15 August every year is a very auspicious day for the Indians who will get an opportunity to pay homage to all freedom fighters.
Independence Day is a day when people in India pay homage to their leaders and those who fought for India’s freedom in the past.
The period leading up to Independence Day is a time when major government buildings are illuminated with strings of lights and the tricolor flutters from homes and other buildings.
Flag hoisting ceremonies and cultural programs are held in the state capitals and often involve many schools and organizations.
Independence Day is a gazetted holiday in India on August 15 each year. National, state and local government offices, post offices and banks are closed on this day. Stores and other businesses and organizations may be closed or have reduced opening hours.
India was under the control of British rule for more than 2 hundred years. The country desperately wanted to attain the freedom from foreign rulers. In 1857, against the law of British East India Company, the very first crusade occurred.
The struggle for India’s Independence began in 1857 with the Sepoy Mutiny in Meerut. Later, in the 20th century, the Indian National Congress and other political organizations, under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi, launched a countrywide independence movement. Colonial powers were transferred to India on August 15, 1947.
India gained its liberty and became a free country at midnight between August 14 and August 15, 1947. It was then that the free India’s first prime minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru gave his famous “Tryst with Destiny” speech.
India’s national flag is a horizontal tricolor of deep saffron (kesaria) at the top, white in the middle and dark green at the bottom in equal proportion.
The ratio of the flag’s width to its length is two to three. A navy-blue wheel in the center of the white band represents the chakra.
Its design is that of the wheel which appears on the abacus of the Sarnath Lion Capital of Ashoka. Its diameter approximates to the white band’s width and it has 24 spokes.
The first Prime Minister of independent India, Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru, hoisted the flag above the Lahori Gate of Red Fort in Delhi.
The British Parliament passed the Indian Independence Act on July 5, 1947. It provided for two dominions states: India and Pakistan. King of Britain was retained as the head of the state until full transition to Republic state.
The partition was painful and it created a rift on the lines of religion. Riots and mass casualties were the most unfortunate outcomes of the two-nation principle. However, the two nations were a reality.
Here’s wishing everyone a very Happy Independence Day
