Indians celebrate 66th Republic Day |27 January 2015

The Indian community of Seychelles came together yesterday morning at the India House, Au Cap, under driving rain to commemorate the 66th Republic Day of India.

The day started with the traditional flag raising ceremony and the singing of the national anthem by the women of the Indian embassy. High commissioner Sanjay Panda proceeded by reading extracts from the message of the President of India, Pranab Mukherjee.

In his message, Mr Mukherjee wrote that “twenty sixth January holds an everlasting place in our national memory because it is the day when modern India was born. Under Mahatma Gandhi's moral and political leadership, the National Congress passed the Purna Swaraj resolution demanding complete independence from British rule in December 1929. Gandhiji organised nationwide celebrations on January 26, 1930 as Independence Day. From then on, the nation took a pledge on this day every year to carry on the freedom struggle till we attained it.”

He added: “Exactly twenty years later, in 1950, we adopted our charter of modernity – the Constitution. Tragically, Gandhiji had been martyred two years before, but the framework of a Constitution that has made India a role model for today's world was constructed out of his philosophy. Its essence lay in four principles: democracy; freedom of faith; gender equality and an economic upsurge for those trapped in the curse of poverty. These were made Constitutional obligations. Gandhiji's talisman for the country's rulers was simple and powerful ‘whenever you are in doubt...recall the face of the poorest and the weakest man whom you may have seen and ask yourself...will it lead to swaraj for the hungry and spiritually starving millions?’.”

High commissioner Panda seized the opportunity to talk about the achievements made by India in 2014, such as the largest electoral exercise that made India a one-party power; the achievement of Kailash Satyarthi as a Nobel Prize winner; the launch of the Make in India campaign, which is an international marketing campaigning by the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi on September 25, 2014 to attract businesses from around the world to invest and manufacture in India.

“I cannot not mention our bilateral relations. Seychelles has been our most friendly neighbour. In the words of President James Michel ‘the Indian Ocean does not separate us, it is a bridge’. We also had the handing over of a naval ship, the launch of direct flights to Mumbai and the successful India Day programme. We also have to mention the recognition given to the acting Chief Justice for Seychelles, Durai Karunakaran with the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award. Only 15 overseas Indian received this award earlier this year,” noted the high commissioner.

Another good piece of news for Indians staying abroad is as of now they do not need to renew their Person of India Origin (PIO) card as the Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI) is valid for life.

The event was attended by the acting Chief Justice Durai Karunakaran, Anindya Banerjee, first secretary of the high commission in Seychelles, military adviser H. Col. G.G Giudur and members of the Indian community.