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People of Indian heritage from all over the Montreal region converged in Park Extension on Aug. 16 to take part in a festive parade up Querbes Avenue, followed by a celebration at Park Extension’s Howard Park, to commemorate the day 62 years ago when India was declared an independent nation. At midnight on 15 August 1947, India’s independence was proclaimed, followed less than three years later by a declaration of the Republic of India by the new country’s Constituent Assembly.
Inspired civil rights
While India now leads developing nations as perhaps the most economically promising among them, its struggle for independence also served as a major catalyst for similar movements in other parts of the world, leading to the eventual disintegration of the British Empire and its replacement with the Commonwealth of Nations. It is recognized today that Mahatma Gandhi's philosophy of non-violent resistance inspired the American Civil Rights Movement led by >Martin Luther King, Jr., as well as the quest for democracy in Myanmar led by Aung San Suu Kyi, and the African National Congress's struggle against apartheid in South Africa led by Nelson Mandela.
A big event in Park Ex
Organized annually by the India-Canada Organization, the India Day Parade along Querbes Avenue is one of the largest public events that takes place in Park Extension. According to Daljit Singh, president of the India-Canada Organization, months of preparation are necessary before each year’s parade. “From January or February we start and by March we’re almost working full-time because we have to organize sponsors and call everyone,” he said. Starting at Ogilvy Avenue, this year’s parade attracted an estimated 10,000 participants marching in the street, riding atop floats and cheering from the sidelines. Some of the more patriotic and enthusiastic celebrate by breaking out spontaneously into dancing on the street.
Economic progress
The parade reaches its destination at Howard Park, where a stage is set up for speeches and cultural entertainment that continue late into the evening. In addition to the celebrations, India Day is also an occasion for the organizers to publicly speak about progress that’s been made in the previous year in the home country and to focus on issues of concern there. While India languished economically from the 1950s to the 1980s under socialist-style policies, since 1990, when restrictions were eased, it has emerged as one of the fastest-growing economies in the developing world. This has been accompanied by increases in life expectancy, literacy rates and food security.