Republic Day, news outlets reported, was largely a success, even if Vice President Hamid Ansari did not salute the national flag. US President Barack Obama made his longest-ever overseas outdoor appearance with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, nobody fell off their bikes as they performed stunts during the parade and it did not rain right through the day in Delhi.
Here is what you might not have heard: there were six blasts in Imphal and two in Digboi, Assam. Since January 20, there have been at least 14 blasts in Imphal, including today’s.
From photographs of the event, few members of the public attended Imphal’s perfunctory Republic Day parade that included school children marching past a site where there had been explosion just hours before.
Reminding us that the day was not about business as usual in other parts of the country either, security was stepped up in Chhattisgarh, Orissa, Mizoram, and Tripura, among others. Jharkhand's Maoists protested Obama's visit and called for a shutdown in the state. Jammu and Kashmir had a marginally better time than usual as for the first time in ten years mobile and internet connectivity was not cut off entirely on Republic Day. However, a strict curfew still remained in place. In Punjab, the Dal Khalsa, a separatist group, celebrated a “Black Republic Day” and held a march wearing black clothes and carrying black flags.
Evidently, Republic Day is not a day of pride for all Indians, despite attempts each year to portray it as such.
Growing up
School children are often caught at the heart of the state's efforts to enforce Republic Day celebrations.
Some teachers in Chhattisgarh are called “tricolour teachers”, writes Shubharanshu Choudhary in Let's Call Him Vasu, his book about Maoists in the state. They come to schools only on Republic Day and Independence Day to hoist the flag. After the Maoists came, they only allowed the teachers to hoist black flags – which they did.
Schools in Guwahati in the '90s were under curfew, blogger Subhabrata Dasgupta wrote in 2014 while recollecting the Republic Days of his childhood. Around two weeks before Republic Day, reports would begin of possible security threats. Roads were emptied on the day and the United Liberation Front of Assam made sure that no overt expression of Indian nationalism was allowed.
In Srinagar, too, schools remain shut on the two days, as does the rest of the state. Roads are cleared, shops close down and the level of inspections shoots up. Select students participate in a tightly controlled parade attended by bureaucrats and politicians at the Bakshi Stadium or Iqbal Park.
When Junaid Rather, a freelance journalist who grew up in Kashmir, was a child, security measures would begin much earlier. Around four days before the scheduled celebration, security forces would take over the top storeys of each house just to get vantage points.
“When I think of either day, I think of barbed wires,” he said.
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Here is what you might not have heard: there were six blasts in Imphal and two in Digboi, Assam. Since January 20, there have been at least 14 blasts in Imphal, including today’s.
From photographs of the event, few members of the public attended Imphal’s perfunctory Republic Day parade that included school children marching past a site where there had been explosion just hours before.
After 3 IED blasts on #RepublicDay #Manipur an empty decked up road near a blast site awaits Marchers via J.Ningombam pic.twitter.com/7xMb9CURkG
— Binalakshmi Nepram (@BinaNepram) January 26, 2015Scared school children marches near IED blast site #Imphal as onlookers gather via J.Ningombam #RepublicDay #Manipur pic.twitter.com/rz5q3T25Dv
— Binalakshmi Nepram (@BinaNepram) January 26, 2015Reminding us that the day was not about business as usual in other parts of the country either, security was stepped up in Chhattisgarh, Orissa, Mizoram, and Tripura, among others. Jharkhand's Maoists protested Obama's visit and called for a shutdown in the state. Jammu and Kashmir had a marginally better time than usual as for the first time in ten years mobile and internet connectivity was not cut off entirely on Republic Day. However, a strict curfew still remained in place. In Punjab, the Dal Khalsa, a separatist group, celebrated a “Black Republic Day” and held a march wearing black clothes and carrying black flags.
Evidently, Republic Day is not a day of pride for all Indians, despite attempts each year to portray it as such.
Growing up
School children are often caught at the heart of the state's efforts to enforce Republic Day celebrations.
Some teachers in Chhattisgarh are called “tricolour teachers”, writes Shubharanshu Choudhary in Let's Call Him Vasu, his book about Maoists in the state. They come to schools only on Republic Day and Independence Day to hoist the flag. After the Maoists came, they only allowed the teachers to hoist black flags – which they did.
Schools in Guwahati in the '90s were under curfew, blogger Subhabrata Dasgupta wrote in 2014 while recollecting the Republic Days of his childhood. Around two weeks before Republic Day, reports would begin of possible security threats. Roads were emptied on the day and the United Liberation Front of Assam made sure that no overt expression of Indian nationalism was allowed.
In Srinagar, too, schools remain shut on the two days, as does the rest of the state. Roads are cleared, shops close down and the level of inspections shoots up. Select students participate in a tightly controlled parade attended by bureaucrats and politicians at the Bakshi Stadium or Iqbal Park.
When Junaid Rather, a freelance journalist who grew up in Kashmir, was a child, security measures would begin much earlier. Around four days before the scheduled celebration, security forces would take over the top storeys of each house just to get vantage points.
“When I think of either day, I think of barbed wires,” he said.
