Youth power, Vande Mataram theme for I-Day

Youth power and their contributions to national development, as well as 150 years of ‘Vande Mataram’, will be the theme of this year’s Independence Day celebrations on August 15, the defence ministry said on Monday.

At the same time, Defence Secretary RK Singh said the plan to celebrate the success and contribution of youth during the celebrations at the Red Fort “predates” the students’ protest at the Jantar Mantar.

“The celebrations this year will also commemorate Yuva Shakti, acknowledging the contribution of young India in building a Viksit Bharat by 2047.

“Youths are a critical part of our journey towards a developed Bharat because they will both be contributing to it and will hopefully be gaining from it. That is the only reason,” he said at a media briefing.

“The plan to celebrate the success and contribution of youth at the Independence Day celebrations predates any other event,” he said.

“I can assure you that this planning predates the Jantar Mantar agitation,” he added.

Singh said that as 2026 marks 150 years of ‘Vande Mataram’, the national song will be sung from the ramparts of the Red Fort for the first time as a tribute to its enduring legacy.

It will be sung at the start of the Independence Day celebrations. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will unfurl the national flag and the national anthem will be sung.

To a question, the defence secretary said Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi has been invited to the event, and the seating arrangements for the invitees will be strictly followed as per the Table of Precedence (ToP).

Singh said that as per ToP, Gandhi’s seat will be after the Cabinet ministers.