India’s Independence Day was celebrated on Tuesday in the land of its former rulers with two unique gestures - an overnight Freedom Run that began close to where the act granting freedom was passed in 1947, and the tricolour fluttering atop the iconic Cardiff Castle.
Slogans such as “Bharat Mata ki Jai” and “Vande Mataram” rent the midnight air from the Gandhi statue in Parliament Square near the House of Commons as high commissioner YK Sinha flagged off an enthusiastic group of nearly 300 people on a Freedom Run to India House.
Clad in T-shirts with the words India@70, the group held tricolor beacons that stood out in the cool night air as they wound their way across prominent locations such as Big Ben, London Eye and Waterloo Bridge to India House in Strand.
Sinha received the runners at India House and said: "We started at Mahatma Gandhi's statue at Parliament Square…We wanted to do something different, and what could be more symbolic than a run from Parliament Square to the Indian high commission with such a large crowd of enthusiastic Indians."
In Cardiff, first minister Carwyn Jones joined the celebrations at Cardiff Castle, where, for the first time, a foreign country’s flag was hoisted. The flag arrived here after a journey that began in Allahabad on August 6 and travelled through Sabarmati Ashram in Allahabad, Jallianwalla Bagh in Amritsar, Jaipur and elsewhere.
{{/usCountry}}In Cardiff, first minister Carwyn Jones joined the celebrations at Cardiff Castle, where, for the first time, a foreign country’s flag was hoisted. The flag arrived here after a journey that began in Allahabad on August 6 and travelled through Sabarmati Ashram in Allahabad, Jallianwalla Bagh in Amritsar, Jaipur and elsewhere.
{{/usCountry}}Sporting a turban with India colours, Keshav Singhal, governor of the India Centre in Cardiff, told Hindustan Times that the tricolour was flagged off in Allahabad by justice Girdhar Mohan Malviya, grandson of Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya, and “blessed” by freedom fighters in Jaipur.
Jones, who lauded the contribution of the Indian community in Wales and the growing relationship with India, was joined by leader of opposition in the Welsh assembly, Andrew RT Davies, Welsh Conservative leader Morfudd Meredith and others.
Messages were read out from leading individuals such as Amartya Sen, Ratan Tata and Bhikhu Parekh.
The unique run in London was organised by the Indian mission along with community organisations, the office of the mayor of London and the India Tourism Office.