Har Ghar Tiranga 2.0: Will Manipur Issue Hamper Celebrations This Year?

Himadri Kalita

Preparations are in full swing to celebrate the 77^th Independence Day in Assam along with the entire country to pay homage to the fighters that fought for our freedom from Britishers and colonialism.

With Prime Minister Narendra Modi urging citizens of the country to hoist the tricolor flag on Independence Day similar to last year when the ‘Har Ghar Tiranga’ campaign was launched, the enthusiasm among the citizens has somewhat gone down this year compared to the previous year.

‘Har Ghar Tiranga’ campaign was launched in the year 2022 with the prime minister urging the Indians to hoist our national flag in their homes during August 13-15 as part of the campaign.

The idea behind this initiative was to invoke the feeling of patriotism in the hearts of the people and to promote awareness about the Indian National Flag.

Following the announcement of this campaign, the markets were filled with the tricolor flags and in addition to making it affordable for all sections of society, the government allowed using of polyester-made tricolor flags so that the economically-weaker section could hoist it.

However, the scene this year to celebrate the 77^th Independence Day is different compared to the previous year as the marketplaces are still deserted with only a few shops displaying the national flags for the citizens to purchase.

On this, one of the citizens in Guwahati said, “The enthusiasm among the citizens for Har Ghar Tiranga is comparatively low this time because it was like an internet trend which gradually got diminished,” adding that, “nationalism and patriotism isn’t something that should be felt only on January 26 and August 15.”

“Moreover, people have started to not fall for their strategies to deviate the masses as everyone is now aware of their incompetence which is evident by the measures taken by them to restore peace and normalcy in Manipur which has been burning since more than last three months. And now recently, communal violence has broke out in BJP-ruled Haryana. The centre is doing nothing but playing the blame game instead of acting on it,” she added.

“Every time, the Centre comes up with a new slogan or strategy to deviate people from the actual problems of the country which is currently facing so many issues including socio-political unrest in parts of the nation. Har Ghar Tiranga, in my opinion, is that it shouldn’t be necessary or mandatory as patriotism and nationalism is something which should come from within the Indians. Nationalism is the sense of belongingness and respect towards one’s own country and should come from within rather than imposing one community’s dominance over another. The government instead of forcing people to hoist the national flag should teach them how to respect our tricolor and our country as after Independence Day and Republic Day one can notice how the flags are lying on the roads. Will an Indian, who respects their motherland and the tricolor, ever throw away the flag in this manner? A citizen who has the feeling of nationalism and patriotism in their hearts would rather pick up the flags than throw it,” she said.

Another citizen said, “Without doing anything impactful for the society the entire year and showcasing our Desh Bhakti by hoisting the tricolor on one or two occasions is not I think commendable. I have a small flag in my room but I would like to ask that if I don’t hoist the national flag on this day would it mean that I love my country less than the one who is hoisting it in their homes? If the initiative was taken to promote patriotism and small businesses then it was a great one but I don’t feel that by showing Desh Bhakti for one day would bring any change in the society by disrespecting the constitution the entire year.”

“At present, the people are angry at the government for the ethnic clashes in Manipur and their incompetence to take any measures to restore normalcy despite outrage from the opposition and the entire country. Instead of speaking on the sensitive issue, they are playing blame game,” she said.

Further speaking on the trend factor, she said, “Trend does not last for so many days and besides people have started to realize their strategies to deviate them from the issues. Our first citizen is not taking any action and our Hon’ble prime minister is busy satisfying the NRIs while his country is burning. In this situation, how shall we maintain our calm?”

Although most of the citizens feel that the main reason for the low-spirited zeal among the masses to celebrate the day is the present situation in Manipur, but a few feel that it is the lack of promotion.

One citizen said, “This time the government has not promoted the campaign like last year which is why the people are not aware of it or maybe the thought didn’t come in their minds. Some might still do it but to do it at mass level needs good promotion.”

Meanwhile, the production of national flags by Assam Khadi and Village Industries Board (AKVIB) is very much low compared to last year as only 8,000 flags have been prepared this time.

Speaking to Pratidin Time Digital, Hem Kanta Medhi, District Officer Kamrup (M) and I/C Marketing, informed that this year the board set the target of producing only 8,000 national flags which is far low compared to last year’s target for production of 50,000 flags.

Medhi said, “The preparation for last year’s Har Ghar Tiranga was good as we could sell nearly 50,000 flags but later for the Republic Day celebration we reduced our production to only 6,000 because our flags are of top quality and is not for one-time use purpose. If we produce in huge quantity then in future the sale might get affected so we reduced our production target. For Independence Day, we consulted the 19 out of 20 Khadi outlets and decided to produce 8,000 flags for the occasion. So far, preparation of 7,000 of the flags has been completed and is ready to be supplied. The remaining 1,000 will be completed within the remaining three-four days we have in hand until Independence Day. Moreover, we are also ready for any additional requirements by the government and private offices and citizens.”

Speaking on the zeal among the citizens this year, Medhi said, “I agree that compared to last year, the enthusiasm among the citizens is somewhat low, however, as we have a few days in hand, the people might start show to their zeal to celebrate the Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav.”

Last year, the government allowed the usage of polyester-made national flags so that the economically weaker section could afford it. But on whether this would have any impact on the sale of Khadi-made flags or not, Medhi said, “It is definite that mass production of the polyester-made production might have an impact on our sales however, we did not face any such thing as the government offices, private institutions, and citizens who prefer Khadi products over others would always choose our products.”

The flags in the AKVIB are produced from Khadi clothes that is weaved by the registered weavers and sent to the board. Medhi informed, “There are many Khadi production centres across the state where we send the Kopahi Suta from our board. The suta is then sent to the weavers registered under the government to weave and are then send to these centres. After this, the clothes are transported to central godown where it is dyed in different colors as per requirement. After completion of these processes, the clothes are then sent back to our board where the tailors stitch them to make the finishing product.”

It may be mentioned that apart from the regular workers, the government has not appointed any new workers in the tailoring and dying section in the last 10-15 years, so the workers working under these sections on a contractual basis are not applicable to the amenities like that of a regular worker, Medhi informed.

However, they do receive an amount as aid from the government, he added.

Har Ghar Tiranga campaign had been a major success for the government last year due to the promotions and no socio-political unrest in any part of the country. However, this year, the ethnic clashes in Manipur and communal violence in Haryana have somewhat broke the enthusiasm to celebrate the day as the silence from the government has irked the citizens of the country.

Manipur has been burning for more than three months with fresh violence reported almost daily and no measures by the centre to restore normalcy. On top of that, the silence from the prime minister is what angered the citizens of the neighboring northeastern states as one of their sisters is suffering due to the government’s incompetence.

With these issues in hand, can the government make Har Ghar Tiranga 2.0 a successful campaign this year?

Also Read: ‘Har Ghar Tiranga Campaign’: AKVIB Prepares 50,000 National Flags