Republic Day: Is it "An Unnecessary Ritual"?

    




As we celebrated our Republic Day this year and as I went through those numerous greetings in person, on phone, through SMSs, facebook and twitter etc, I was reminded of an article in the Times Of India some time back written by Commodore C. Udaya Bhaskar titled “An Unnecessary Ritual”. In this lead article Cdr Bhaskar had argued that we need to review the relevance of Republic Day Parade. Cdr Bhaskar is of the opinion that this parade has outlived its utility and that ‘clinging to a tradition where the symbolism becomes an inflexible ritual, and the spectacle masks the glaring inadequacies of the state ought to be dispassionately reviewed’. To support his argument Cdr Bhaskar has cited many reasons including –Delhi’s babudom coming to a halt for almost a month, -the frustration of commuters and irate motorists due to traffic diversion, -the considerable resources expended annually, -acute anxiety about terrorist attacks and VIP security.. etc, etc.

On Republic Day this year I thought about it. Do we really need to stop celebrating the Republic Day as we do it today? Has it actually lost its relevance? Is it really wastage of resources –men and material? Is the frustration of motorists or the fears of terrorist attacks reasons enough to bid good bye to these festivities? I beg to differ. Yes it is a predominantly military symbolism but then have we reached a stage where we can do away with our military? I think more than ever we need a strong military now. Not so much during the days of colonialism, not so during the early days of the consolidation stage as we need a strong military today. So first and foremost we shall see whether we need military, - a strong military at that- or no. If we don’t need any military then well we won’t bid for a military parade too. But if there is smallest justification for having our own strong military then well I see no reason as to why we should stop that traditional way of celebrating the Republic Day with that ‘predominantly military symbolism’. And as Cdr Bhaskar has mentioned himself, -the composition of the parade has already changed to reflect both the military and the developmental profile of the Indian State.

So where do we stand on the question of the need of a strong military? Events in Iraq and Afghanistan, -threats to Iran and North Korea, -military intervention in many Afrikan states, -withering away of USSR, -developments in Pakistan etc, etc are that many reasons for us NOT TO DO AWAY with our military power in haste. These are perhaps sufficient reasons to have a strong military profile. And yes if we have a military then let’s give it a day to showcase its teeth and skills… or the symbolic power if not exactly the teeth and skills. So Cdr Bhaskars’s argument about the military or military symbolism having outlived its utility does not hold ground here.

And now, in front of this requirement, all the other reasons put forward by Cdr Uday Bhaskar, a retired officer from the Indian Navy, a renowned defence analyst, surprise me having been published under his signatures in a newspaper of national repute ‘The Times Of India’. Shall we stop celebrating our National Day just because we have not been able to manage our affairs elsewhere? Just because the babudom at Delhi comes to a halt for almost a month shall we adopt the escapist route of withholding the parade itself rather than motivating the babudom not to ‘come to a halt’? Shall we stop the parade or mend our ways and retrospect why babudom comes to a standstill? Why does the commuter suffer if there is a parade once in a year on our National Day? Is there anything else that can be done without stopping the parade? Can we otherwise improve the traffic conditions so that a diversion to celebrate our National Day does not ‘frustrate’ the commuters and ‘irate’ motorists? Is it really a wastage of considerable human and material resources? Shall we then stop all celebrations in life? Does it have no positives? Does no body –no civilian –no Indian at heart, wants to watch it?

I feel it is not the kind of situation as Cdr Bhaskar has painted. Yes there is ample scope for improvement and maybe we can add more non-military developmental aspects but it has to have that military symbolism for it to be a different and special type of a celebration. More than the nation, I feel, Commodore C. Uday Bhaskar needs to review his views about the Republic Day Parade. Lets celebrate ‘our’ Day with more enthusiasm and interest than ever.

Jai Hind ..