Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Thursday wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking his intervention to include Kerala's tableau in the coming Republic Day parade.
Drawing the Prime Minister's attention to the non-inclusion of Kerala's tableau in the parade, the Chief Minister said the proposed tableau of the southern State has a social message and relevance in the contemporary social scenario.
The Kerala Chief Minister tweeted, "Wrote to Hon. PM @narendramodi ji on non-inclusion of Kerala`s tableau in the Republic Day parade. It featured the great philosopher and social reformer Sree Narayana Guru, who led Kerala's renaissance movement. Sought his urgent intervention to include our tableau in the parade." He attached a photo of the letter sent to the PM along with his tweet.
Wrote to Hon. PM @narendramodi ji on non-inclusion of Kerala's tableau in the Republic Day parade. It featured the great philosopher and social reformer Sree Narayana Guru, who led Kerala's renaissance movement. Sought his urgent intervention to include our tableau in the parade. pic.twitter.com/QpRpKOokNo
— Pinarayi Vijayan (@vijayanpinarayi) January 20, 2022
CM Vijayan in his letter to PM Modi said, "Our tableau included the image of Sree Narayana Guru, a great philosopher and social reformer, who led the renaissance movement of Kerala in the last century. His thoughts and actions attracted not only national but also worldwide attention," the letter said.
It said Guru had fought obscurantist practices which led to division among human beings and he propagated the philosophy of universal brotherhood, freedom and the right to education for all. "The message the tableau can send to the younger generation of the country is very valuable", the letter said while seeking the urgent intervention of the Prime Minister to get the tableau included in the parade.
Also, he told the Prime Minister that Kerala's tableaux have in the past won honours more than once.
Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has written to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin as the exclusion of the two States' proposed tableaux from the Republic Day snowballed into a major controversy. On Sunday, Mamata Banerjee had written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the "rejection of proposed tableau of West Bengal for the ensuing Republic Day Parade" and requested to "include the tableau of freedom fighters from West Bengal in the parade". Responding to her letter, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh had said, "I would like to assure you that the selection process of the tableaux participating in the Republic Day Parade is very transparent."
