India soaked in patriotism on R-Day

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Pranab Mukherjee flagged off India’s 66th Republic Day Parade with US President Barack Obama attending the ceremony with his wife as the chief guest.

Bowled over by the rich culture and traditions of India showcased at the ceremony, both Barack and Michelle saw the parade in awe.

The national capital was abuzz not only with the R-Day parade, but also as it was playing host to some of the most high-profile guests in the world. 

The security blanket, naturally, was as thick as one could imagine. The VVIP enclosure on Rajpath from where Obama, President Pranab Mukherjee, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and a host of other dignitaries witnessed the grand parade was wrapped in a seven-layer security ring. A whopping number of 40,000 personnel from Delhi Police and paramilitary forces were busy guarding the capital, watchful for miscreants.

To add to that, more than 15,000 CCTV cameras were installed to relay live pictures to a central control room which was being closely monitored a joint team of Delhi Police, US Secret Services and sleuths of central security agencies. There have been snipers and spotters of the National Security Guard (NSG)  deployed as well.

In Mumbai, which has received several terror attack threats in the past one month, the celebrations were low key. With terror messages in the airport washroom and intelligence agencies warning about attacks in schools post the Peshawar attack, schools have walked the extra mile by beefing up security and keeping the celebrations rather simple.

In Bihar, the celebrations were as colourful as they could have been. Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi hoisted the flag in Patna, with hundreds of people participating, despite Maoist threats.

West Bengal Governor K.N. Tripathi Monday hoisted the tricolour as the state celebrated the 66th Republic Day along with the rest of India. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee too was present, tweeting: “On this Republic Day let us again rededicate ourselves to being a sovereign, socialist, secular, democratic republic.”

Newly formed state Telangana also celebrated its first Republic Day in style. Odisha also braved terror threats to celebrate R-Day in the grandest manner possible.

While all the states enjoyed an attack-free Republic Day, it wasn’t the case with Assam.

Two low-intensity bombs exploded at the oil town of Digboi in Tinsukia district, even as the state celebrated R-Day. “No damage or casualty has been reported so far from the very low intensity blasts,” Senior Superintendent of Police A P Tiwari said. 

It seems one of the explosions took place under dumped garbage near a railway track and another in a drain under the garbage there. Even though there have been no casualties reported thus far, it just goes on to prove that R-Day is still a rather dangerous occasion for people of Assam.