Marchers rehearse for Republic Day parade
NEW DELHI: Wielding a sword and wearing a turban in the colors of his regiment, Indian army Maj. Piyush Sharma thundered, “Troops, prepare to march.”
On his order, the camel-mounted regiment - its mustachioed riders led by shiny brass bands with glimmering tubas - switly moved down a boulevard in the Indian capital on Friday in a rehearsal for the annual Republic Day parade.
“I cannot describe my feelings in words. It is such an honour to lead my contingent,” said Sharma, 28.
Republic Day marks the anniversary of the adoption of the country’s constitution on Jan. 26, 1950. Thousands congregate on Rajpath, a ceremonial boulevard in New Delhi, to watch a flamboyant display of the country’s military power and cultural diversity.
Schoolchildren, folk dancers, police and military batalions march along the parade route, followed by a display of military hardware.
But what goes behind the high-precision parade - broadcast live and watched by millions of Indians across the country - is weeks and weeks of practice in the biting winter cold.
Due to a fervent nationwide campaign to fend off the coronavirus, participants in this year’s rehearsals marched with their faces covered in masks.
The crowd that came to watch was thin, braving a fog and chill as they stood along the sides of the boulevard. Because of the pandemic, spectators at next Tuesday’s Republic Day parade will be limited to enforce social distancing, and some events will be canceled.
India won independence from British colonial rule in 1947.
Ahead of the Republic Day, Border Security Force troopers have detected a key tunnel along the international border in Kathua district in Jammu and Kashmir that may have been used by terrorists, officials said.
“On specific intelligence, troops of BSF detected a 150m long and 30 t deep tunnel today (Saturday) during an anti-tunnelling drive in area of Pansar, Jammu,” BSF said.
This is the fourth tunnel detected by the BSF in last six months in Samba, Hiranagar and Kathua area and 10th in the Jammu region.
With the detection of the tunnels the BSF troopers foiled the designs of Pakistan to infiltrate Indian territory.
Sources said that there have been regular inputs about presence of terrorists in Pakistan border villages desperately seeking infiltration into Indian territory but the ever-vigilant BSF troops have foiled these desperate atempts.