 3D model. In this year’s call of applications by the defence ministry on September 27, 2021, the ministry said that typically six or seven rounds of selection takes place. “Final selection does not guarantee movement on Rajpath in the final parade, if it has not been created in terms of the final approved version,” the application stated.
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