Day 6: INDEPENDENCE DAY (71st ANNIVERSARY) RANCHI
On the stroke of midnight, fireworks heralded the celebrations of Indian Independence Day 2017. They could be heard right across Ranchi. August 15th is the seventy–first Anniversary of Indian Independence, when the Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, partitioning British India into two new independent dominions of India and Pakistan and given Royal Assent on July 18th 1947, came into being and took tangible effect. When daylight dawned, there was a mood of celebration right across the city. Interestingly, no meat is sold anywhere in India on Independence Day in order to give the butchers also a holiday.
The archbishop and the Reverend Steve Brunn went early in the morning to St Margaret’s High School Grounds, Ranchi where they, together with the officers of the diocese and the bishop, were greeted by a welcome dance performed by the students of St Paul’s College. The Indian Flag was hoisted by the bishop of Chota Nagpur, the Right Reverend B.B. Baskey, and those present sang the National Anthem. Prayers were offered for the wellbeing of India and her peoples by the Diocesan Treasurer, the Reverend Arun Barwa who remembers with great pride Miss Elizabeth Ferrar in his home school of Kamdara. We proceeded to the auditorium in St Margaret’s High School. The cultural programme consisted of songs, dances, skits and choreography. Not only was the standard of performance consistently high, but the range of performance was most interesting as young people grappled with what is meant by Indian Independence in the context of contemporary India. One of the performances poignantly considered the issues connected with violence against women both in the home and in public places. Others explored the religious tensions in India around the time of Independence and the role of Mahatma Gandhi in seeking to resolve such tensions. Schools competed eagerly and passionately for the prizes.
The schools and colleges taking part were the following: St Michael’s School for Blind, Ranchi; St Margaret’s UP School, Ranchi; St Paul’s Primary School, Ranchi; St Peter’s High School, Kanke; Arnold School of Nursing; SPG Mission School, Chutia; St Paul’s Boy’s School, Ranchi; St Barnabas Nursing College (BSc), Ranchi; SPG Mission School, Doranda; SPGWPTT College, Ranchi; St Margaret’s Girls’ High School, Ranchi; St Paul’s College, Ranchi; St Paul’s Middle School, Ranchi; Miss Whipham Middle School, Ranchi; St Margaret’s College Hostel, Ranchi; SPG Middle School, Kanke; Miss Whipham Girls’ High School, Ranchi.
The archbishop was given the opportunity to address the gathering of over one thousand five hundred people, mostly students. He began by congratulating all participants on an outstanding display of colour and of talent, of skill and of imagination. His remarks concerned the relationship between independence and freedom as befitted Independence Day. Taking a text from St John 8.32: The truth will set you free, he spoke of various types of freedom: freedom to create, freedom to construct and freedom to contribute. Freedom to create is essential to both responsibility and development; freedom to construct is essential to a just society; freedom to contribute is essential to interdependence and community building. All of these types of freedom assist with current and future citizenship and are deeply relevant to education today. Steve spoke positively and encouragingly about the way in which Jesus had refused to let his disciples restrain the children from coming to him. He went on to applaud the students on their commitment to their institutions and their country and he concluded by voicing his excitement about developing the work between the two dioceses through DUMCN.