NEW DELHI: Calling the “discrimination” charge of Punjab, Delhi and West Bengal for rejecting their state tableaux “basless”, the Ministry of Defence on Sunday clarified that their tableaux were not included in the Republic Day 2024 parade as they were not aligned with the broader themes of this year's tableau.
Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann recently criticised the BJP-led government for not including the state's tableau in the parade and said that both Punjab and Delhi were excluded from the list of states whose tableaux have been selected for the parade on January 26.
In its response, the defence ministry issued a statement saying tableau proposals from states, UTs and central ministries or departments are evaluated by an “expert committee” comprising eminent persons in the fields of art, culture, painting, sculpture, music, architecture and choreography. “The tableau proposal of Punjab was considered in the first three rounds of the meeting of the expert committee. After the third round of meeting, the tableau of Punjab could not be taken forward by the expert committee for further consideration for not aligning to the broader themes of this year's tableau,” it said.
The ministry also said that states and UTs not selected for the
R-Day parade 2024
were being invited to showcase their tableaux in Bharat Parv at the Red Fort from January 23-31 in accordance with an MoU signed with the states and UTs. However, Mann categorically stated that Punjab would not showcase its tableaux in Bharat Parv. In a post in Punjabi on 'X', Mann said the state's tableau, which was to showcase the sacrifices made by freedom fighters such as Bhagat Singh, Rajguru, Sukhdev and Lala Lajpat Rai, will not be sent to ‘rejected categories’.
Around 30 states and UTs had shown willingness to participate in the R-Day parade. “Out of these 30 states/UTs, like every year, only 15-16 states/UTs will be finally selected to present their tableaux in the
Republic Day Parade
2024," the statement added.
The statement further stated that as per the MoU, Punjab and Delhi have signed with the government of India, states have agreed to display their tableau in the Republic Day parade in one of the three years starting from January 26, 2024. “Hence their criticism of not being selected this year (2024) is not objective and unfounded,” it said.
The ministry said the tableau of Punjab was shortlisted for the Republic Day Parade from 2017 to 2022, 6 times in the last eight years.
“As states have to be treated equally, it is essential that states should be given the opportunity to display their
tableaus
as per a formula. Government of India is preparing a three-year programme covering all states/UTs which will be shared with all the states/UTs. Hence, the criticism by these states is baseless,” it said.
Referring to the West Bengal tableau, the ministry cited the same reason for its rejection, saying it did not “aligning to the broader themes of this year's tableau” and added that Bengal's tableau was earlier shortlisted in 2016, 2017, 2019, 2021 and 2023 – 5 times in the last eight years.
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