New Delhi: Reacting to the row over refusal of tableaus of some states for the Republic Day celebrations, Atul Anjan, senior leader and National Secretary of the Communist Party of India (CPI) said that the moment the people will hear out that these states have been refused to put up their tableaus in the Republic Day celebrations, people would understand these four states since being ruled by non-BJP parties.
Speaking to ETV Bharat, the CPI leader also touched upon the controversy over the decision by the Modi government to merge Amar Jawan Jyoti with the War Memorial Flame, which has ignited the issue of national sentiment with the opposition saying that this is is an insult to freedom fighters while war veterans expressed mixed reactions.
Blaming the ruling government for such decisions, Atul Anjan said that 'this government is not a product of the National freedom movement and therefore they are demolishing history'.
Taking a jibe at the BJP, Atul Anjan added such actions portray a sectarian attitude of the government. "One after another, the national traditions and federalism are being attacked by the BJP. Be it the tableau issue, rights of the states, whether it is discussing the state subjects, the Government of India without having a discussion on the state subjects are making laws," he said.
Deliberate intentions of government
The Union Defence Ministry has rejected tableaus of West Bengal, Kerala and Tamil Nadu, and according to Atul Anjan, "it underscores the deliberate intention of the Government of India." The issue has created a political controversy with the opposition and many others saying that this is a politically motivated view since all these states are non-BJP ruled states.
A day after Amar Jawan Jyoti at India Gate was shifted and merged with the National War Memorial, Centre on Tuesday omitted 'Abide with me', a decade old beating retreat, known as Gandhi's favourite from the January 29 spectacular musical extravaganza that features a bunch of military bands and which finally marks the end of the Republic Day celebrations.
Anjan added that this being a question of national sentiment has immense weightage. Criticising the move by the Modi government, he further attacked the government by saying that they've killed the sentiments of the millions of people, especially those whose family members laid down their lives fighting for the nation.
Also Read:Amar Jawan Jyoti flame merged with National War Memorial
Appealing to all political parties, he said that if there is a change in the government, we'll again light the flame in the memory of our war heroes.
State express disappointment
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, a day after West Bengal Chief Minister Mamta Banerjee and her Tamil Nadu counterpart MK Stalin wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressing their disappointment over the decision, wrote separate letters to them highlighting that selection of tableaux had been done with utmost transparency while adhering to proscribed norms and ruled out any ulterior motive behind this.
An expert committee, whose operations are directed by the Ministry of Defence, is responsible for the selection of the tableaux. The selection procedure for tableaus of different states is done after proposals are received from all states and UT's and they are selected after multiple rounds of evaluation by a committee of experts from the fields of arts, music culture and dance. The selection process extends for over six to seven rounds of meetings with elimination and shortlisting at different stages.
