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Laser show on India Gate during Netaji hologram launch was shelved last minute

The Indian Army and the Ministry of Defence opposed the plan citing disrespect to martyrs

Laser show on India Gate during Netaji hologram launch was shelved last minute
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New Delhi, First Published Jan 24, 2022, 10:07 AM IST

As history was being made at the India Gate with the unveiling of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose hologram on January 23, a significant last-minute change was made to the evening's schedule of celebrations. A laser show proposed by the Union culture ministry on the India Gate monument during the unveiling of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose hologram on January 23, was shelved just hours before the event kicked off.

This, according to sources, happened after the Indian Army and the Ministry of Defence opposed the plan. Sources said that the laser show was opposed by the Indian Army as it would have been disrespectful and sacrilege to the soldiers who laid down their lives in protecting the sovereignty and integrity of the country. 

Sources further highlighted that the officials had discussed the issue in length and finally arrived at a conclusion to junk it. It is believed that the Prime Minister's Office had given a go-ahead for the show. But the defence ministry persuaded the officials from going ahead. 

It may be recalled that a similar move was shelved in 2015. During India-Africa Summit in 2015, the Indian foreign ministry had planned to use India Gate as the backdrop for 3D image projections for an audience of over 50 heads of state from Africa. The Prime Minister’s Office had to intervene following the objections raised by the defence ministry and Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage. 

To honour 83,000 soldiers of the British India Army, the British constructed India Gate in 1931. These soldiers had made supreme sacrifice during World War-I and the Third Anglo-Afghan War. Last week, another controversy erupted when it was decided that the flames of the Amar Jawan Jyoti and that of the National War Memorial would be "merged". The eternal flame at Amar Jawan was doused after 50 years.

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