In a latest unfolding of events, after the states of West Bengal and Maharashtra, Kerala’s tableau proposal too has been denied permission for this year’s Republic Day parade on 26th January,2020.Kerala proposed a theme comprising the traditional art form of Theyyam and Kalamandalam, depicting the traditional art and architecture of the state.
It is important to note that Kerala is the fourth in the list of states whose tableau proposal have faced rejection for the upcoming Republic Day parade. Earlier, the Defence Ministry had rejected the proposals of Maharashtra, West Bengal and Bihar.
Several opposition leaders have condemned the move of the centre including NCP leaders Surpiya Sule, Nawab Malik, Shiv Sena’s Sanjay Raut, Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi among many others.
Abhishek Manu Singhvi said, “India’s diversity, heritage, cultural soft power and essence cannot be done justice after exclusion and massive(area plus population)states like Maharashtra, Bengal, Kerala, Bihar, Delhi and Haryana. A very large measure of autonomy and latitude has to be given to states to decide their tableaux.”
The government has however maintained that there is no malicious intent behind the move. According to the government, the tableau proposals received from various states/union territories and central ministries are evaluated in a series of meetings of the Expert Committee comprising eminent persons in the field of art, culture, painting, sculpture, music, architecture and choreography. They maintain that many tableaux of BJP governed states have also faced rejection this year. These states are Uttarakhand, Haryana, Tripura, Arunachal Pradesh etc.
The government received 32 proposals from states and union territories and 24 from ministries/departments. Out of these 22 proposals, comprising of 16 states/UTs and six ministries/departments, have been finally shortlisted for participation in the final Republic Day parade 2020 after a total of five expert committee meetings.
