Param Vir Dirgha: Formatting Colonial Mindset, Reclaiming India's Legacy, One Step At A Time

As the voice of Prime Minister Narendra Modi echoed from the Red Fort on the eve of Independence Day in 2022, the 'Panch Pran' or the ‘five promise’ initiative outlined by the government aimed to usher in the ‘Amrit Kaal’ or the transformative progress that the country is supposed to witness leading up to the centenary of India's independence in 2047 captured the imagination of the nation.

One of the promises in the ‘Panch Pran’ included the idea to remove any trace of colonial mindset while adopting an assertive, proud Indian identity, free from colonial-era constraints and practices. Ever since, the government has worked to uphold the promise and the latest continuation of the same can be seen in the unveiling of Param Vir Dirgha at the Rashtrapati Bhawan which replaced the pictures of British officers along the corridors with the pictures of all the 21 Param Vir Chakra awardees of India who laid down their lives for the motherland.

And much like the Rashtrapati Bhavan, the replacement of colonial history with the legacy of India's own, has taken place across the spectrum.

Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita: Decolonising law

The government has undertaken a major overhaul of the criminal justice system by replacing the British-era penal codes. This included replacing Indian Penal Code of 1860 with Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, Code of Criminal Procedure of 1973 with Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, and Indian Evidence Act of 1872 with Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam. In addition to this, measures were taken to repeal over 1500 obsolete laws that were the remnants of the British era.

Back in 2016, even before the vision of ‘Panch Pran’ was announced publicly, the government moved a bill to rename the major high courts in the country changing the names of Calcutta High Court, Madras High Court, and Bombay High Court to Kolkata High Court, Chennai High Court, and Mumbai High Court. The proposals, however, have not passed the legal scrutiny of the Supreme Court.

Decolonising public places and institutions

The British occupation of the Indian subcontinent has left a significant mark on public places and institutions in the country with names like Writer’s Building, Park Street, Sudder Street, Ripon Street, in Kolkata, and Mumbai landmarks like Cuffe Parade, Breach Candy, and many more. While there are some that remain the same, the government has taken steps to make notable changes by renaming Rajpath (King's Way) in New Delhi to Kartavya Path (Path of Duty) and Race Course Road, the location of the Prime Minister's residence, to Lok Kalyan Marg. In fact, most recently, on December 3, the Prime Minister's Office (PMO), though not named so by the British, was also renamed Seva Tirth.

Andaman and Nicobar Islands which once housed the Cellular Jail, where some the darkest chapters of British occupation of India were written and that was once synonymous with the untold torture that the Indian freedom fighters were subjected to by the British, now, too, brims with national pride.

Major changes were made in the region where Port Blair Airport now proudly bears the name Veer Savarkar International Airport. The names of the islands of the Indian archipelago also received a nationalistic makeover where Ross Island became Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Dweep, Neil Island became Shaheed Dweep, and Havelock Island became Swaraj Dweep.

Decolonising symbols and sigils

In September 2022, the Indian Navy unveiled a new ensign that removed the St George's Cross, replacing it with a design inspired by the seal of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. It was a powerful move that re-instated India's rich maritime legacy and signaled a definitive break from the country's colonial past.

That is not all; in a similar act of reclamation, the statue of King George V at India Gate that was removed in 1968, was replaced with a statue of freedom fighter Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose. Additionally, British-era tunes were removed from the annual 'Beating the Retreat' ceremony and replaced with ‘Ae Mere Watan Ke Logo’, paying a worthy tribute to the Indian bravehearts martyred in the battlefield.

While the examples of reclaiming national glory are plenty, the focus of the government remains clear – breaking away from the shackles of a colonial past and chartering a new path for the new India that leaps into the future fearlessly while proudly rooting itself in its civilizational heritage.

Also Read: Efforts To Curb Air Pollution in NCR So Far a Total Failure, Says SC