— Photo: R. V. Moorthy

A TRIBUTE: Artists performing at the 150th anniversary celebrations of the First War of Independence, at the Red Fort in New Delhi on Friday.

NEW DELHI: Reviving memories of the momentous events that resulted in the revolt of 1857, a spectacular cultural show was presented at the Red Fort here on Friday to commemorate 150 years of the First War of Independence.

The nearly one-hour extravaganza that began at 7 a.m. was watched by President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, Vice-President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee, UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Union Human Resource Development Minister Arjun Singh, and Union Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports Mani Shankar Aiyar.

Inaugural function

Dressed in white kurta-pyjama, a large number of young men and women who marched all the way from Kranti Park in Meerut — that hosted the inaugural function on Sunday — to Red Fort, sat intently through the programme with occasional bursts of ``Vande Matram'' and "Bharat Mata Ki Jai.''

Several freedom fighters and their families from across the country were also invited.

On May 11, 1857, hundreds of sepoys reached Delhi from Meerut to persuade Mughal ruler Bahadur Shah Zafar to lead them in their struggle for freedom from foreign rule.

— Photo: R. V. Moorthy

Addressing the gathering in Hindi, Mr. Kalam shared his vision of a developed India with them — a country where there is employment, health and food security for all, the rural-urban divide is bridged and there is a transparent and corruption-free administration.

The President said every citizen should contribute to the development of the nation.

He urged the youth to resolve to launch a second freedom struggle to transform India into a developed country before 2020.

Dr. Manmohan Singh said the most special thing about the 1857 uprising was that it brought together people from different religions, communities and regions to fight for a common cause.

He said the youth must understand that the country attained Independence after a lot of struggle and sacrifices. Every citizen must value the ideals and feelings that guided the freedom movement.

Mr. Shekhawat, Mr. Chatterjee, Ms. Gandhi and Mr. Arjun Singh upheld the significance of the First War of Independence and underscored the relevance of ``Unity in Diversity.''

Earlier, a number of rural and urban artistes — including traditional dancers, acrobats, ballad singers — brought together by seven zonal cultural centres of the Union Ministry of Culture paid a tribute to the First War of Independence through ``Sangram aur Azaadi,'' a multi-media presentation orchestrated with live performances.

Cultural show

The cultural show combined music, dance, theatre, martial arts and other art forms from different parts of the country.

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