By Dr. Benjamin Debbarma
“At the stroke of the midnight hour, when the world sleeps, India will awake to life and freedom”
Jawaharlal Nehru, First Prime Minister of Independent India.
This year 15 August 2023 is India’s 77th Independence Day, which marked the 76 years of freedom. The theme for this year’s celebration is “Nation First, Always First,” an integral part of the broader “Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav” celebration. Every one of us knows that Independence Day of India serves as a powerful and significant reminder of the nation’s liberation from British colonial rule after nearly two centuries. Thus, every year on August 15, people length and breadth in India celebrate Independence Day to commemorate the country’s independence from the British colonial rule. The selfless contribution to India’s freedom movement- Mahatma Gandhi, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, Sardar Vallabhai Patel, Maulana Azad, Lokmanya Tilak, Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, Subramanya Bharati and many others who gave their life and the leadership to liberate the country from British rule. On this every grant annual occasion the Prime Minister or President gave a speech on the country’s accomplishments in all these years. Or even speaks about the goals for the future. This is observed as a national holiday in the country. Where hosting of national flag and singing the anthem marked the tribute and remembrance of the brave freedom fighters. The national flag has three colours – saffron representing courage and sacrifice, white representing peace and green representing prosperity. The Ashok Chakra in the middle represents the cycle of life.
One can also recollect a nostalgic sense of honour and pride, about the contributions by the Maharajas of Tripura (fka Hill Tippera- Manikya Dynasty) to India Union. While honouring the freedom fighters, the citizen of Tripura always remained to make contributions towards the interest of India cultures and constitutional values along with harmony, unity, dignity, service, honour and pride to both the State and the Nation.
Tripura on every annual occasion: Independence Day of India
Tripura acceded to the newly independent Indian Union on 13 August 1947. And from 15 October 1949, the citizens are very much part and parcel of the great motherland INDIA. The very diversity of India do also represent, reflect from the state of Tripura. The state shares borders with the country Bangladesh on three sides in the north, south and west. The length of its international border is 856 km (84 per cent of its total border). It is bordered by two Indian states of Assam and Mizoram to the east.
To mark every annual celebration of India Independence Day, Tripura gear up on this annual auspicious occasion with pomp of events from administrative offices, schools and to every corner of the rural villages by flag hosting, parades, playing patriotic songs, cultural dances, cultural programmes, school celebrations and many more. Hence, the every citizen of Tripura holds a lot of significance to Indian Union by representing its diverse cultures, traditions, fame, contributions in economic, political, cultural, social and various services etc. in respect of the “Tri-Colour” as a symbol of our national pride.
Tripura: Being diverse
The diverse ethno-linguistic groups in the state have given rise to a composite culture. Since time immemorial, Tripura had contributed to the nations on uncountable basis. In the field of music, arts and cultures, natural resources such as gas, bamboos, etc. Some of the important cash crops of the state- Rubber, Tea. Tripura ranks second to Kerala in the production of natural rubber in the country. The most important minerals in the state are oil and natural gas. The state is well noted for bamboo and cane handicrafts. Bamboo, wood and cane are used to create an array of furniture, utensils, hand-held fans, replicas, mats, baskets, idols and interior decoration materials.
The state has also contributed to sports the well-known figure in tennis Somdev Devvarman, who won the gold medal in the Men’s Singles event at the 2010 Asian Games. He was the first Indian to win a gold medal in the men’s singles tennis event of the Asian Games, has family roots in Tripura. In 2016, Dipa Karmakar from Agartala became the first ever female gymnast from India to qualify for the Olympics when she qualified for the women’s artistic gymnastics event of 2016 Summer Olympics. Other notable gymnasts from Tripura include Mantu Debnath, Kalpana Debnath, and Bishweshwar Nandi.
In the field of music Lt. Sachin Debbarman and Ruhal Debbarman (R.D Burman), better known as Pancham was well-known for composing music, who had laid the foundation stone in Bollywood today. The duo made music popular both in Bengali and Hindi films. Despite being a native of Tripura, they had spent a significant amount of their life in Mumbai and Kolkata where they were involved in music for their life-time. Government of India had bestowed the title “Padmashree” in recognition of their great contributions to the world of music. Sourabhee Debbarma is an Indian singer who was a contestant on the Indian Idol 4 (2008-2009), where she became the first female winner. Those few personalities who were awarded with various awards in various fields are: Narendra Chandra Debbarma (posthumously) in public affairs, Bikram Bahadur Jamatia in social work, First Olympian from Tripura: Dipa Karmakar, First IAS from Tripura: Tanushree Debbarma, First Padma Vibhushan Award Winner from Tripura: Salim Moizuddin Abdul Ali (1976), First Padma Shri Award Winner from Tripura: Dr. Rathindra Datta (1992), First Female Padma Shri Award Winner from Tripura: Dipa Karmakar (2017), Satyaram Reang in Arts, Thanga Darlong in folk music of Tripura, Benichandra Jamatia in literature and many others.
To conclude, Tripura had always been in the fore-front in depicting a unity with diversity. Thus, always needed an instant healing from politico-historical agendas. Tripura, over a very long period had struggled to contribute in the nation prides. The geo-politics, physical landscapes, cultural landscapes had resemblances to many old sculptures, architecture. Thus, the state will always be praised for the glorious history and rich cultural heritage, and being one of the North Eastern states as the pillars of India’s Act East Policy. Tripura always remain as the key to the South Asians regions being regarded as the “gateway” to the regions. It not only have shoulder the burdened of war-stricken Hindu population from Bangladesh and had shared their problems and prosperity. The state had its own civilisation, history, lingual, cultural which need to be re-look with respect on all grounds. It has many contributions to mainland and towards the mainstreams since a long decades and even today. One must not forget what, where and how Tripura is related to the mainland. Today, the much needed solution is more about political harmony, tranquillity, peace and equality in the society.
