How BJP govt is celebrating various days to mark emergence of 'new India'

While August 15 and January 26 retain their salience, August 5 and January 22 are the anniversaries of the 'new India'

On Monday, as it has since 2014, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government at the Centre and in states, marked December 25, the birth anniversary of former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, as 'Good Governance Day'. Nine years back, many criticised the newly elected BJP government when it first announced its intent to mark December 25 as 'good governance day', accusing it of attempting to overshadow Christmas celebrations.

In subsequent years, the PM marked Vajpayee's birth anniversary, and also of Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya's, on December 25. He has also been posting his Christmas greetings on social media. On Monday, the PM tweeted his wishes on Vajpayee's birth anniversary at 8.35 AM and Malaviya's birth anniversary a minute later and wished everyone a Merry Christmas at 8.37 AM. Later in the day, the PM posted pictures of him hosting the Christian community at his official residence to celebrate Christmas.

The last nine years of the BJP government at the Centre have had it either mark some anniversaries and events with more zeal than the previous Congress-led governments accorded to these or discover new historical contexts for past events and even new anniversaries.

The birth anniversaries of freedom fighters, such as Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and Subhas Chandra Bose, both of whom spent years in the Congress, on January 23 and October 31, respectively, have been celebrated with fanfare in the last nine years and are examples of the Centre infusing renewed vigour into the commemorating of the two events.

As for the second example, the PM urged the people a couple of years back to mark August 14, the Independence Day of Pakistan, as the Partition Horrors Remembrance Day. August 5 is now notable for Parliament repealing Article 370 of the Constitution, which granted special status to Jammu and Kashmir in 2019, and the PM's laying of the foundation of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya in 2020.

Given that the Congress had led India's freedom struggle, celebrations of India's Independence Day on August 15 and the marking of the anniversary of the Quit India Movement on August 9 underline its leadership's contribution to the country achieving independence. The government has celebrated August 5 to mark the emergence of a 'new India'.

The Republic Day on January 26 is another such date, inextricably linked to India's freedom struggle and Congress' role in it. India's Constitution came into effect on January 26, 1950. It was chosen as a reminder of the resolution of the Lahore session of the Congress in 1929 to mark January 26 as Poorna Swaraj Day or to demand complete independence from the British.

August 5 has become a crucial date for the 'new India', as August 9 has for the last 70 years. However, August 14 has struggled to catch people's imagination and noticeably forgotten after it was first announced in 2021.

It is likely that January 22, the date of the inauguration of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya, will subsequently be celebrated four days before Republic Day. At least since 2021, the Republic Day celebrations have begun on January 23, instead of a day later, to mark Subhas Chandra Bose's birth anniversary. In January 2021, the BJP government at the Centre announced that the nation will henceforth celebrate Bose's birth anniversary as Parakram Diwas. A year later, the PM unveiled a hologram statue of Bose near India Gate on January 23 and a granite statue on September 8.

There have been other instances, too. Within months of coming to power, the PM celebrated Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel's birth anniversary on October 31 as National Unity Day. The Congress governments celebrated November 19, Indira Gandhi's birthday, as National Integration Day. Indira Gandhi was assassinated on October 31, 1984.

On May 28, 2023, the PM installed the 'Sengol' in Parliament to inaugurate it on the birth anniversary of Hindutva ideologue V D Savarkar.

On March 26, 2021, Prime Ministers Modi and Sheikh Hasina declared that India and Bangladesh would mark the 50th anniversary of their friendship by commemorating December 6 as Maitri Diwas, or Friendship Day. India had recognised Bangladesh as an independent country on December 6, 1971. But December 6 is a controversial day in the subcontinent's history. The razing of the Babri Mosque on December 6, 1992, led to communal riots against minorities in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, that is, against Muslims in India while against Hindus in Bangladesh and Pakistan. In subsequent years, Hindutva outfits, like the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, celebrated the day as Shaurya Diwas, or victory day. Historical events have overtaken the salience of December 6 for Hindutva politics. Followers of Dalit icon and architect of India's Constitution, B R Ambedkar, continue to mark his death anniversary on that day as Mahaparinirvan Diwas.

On Tuesday, December 26, the PM will mark the 'Veer Bal Diwas' in memory of the sacrifice of the younger sons of the tenth Sikh guru, Guru Gobind Singh. He will flag off a march-past by youth in Delhi. In January 2022, Modi announced that the government would mark December 26 as 'Veer Bal Diwas'. November 14, the birth anniversary of the first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru, had been marked as 'Bal Diwas', or Children's Day.