Saturday, August 07, 2010

India’s Independence Day

By: Aarthi N. Grade 5, Birmingham, AL ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Republished from August 2009

The Independence Day for any country is one of the most important holidays for that country, and India’s is no exception.

India’s Independence Day is on August 15, 1947. India gained its independence from the British. The British had ruled over India for over 200 years. Mahatma Gandhi is one of India’s most famous freedom fighters, if not the most important one.

On August 15, in schools and colleges all over India, no academic work is done. People only go to offices to hoist the Indian Flag. All government offices are closed. Shops are strictly told to pull down their shutters.

The majority of Indians watch the Prime Minister’s speech in the Red Fort (Delhi) on Television. He addresses the people after unfurling the tricolor of India. This was first done on the morning of August 15, 1947 by Jawahar Lal Nehru, the first prime minister of India. There is a parade of policemen. India Gate is also a major attraction. It is illuminated and the sky is full of kites in all sorts of sizes and colors. Kite flying has also recently become a tradition and all over the country. Indians fly kites symbolizing freedom.

A lot of cultural programs are organized on Independence Day. Flags are sold on street sides. Parades can be seen in some major cities. Television shows are mostly patriotic.

Until Independence Day, India had almost no national holiday that the whole country could take part in. Apart from all these celebrations on Independence Day, responsible Indians remember the commitment, devotion, and the supreme sacrifices made by the leaders of the movement for Indian Independence.

The method of nonviolence and non cooperation that was Mohandas K. Gandhi’s belief is a unique one in the history of the world. Under Gandhi’s wise but firm guidance, leaders like Jawaharlal Nehru were able to inspire the simple people of India to cooperate and actively take part in this freedom struggle. Doing this was not easy for any one of them. Gandhi, Nehru and others including other ordinary people were imprisoned several times by the British. This meant that they had to sacrifice their family lives.

One of the main highlights deserves to be mentioned here is the Dandi march. This was Gandhi’s way of expressing his beliefs that India was not going to remain under the control of the British. In this march Gandhi led many followers to make salt on their own. The angry British reacted by putting them all in prison, but this did not weaken the Indians.

This is just a partial account of India’s struggle for freedom. Finally, after several ups and downs, on August 15, 1947 India achieved her goal.

I do hope that with this small write up will l create an interest in many of my readers to read and learn more about India’s historic struggle.