Mann attacks Centre for not including Punjab's tableau for Republic Day parade

Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Wednesday slammed the BJP government at the Centre for not including the states tableau in the Republic Day parade, calling it a step towards removing the word Punjab from the national anthem.

Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Wednesday slammed the BJP government at the Centre for not including the state's tableau in the Republic Day parade, calling it a step towards removing the word "Punjab" from the national anthem. ''If they have their way they will take out the word ''Punjab'' from the national anthem Jana Gana Mana,'' he told reporters here. He said that like the last year, this year too, Punjab's tableau for the Republic Day parade on January 26 will not be included.

''The Centre has discriminated against Punjab,'' alleged Mann, adding that both Punjab and Delhi are not on the list whose tableaux have been selected.

He also said that Centre was discriminating against non-BJP ruled states on various issues.

Addressing a press conference here, Mann said they received a letter from the Centre on Wednesday, which shows that Punjab's tableau has not been included and they were only informed about the list of states whose tableaux have been selected.

''Every year on the occasion of Republic Day, through their tableaux various states showcase their culture and traditions,'' he said.

He said that this year the Centre had written a letter to the state ''asking our willingness regarding the state's tableau. On August 4, 2023, we wrote a letter of willingness..'' We proposed three tableaux from Punjab for shortlisting and even gave them designs for this, and our officers also held meetings in this regard with the Centre.

''Punjab Kurbaniya ate Shahadatan Da Itihaas, the second tableau proposed was the Nari Shakti -- Mai Bhago, the first lady warrior of Sikhism and the third was Punjab da Ameer Virsa te Odi Peshkari,'' he said.

Among the selected states include Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, Odisha, Manipur, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Goa, Meghalaya, Ladakh, Karnataka, Jharkhand, Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh, said Mann.

Eighty per cent of the selected states are the BJP-ruled ones, he alleged.

Accusing the Centre of politicising the whole thing, Mann stated in Punjabi, ''Matlab hun 26 January te 15 August ka bhi Bhagwakaran ho gaya, Bajpakaran ho gaya, rajneeti karan ho gaya''.

Mann said the Punjab tableaux, which have not been included by the Centre for the Republic Day event, will now be part of the Republic Day events in Punjab.

''On these tableaux, we will also mention 'Rejected by Centre','' he said.

''Last year too, there was no tableau of Punjab nor this year also... I strongly condemn this. Are they playing jokes with us?'' he said, taking a dig at the Centre.

For the Republic Day parade in January 2023, the BJP leaders from the state had claimed that the state's tableau was disqualified due to AAP government's own ''fault'' as it presented the old one after making some modifications.

Mann said the entire world wants to see Punjab's rich culture and contribution of Punjabis towards the nation's freedom struggle, but the Centre does not want tableaux that depict this and have pictures of freedom fighters like Bhagat Singh, Lala Lajpat Rai and Uddham Singh.

''But in Punjab, BJP's people are going all over the state with Modi's tableaux (referring to the Viksit Bharat Yatra events), but they don't like the tableau which would depict sacrifices of Punjabis for the motherland,'' he said.

Had our tableau been included, it would have only added to the prestige of the event, he said.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)