Republic Day parade: No tableau from Karnataka, after 13 years
Bengaluru: After 13 years, the tableau from Karnataka, which reflect the art and culture of the state, will not get a chance to shine in the Republic Day parade.
The Central government has turned down the proposal of the state to showcase Karnataka's millet diversity during the Republic Day parade on the Kartavya Path, state government officers have said.
Sources in the Department for Information and Public Relation have said that, while the assessment committee members had appreciated Karnataka's design and music in initial rounds, the state lost out at the final stage of selection, reports Times of India.
An official added that many states complained that they had been neglected for several years, with the committee giving opportunity to only a few states to present their tableaux.
Karnataka has won several awards for its tableaux and some of its themes were appreciated for their creativity and splendour. The state has focused on its rich cultural heritage, including folklore, handicrafts and biodiversity and was the runner-up last year, having presented the theme 'cradle of traditional handicrafts'.
The Ministry of Defence (MOD) has revised the process of selection and also streamlined the number of tableaux presented during the Republic Day parade, following a strong criticism from Kerala and Telangana in 2022 for ignoring the proposals of many states.
“Unlike picking individual states as per the roster, the Centre categorised the country into several zones and picked two to three tableaux from each zone,” an MOD source has said.
As per the new selection format, Karnataka, along with four other states and three union territories, was a part of the Southern zone.
The MOD officer has said that, in contrast to the selection of 15 tableaux, this year, they selected the three best proposals from each zone that had eight states. Zones that had only four states were to present two tableaux each. The selection was carried out also on a proportionate formula, the officer has added.
The MOD has given priority to states and union territories that had the least opportunity to participate in the parade in the last eight years, the officer has explained.
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BJP's main agenda is to keep minorities in fear, alleges Stalin
Chennai (PTI): DMK President M K Stalin has alleged that the BJP's main agenda is to keep the minorities in fear, and everyone is aware of what is happening in the states governed by the saffron party.
Stalin further alleged that Muslims continued to be subjected to attacks.
"Now, a situation has arisen where even Christmas could not be celebrated peacefully. Christians are being targeted. The entire country is a witness to what is happening in Manipur. The BJP's plan of action is that a state of insecurity for minorities should spread like a wildfire across the country," he told PTI in an interview.
That was why it first enacted the CAA, and the next was an amendment to the Waqf law, and now it is "desperate" to amend the FCRA, he alleged, and lashed out at AIADMK chief Edappadi K Palaniswami.
"Palaniswami, who supports all these three amendments and has formed an alliance with the BJP, does not have any concern for the welfare of minorities. However, the DMK is always firm in its commitment to ensure that India must always be a secular state; that people belonging to all religions must be equally respected and that the Constitutional safeguards conferred on minorities must be upheld. If any of these is threatened, the DMK will be the first party to raise its voice against it," he said.
Denying that the BJP made the minorities feel insecure, BJP state vice president M Chakravarthy said the chief minister was making the allegation due to the "fear that the Christian and Dalit votes would go to Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam led by actor-politician Vijay."
He was depicting the BJP as a bogeyman in an attempt to create unnecessary apprehension among the minorities, the BJP leader told PTI.
On FCRA, Chakravarthy asked, "What's wrong with ensuring accountability in the use of funds?"
