Jabalpur: While the nation will celebrate the 76th Independence Day on Aug. 15 Tuesday, hundreds of people in Jabalpur district of Madhya Pradesh took a plunge into Narmada river on the eve of Independence Day as a mark of protest against the partition of the country. The ongoing spate in Narmanda river due to the recent heavy rains has not deterred the enthusiasm of the locals in Jabalpur as part of a unique rally taken by them for the last 15 years now.
Hundreds of locals including young women and children take the tricolor in their hands and take a swim in the Narmada River and walk for 10 kilometers to mark the country's partition into India and Pakistan on the eve of India's independence. During the unique swimming yatra, slogans of patriotism are raised to inculcate a spirit of national integration and unity among the countrymen.
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Initially, only a few people used to participate in the yatra, but with time, the number participants kept on picking up steadily. Locals said that 15 years ago, some youths of Jabalpur had thought of doing something new on the day of 14th August with the resolution of united India and these people jumped into Upnati Narmada with the tricolor in their hands and they carried the tricolor in their hands from Jilhari Ghat to Tilwara Ghat in Jabalpur.
On Monday, 300 local residents took a plunge into the Narmada river to take out the yatra. The rally has become a ritual of Jabalpur taken out every year on 14th August. Generally, there is heavy rain in the month of August when the Narmada often remains in spate. But braving all this, the locals while risking their lives, jump into the Narmada carrying the tricolor in their hands.
The upbeat locals when asked about the motivation behind the yatra, said, “When our soldiers can protect the country on the border by risking their lives, we should also respect them and the freedom of the country”.
