- NET Web Desk
Amid the surge in COVID-19 cases and the escalating spread of its new variant “Omicron”, uncertainty has emerged if the tableau of Assam showcasing the valour of young freedom fighter – Kanaklata Baruah with the Tricolor will be selected for the Republic Day parade in New Delhi this year.
Marking the 75th years of Independence, and celebrating India’s freedom struggle based on the theme “Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav”, the Assam Government decided to showcase the tableau with effigy of Baruah hoisting the tricolor and proposal for the same was sent to the Centre.
However, even after the Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma’s letter to Defence Minister Rajnath Singh urging to let the valour of the freedom fighter shine along the national capital, the state government is struggling to attain an apt answer associated with the same.
“The Union government’s defence ministry takes the initiative to showcase glimpses of different states in the Republic Day event and it also appealed to us to select a tableau with the theme Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav. Our state-level committee selected the scene where Kanaklata Barua was hoisting the Tricolor, as the tableau. The selection committee concerned told us to make certain corrections in the model we presented initially and we assured them that we would do that. However, there is no certainty yet whether it has been selected,” – informed the state cultural affairs minister Bimal Bora.
He further clarified that “every state of India does not get the opportunity to showcase its proposed tableau each year. It’s not mandatory that every state must be present there.”
Meanwhile, the Assam Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) president Bhupen Kumar Borah said that it is a big insult to Assam and Northeast. “Kanaklata Barua was a great freedom fighter and valiant leader at such a tender age. Perhaps, her case was not approved by the RSS and thus, we are most likely to miss her in the national capital.” – Bhupen further added.