Republic Day 2023: Know history, significance, interesting facts

NEW DELHI: Every year Republic Day is celebrated in India on January 26. The day is celebrated to commemorate the Constitution of the country coming into force in 1950. It was also on this day when Hindi was declared as the official language of the country in the year 1965. On Republic Day armed forces personnel march along the Rajpath in New Delhi; schools, colleges, and universities organise various events; the national flag is hosted at various places across the country and much more.

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History and Significance

On August 15, 1947, India achieved independence from British rule and a few days later a committee was formed to draft a permanent constitution for independent India on August 29. Dr BR Ambedkar was made chairman of the committee. On November 4, 1947, the committee drafted the constitution and submitted it to the Constituent Assembly.

The assembly met in numerous sessions for nearly two years before finally adopting the Constitution. On January 24, 1950, the 308 members of the assembly signed the agreement and the constitution came into effect two days later, on January 26, 1950.

The Constitution includes the fundamental rights for all people of this country. It also defines certain responsibilities for the citizens of the country to abide by.

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Interesting Facts

• The Constitution of India is known as the longest Constitution in the world.
• Every year, the leader of a particular nation is invited as the chief guest for the Republic Day parade. President Sukarno of Indonesia was the first to attend India's Republic Day celebrations as chief guest in 1950. This year's chief guest is Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi.
• As per the norm, the President of India addresses the nation on Republic Day, while the Prime Minister addresses the country on Independence Day.
• Each member of the army who takes part in the march goes through four layers of investigation. Additionally, their arms are extensively inspected to ensure that they do not have live bullets.
• On Republic Day, the national anthem is played after the 21-gun salute. The firing is not done using 21 canons, rather is done with seven canons of the Indian army known as '25-Ponders' which fire three rounds each.