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AUM
AUGUST 15 FROM FORT RAMPARTS
By Brigadier Chitranjan Sawant,VSM
Zee News
guest coordinator Editor called me to invite for doing the running commentary
in Hindi on the Independence Day ceremony at the Red Fort Delhi on 15th August 2013 on their international
network. I gladly gave my consent to be a part of the 67th Independence Day of our Bharat as I
had been doing for over four decades heretofore. Indeed sometimes I did the
commentary on the Akashvani, sometimes on the Doordarshan, perhaps once for the
Sahara channel and for the last many years I have been doing it for the Zee
News. On the Zee News
network I am the monarch of all I survey and the camera focuses on me for a
fairly long time and carries my voice to all corners of the globe for the
entire ceremony except when the Pradhan Mantri is addressing the nation from
the ramparts of the Red Fort.
DOWN
THE MEMORY LANE
Jawaharlal
Nehru, our first Pradhan Mantri, had unfurled the national flag, our beloved
Tricolour, on 15 August 1947 at the dawn of the Independence after 190
years of the British rule in New Delhi. A special session of the Constituent
Assembly was held in the Council House, now Sansad Bhawan, on 14 th August 1947
from 11 PM onwards. Dr Rajendra Prasad, the President of the Constituent
Assembly had presided. Right at the beginning Dr Rajendra Prasad called upon
Sucheta Kripalani to sing the National Song, VANDE MATARM, WHICH WAS HEARD WITH
RAPT ATTENTION BY ALL MEMBERS INCLUDING THOSE OF THE MUSLIM LEAGUE. Jawaharlal
Nehru had made his famous speech there” Tryst with Destiny” after all members had taken oath
of allegiance to the new nation, to Bharat, our motherland.
The next
day, on 15 August 1947, Lord Mountbatten, the first Governor General of
independent India had administered the oath of office and secrecy to Jawaharlal
Nehru as the Prime Minister of India in the Durbar Hall of the Viceroy’s House,
now the Rashtrapati Bhawan. In the afternoon Lord Mountbatten, his lady wife,
Edwina Mountbatten and Nehru the Prime Minister drove from the Raisina Hill
down the King’s Way, now Raj Path, towards India Gate as the national flag
hoisting was to take place in the Hexagon near the Princess Park ( now called
the August Kranti Maidan) for the benefit of and participation by the
citizenry. The all important people could not reach the venue of flag hoisting
as the milling crowd all over left no space on the road for the State Coach
driven by six horses to drive on. The Governor General, his consort, the Prime
Minister and senior Defence officers stood to attention wherever they were at
the appointed hour and Lord Mountbatten signaled to his ADC, standing near the
flagpole, to hoist the National Flag of India and he did it dutifully.
There was
no mention of a ceremony at the Red Fort on 15 August 1947. Many a commentator, including
yours truly had been committing that mistake year after year glorifying the Red
Fort flag hoisting by Pandit Nehru on 15 August 1947. Where ignorance is bliss,
it is folly to be wise. Fortunately a research paper published by the Lok Sabha
secretariat crossed my eyes and I was made wise. So were our colleagues. The
record was set straight and it was announced by us thereafter that the first flag hoisting at the Red Fort of the
national flag by Pandit Nehru was done on 16 August 1947. The first Prime Minister had the privilege of hoisting
the national flag from the ramparts of the Red Fort 17 times and he addressed
the nation on the national day as many times. The time allotted for the speech
of the Pradhan Mantri is just 20 minutes but I have yet to see a Pradan Mantri
adhering to it.
SHASTRI
ERA
Lal
Bahadur Shastri unfurled the national flag at the ramparts of the Red Fort just
twice. The diminutive man had risen tall in national stature after he ordered
the Indian Army to cross the international border and attack both Lahore and
Sialkot simultaneously. His decision worked like magic and the flamboyant
Pakistan President, General Ayub Khan was forced to loosen his stranglehold on
Jammu and Kashmir in the Chamb-Jaurian sector. Lal Bahadur Shastri had become
the darling of the Indian nation. Alas! Untimely death of that great man in
mysterious circumstances in Tashkent after he had signed an agreement with
General Ayub Khan under the Soviet pressure to withdraw to pre-war location in
all sectors.
We recall
the great Shastri Ji for raising the morale of the Indian nation from the
ramparts of the Red Fort and elsewhere when clouds of misfortune had gathered.
Shastri Ji always saw a silver lining around dark clouds and gave us the slogan “JAI JAWAN JAI KISSAN”. To get over the food shortage and stranglehold of PL
480 of the US government he exhorted the Nation to miss a
meal once a week and more, if feasible. He practiced what he preached and,
therefore, his words carried weight and all Indians followed his advice both in
letter and spirit.
HERE
COMES INDIRA GANDHI
Indira
Gandhi came on the scene after Shastri Ji’s sad and premature demise as a
compromise candidate of the warring factions of the Congress Party. The
regional satraps had chosen her because she had been known as the “ Goongi Gudiya” and lacked self confidence to
answer queries and supplementary questions on the floor of the Lok Sabha. She
always heaved a sigh of relief when the question hour was over without the
Speaker calling upon her to face the opposition volleys.
Indira
Gandhi had resilience and the more she was suppressed by satraps the more she
came on her own and developed self confidence to take on the mighty men who had
ridiculed her in the initial stages. As Prime Minister, she commanded the power
of the State and learnt her ropes to success gradually. Whenever she was unduly
hurt or harassed, be it Opposition parties in Parliament or the wily neighbor,
Pakistan in the international diplomatic arena, she counter-attacked like a wounded tigress and
carried the day. If one goes through the recording
of her addresses to the Nation from the ramparts of the Red Fort on the
Independence Day year after year, one will find that she grew tall as a
Statesperson bit by bit and grew taller inch by inch. The friend and foe both held her in awe after she
dismembered the arch-enemy of India, Pakistan in the 1971 war.
