Controversy over celebration of first War of Independence.

The proposal of Youth Affairs ministry to organise a cultural event at the ramparts of Red Fort is being resisted by several members of the committee.

Updated on: May 10, 2007, 05:21:23 IST

None | By Chetan Chauhan, New Delhi

Prefer HTon Google

Share via

Copy link

It was a rebellion of a different sort at a recent meeting of the National Implementation Committee (NIC) on the celebration of the 150 years of India’s first War of Independence.

The proposal of Youth Affairs ministry to organise a cultural event at the ramparts of Red Fort on May 11 was resisted by several members of the committee including chairperson HRD minister Arjun Singh, though on different grounds.

Singh raised the issue of ‘conflict of interest’ as the work for conducting the event had been awarded to Asian Heritage Foundation, with which a NIC member Rajeev Sethi is closely associated. Secretary Youth Affairs S K Arora informed that the committee Sethi indeed was closely associated with the foundation.

At a meeting of NIC held on April 23, Singh went to the extent of cautioning the members that such an arrangement would not only be improper but also ‘fraught with serious consequences”. Arora, however, explained that the ministry has set up a technical committee to estimate the cost and the payment would be made as the actual spending, subject to the overall ceiling. He also said that the foundation would only get Rs 37 lakhs as administrative charges.

Despite the clarification, Singh insisted that awarding the work to the foundation was a ‘clear case of conflict of interest’. “Under the given circumstances, I am unable to support this activity organised by Asian Heritage foundation,” he told the NIC members.

Although most members agreed with Singh, the committee felt that finding an alternate in a short span would not be possible, therefore, grant the work to the foundation. Some members also pointed out that the cost of the cultural event was not very high. However, the NIC decided that the cultural programme to be organised would be vetted by a committee of historians in Indian Council of Historical Research.

Before Singh, I&B minister Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi had raised the issue of high cost of conducting the cultural event and said that the I&B ministry would have conducted the function at a much reduced cost.

He urged the committee to reduce the cost of a daylong function. Culture Minister Ambika Soni also supported him. At the end, NIC approved a budget of Rs 26.35 crore for the daylong functions with a request to Youth Affairs and Culture ministry to economise expenditure.

Former Congress MP Shashi Bhushan tried to put historical perspective by stating that the May 11 function should symbolise march of the sepoys from Meerut to Red Fort and no cultural programme should be organised. Youth Affairs minister Mani Shankar Aiyar opposed Bhushan saying that one should consider that the event was inaugural function of the 150 years of the anniversary of India’s First War of Independence.

The daylong function would start with top leaders of the country assembling at Red Fort to pay homage to the martyrs of 1857 and watch the cultural event. Thereafter, the government has planned a series of events throughout the day including a light and sound show in the evening.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Chetan Chauhan
Chetan Chauhan is the National Affairs Editor looking into all aspects of news and features from across India. A Chevening scholar with over three decades of experience in reporting and news management, Chetan has extensively covered all important aspects of the social sector, political economy, environment and climate change nationally and internationally. He did a journalism course at the Reuters Institute of Journalism in Oxford and Digital Media training at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. He started as a reporter with The Statesman in 1996 and joined the Hindustan Times in 2000 in the metro bureau covering environment, crime and Delhi politics. He covered hot local news, from the Jessica Lal murder case to the rebellion of Delhi Congress MLAs against then Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, to the replacement of toxic vehicle fuel with cleaner compressed natural gas (CNG) in the national capital. Some of his stories on air pollution became part of the Supreme Court’s landmark MC Mehta versus Government of India case in the National Capital Region (NCR), forcing the government to take corrective measures. As part of the national political bureau since 2004, he covered important central sectors such as environment, education, social justice, labour, rural development, water resources, renewable energy, agriculture, broadcasting and the Planning Commission for more than a decade producing several exclusive and investigative breaking stories. His specialisation is the environment, having covered at least a dozen United Nations global conferences on climate change, biodiversity and wildlife including climate summits in Paris, Copenhagen and Bali. He also covered India’s two five-year plans ---11th and 12th and reported on drafting and execution of right based laws such as Right to Education, Right to Information and rural job guarantee law, MG-NREGA, now being introduced in new format as VG-RAM-G Act. He has in-depth knowledge of social sector issues. He was one of the first to report on tigers vanishing from Sariska and Panna wildlife reserves in 2004 and 2008, respectively, leading to the setting up of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) and the introduction of stringent penal provisions for poaching. He has written extensively on the rising human-animal conflict in India and the degradation of India’s biodiversity hotspots because of mining and other activities. Since 2004, Chetan has covered Parliament comprehensively and participated in training on the nuanced coverage of Parliament proceedings. He has travelled extensively across India to cover national and provincial elections since 1998, especially in the Hindi heartland states, considered India’s road to power. He writes a regular column for Hindustan Times, Ecostani, on important national politics, economy, Himalayan ecology and environmental issues. His other responsibilities include providing inputs for edits and edit page articles for the publication, apart from managing news flow from across India.Read More

Catch every big hit, every wicket with Crickit, a one stop destination for Live Scores, Match Stats, Infographics & much more. Explore now!

Stay updated with all top Cities including, Bengaluru, Delhi, Mumbai and more across India. Stay informed on the latest happenings in World News along with Delhi Election 2025 and Delhi Election Result 2025 Live, New Delhi Election Result Live, Kalkaji Election Result Live at Hindustan Times.