The 70th anniversary of Indian Independence will be celebrated with an official flag raising ceremony in Cardiff - attended by the First Minister of Wales Carwyn Jones and several Indian VIPs.
The Indian Tirangaa will be raised at 11am on Monday 15th August at the Mansion House in Cardiff, the official residence of the Lord Mayor of Cardiff to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the birth of India as a sovereign nation.
In attendance will be the First Minister of Wales, Carwyn Jones, as well as Sangeev Gupta, MD of Liberty Steel, Virander Garg CEO of Liberty Steel, Gurmit Randhawa Chair of the Sikh Council of Wales, Vimla Patel Chair of the Hindu Council of Wales, Hugh Thomas the Leader of Cardiff City Council and representatives of the police and armed services.
The flag will be raised by Hon Consul General of India Raj Aggarwal OBE, who has organised the event. There will be speeches following the event and traditional music and dancing.
Raj Aggarwal said: "This is a big milestone for India and will be celebrated all over the world with lots of love and pride. On this day we remember and pay respects to all those who sacrificed their lives for the freedom and prosperity of India. But also this this ceremony represents the gratitude of the Indian diaspora to Wales from the 15,000 people of Indian origin happily settled here, and also from the 1.3m in the UK. They are highly successful, hard working and have integrated well with their communities and are committed to success and prosperity of Wales and the UK."
BBC Radio 4 has confirmed special commissions to mark the 70 years since the Partition of India in 1947, including an ambitious dramatisation of Salman Rushdie’s multi-award winning Midnight’s Children to be broadcast on the anniversary itself and a three part factual series with remarkable first-hand accounts of British Asians and the British who lived through the Partition.
Change of venue for London celebrations
On the other hand, the High Commission of India in London has moved their date of annual celebration to 10th September at the Indian Gymkhana, where they are inviting community groups to participate. The embassy usually hosts a flag hoisting ceremony at the India House on 15th August.
