Tarun Karthick
Sri Vijaya Puram, 03 January 2025
In a surprising development, the tableau of the Union Territory of Andaman and Nicobar Islands will not feature in the 2025 Republic Day Parade at Kartavya Path, New Delhi. Reports indicate that officials from the UT failed to attend a critical expert committee meeting convened by the Ministry of Defence for selecting tableaux proposals from states and Union Territories.
The Government of India has implemented a rotational system to ensure that every state and Union Territory gets a chance to showcase their tableaux at the Republic Day parade within a three-year cycle spanning 2024 to 2026. Despite this structured opportunity, the absence of Andaman and Nicobar Islands’ representatives has cost the UT its slot for 2025.
According to national media reports, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands were called to present their proposal to the expert committee alongside 14 other states and Union Territories. However, due to the non-attendance of the UT’s officials, the Andamans lost their opportunity to showcase its tableau in the prestigious event. The Union Territory of Lakshadweep faced a similar fate as its officials also failed to attend the meeting. Additionally, the states of Mizoram and Sikkim reportedly expressed their inability to participate this year, while Delhi’s proposal was rejected by the committee.
The theme for the 2025 Republic Day tableaux is ‘Swarnim Bharat: Virasat aur Vikas’ (Golden India: Heritage and Development). This provided a unique opportunity for the Andaman and Nicobar Islands to highlight its rich cultural legacy and upcoming developmental projects. A tableau could have showcased the heritage of the Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs) residing in the islands, coupled with the transformative infrastructure and development projects aimed at fostering economic growth.
The absence of Andaman officials from expert committee meeting has sparked disappointment among Islanders who know of the development, especially given the potential for a tableau to counteract the narrative of criticism surrounding the islands’ developmental initiatives. Several activists and media outlets have expressed concerns over the environmental and social impacts of these projects, but the Republic Day platform could have been leveraged to present a balanced perspective, emphasising the projects’ benefits to the national economy.
The 2025 Republic Day Parade, a golden opportunity for the Andaman and Nicobar Islands to showcase their vision of heritage and progress, will now move forward without the UT’s participation. This missed chance has raised questions about administrative coordination and the prioritisation of such significant national events by the islands’ officials.