15 August
1972 – she ascended the stairs as her
father used to do, like a victorious Roman General fresh from a campaign where
the enemy was dissipated. By the way, the lift or elevator
was built in Lal Bahadur Shastri’s time to take him on the ramparts since he
had a heart condition. Now there are two elevators. The
speech that she delivered after her victory over Pakistan was superb. Atal Behari Vajpayee, a Jan Sangh leader sitting on
the opposition benches had likened Indira Gandhi to goddess Durga and lionized
her in her hours of glory. It was well reflected in her voice, tenor, mannerism and the
totality of impression of listeners was that Indira Ji has now come of age.
Indira
Gandhi addressed the Nation after unfurling the National Tricolour at the
ramparts of the Red Fort SIXTEEN times. Of course, it was in two instalments –
eleven in her first tenure and then she lost power. Gut within two years she
staged a triumphant return to power. She performed very well as the Prime
Minister from the ramparts of the Red Fort FIVE times, taking the tally to
sixteen, a close second to her father, Pt Nehru.
Indira
Gandhi’s assassination in 1984 snatched her from the Nation rather prematurely.
The ramparts of the Red Fort missed Indira Ji on 15 August year after year. Her
gait as a lioness, her elegant sari with a broad border and the way she wrapped
her sari made Indira Ji a class apart. As a radio commentator I made a word
picture of Indira Ji’s personality, including her sari, not forgetting the
border and it made a lively word picture pleasing to listeners’ ears. I loved
the whole exercise immensely. I missed her every year when I climbed up the
stairs to the ramparts of the Red Fort year after year as a commentator of the
Akashvani. After her sad demise, things were
never the same. When I changed over to the Doordarshan at my own request, I
missed making the word picture. The cameras of the TV did that job that was so
dear to me.
SECURITY
CONSIDERATIONS
In 1985
the Lahori Gate, the Ghoonghat and the moat looked so different. The security
considerations were primary concern of the State and everything else played the
second fiddle. The Guard of Honour was also vivisected into two. The
Inter-Services and Police National Guard was positioned in front of the
ramparts for the National Salute and the band struck the National Anthem.
A small Inter-Services and Delhi Police Guard of Honour was positioned near the
small Lahori Gate well ensconced and hidden from public view by raising Kanats.
Rajiv Gandhi, who succeeded his mother, Indira Gandhi, took the salute and
reviewed this mini guard. The glamour was gone, that is what I felt.
Everything
looked and sounded so different – a kind of hush-hush atmosphere. It was the
requirement of the security people. Rajiv Gandhi was not an orator and the
resonance of his voice on the ramparts was missing. Of course, we accorded him
due respect that ought to be given to a Prime Minister. Perhaps his staff that
wrote his speech or rehearsed him lacked the verve of a trainer. No wonder one
Independence Day was referred to by him as the Republic Day throughout his
speech. Swatantrata Divas was replaced by
the Gantantra Divas and I wonder why no one had courage to quietly show him the
correction slip.
May I be
permitted to skip some of the Prime Ministers who just made a debut and
disappeared forever. In the Army we have a saying,” Old soldiers never die,
they just fade away.” But for Morarji Desai who appeared on the ramparts twice
the one-timers were many like Chaudhary Charan Singh, DeveGowda, Indra Kumar
Gujral and so on. Chaudhary Ji kicked up a row by saying from the ramparts that
Israeli cows give good milk and the volume is satisfying. The Arab envoys
protested but to no avail. Chaudhary Saheb was dead right factually.
ORATORY
WAS REVIVED
Atal
Behari Vajpaye of the Bhartiya Janata Party, is a born orator. The gift of the
gab holds him in good stead. He revived the tradition of oratory and making
important policy announcements from the ramparts of the Red Fort as the Prime
Minister of India. Indeed his Hindi is worth emulating and many men and women
joined his Fan Club hearing him roar like a tiger in command of the situation
when he stood on the ramparts of the Red Fort behind the myriad mikes. Indeed
Atal Ji took his own time to make a beginning, develop the theme, throw in
healthy humour and gradually near the winding up operation. When he invited the
assembled school children, the NCC cadets and citizenry sitting in front of the
ramparts to join him in a chorus with a thunderous voice and say: JAI HIND. The assembly of young and old
responded with matching Josh or enthusiasm. Jawaharlal Nehru had started this
tradition of saying Jai Hind, as was the military tradition of the Indian
National Army under the leadership of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose and it has
been going on for 66 years.
The 67th Indpendance Day will see Dr Manmohan
Singh climb up the rostrum on the ramparts the NINTH time. Some political
pundits predict that perhaps this will be the last opportunity to say to the
Nation what he has been briefed about.
His zeal
in making friends with Pakistan, notwithstanding that enemy country’s deceit,
deception and surreptitious cowardly attacks on India and pushing the Islamic
terrorists into India to indulge into bloodbath like the one in Mumbai, has certainly
not endeared meek Manmohan to the common man who loves Bharat. One wonders why
some of his ilk may not be loving Bharat less but they love Pakistan more.
We look
forward to seeing the Indpendance Day ceremony on the ramparts of the Red
Fort on 15 August 2014. Let us wait with Great Expectations to see and hear a
new Prime Minister roar from the Red Fort ramparts and elevate the morale of
the Nation and restore the Glory of the country called Bharat.
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