Observing the 68th death anniversary of Mahatama Gandhi – the father of the nation, the nation today observed martyrs’ day paying homage to the great leader.
Manipur too joined the nation in paying homage to the father of the nation. The main observance of the Martyrs’ day was held at Gandhi Memorial Hall Imphal. Chief Minister OkramIbobi Singh, Deputy Chief Minister Gaikhangam, Speaker Th. Lokeshwar, Deputy Speaker M.K. Preshow, other Ministers, MLAs and state government top officials including Chief Secretary, DGP etc. paid floral tribute to the statue of MK Gandhi at GM Hall. As observed across the nation, a two minutes silence was maintained as a mark to respect to the martyrs of the country.
The Martyrs’ Day was also observed at Congress Bhavan at BT road. Congress workers led by Chief Minister Okram Ibobi and Deputy Chief Minister Gaikhangam paid floral tribute to the statue of the father of the nation erected at the Congress bhavan.
Earlier Prime Minister Narendra Modi had called on the nation to observe two minutes of silence in the memory of those who were martyred in India’s freedom struggle while paying Homage to Mahatma, Gandhi.
“Salutations to beloved Bapu on his Punya Tithi. Let us as a nation stand together in silence for 2 minutes at 11 AM today as a mark of respect towards our brave martyrs,” the Prime Minister tweeted.
He added that the valour of all martyrs who gave their lives for the nation will always be remembers and that their sacrifices will be etched forever in memory.
Earlier, the ministry of home affairs (MHA) had issued a directive that silence should be observed at work and all movement must be stopped throughout the country during the two minutes.
The silence period will be indicated by the sounds of ‘sirens or Army guns’ from 10: 59 am to 11:00 am and after two minutes the sirens will sound again from 11:02 am till 11:03 am.
Stating that in the past the general public did not adhere to the ‘solemnity of the occasion’ and went about their business, the MHA has asserted that state governments and union territories need to ensure that ‘Martyrs Day’ is observed with due solemnity and better public participation.
But here in Manipur except at the observance site the appealed of the Prime Minister does not have any impact as life continue without bothering the appealed.
