Why Do We Celebrate Republic Day? Meaning, History & Significance of Indian Republic Day

Republic Day holds a special place in Indian history as it marks the day when the Constitution of India came into effect. Every year, Republic Day is being celebrated in grandeur with ceremonious parades at the majestic Rajpath in New Delhi. Celebrations are held across the nation with great zeal and enthusiasm commemorating the efforts taken by the early Indian politicians to draft, enact and adopt the Constitution. This day broke the final shackles of India’s imperial past. This year, it is India’s 69th Republic Day and like every year, India will celebrate the occasion in presence of 10 heads of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) leaders.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had invited the ASEAN leaders to this year's Republic Day parade during his ASEAN-India Summit in November last year. This year, the Republic Day celebrations will have 10 chief guests, who are heads of Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos and Brunei.

The significance of celebrating Republic Day on January 26 every year is because it was on this day in 1930 when Declaration of Indian Independence (Purna Swaraj) was proclaimed by the Indian National Congress as opposed to the Dominion status offered by British Regime.

Why do we celebrate Republic Day?

Republic Day is a day of national pride. A grand display of military pride serves as a reminder that the security of our territorial sovereignty comes at the cost of many sacrifices. Going back to history India did not become a great democracy despite gaining freedom on August 15, 1947. It remained a constitutional monarchy with King George VI as its head of state even after Independence. Soon after independence, the Constituent Assembly appointed the drafting committee, with Dr BR Ambedkar as its chairman, to draft the constitution. The drafting committee was tasked with framing the constitution which would be passed and accepted by the assembly.

Nearly two and a half years later, on 26 January 1950, the Constitution of India came into effect and India became the most populous democracy in the world. It was on January 26, 1950, that our nation became the Republic of India hence celebrating 26 January each year as India’s Republic Day. In simple words, the Constitution of India took 2 years, 11 months and 18 days to get drafted. The adoption of the Constitution of India took place by the people, making India the Independent Republic. To recall, the Constitution was adopted by the Indian Constituent Assembly on 26 November 1949 and came into effect on 26 January 1950 with a democratic government system.

Republic Day is a gazetted holiday in India on January 26 each year where national, state and local government offices, post offices and banks are closed. It has to be noted that 2018 also marked 25 years of India's partnership with the grouping. Republic Day reminds us of the elevated values enshrined in the Preamble that we call our Constitution. The pledge in the preamble to our constitution talks of India as a “sovereign, socialist, secular, democratic, republic”. Each of these is an ideal that forms the foundation on which this nation is built.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 24, 2018 06:04 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).