Republic Day has been celebrated every year in India on January 26, since 1950 to honour the date on which the Constitution of India came into effect. India was a colony of the British for over 200 years and became independent from the rule of the British Raj following the Indian independence movement. We would be celebrating our 72th Republic Day.

The Indian independence movement was a movement from 1857 until 15 August 1947, when India got its independence from the British Raj. The movement spanned a total of 90 years (1857–1947)

What does the president do on Republic Day?

The President of India, being the Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Armed Forces, takes the salute. This is followed by a vibrant parade comprising tableaux from different States and cultural dances by patriotic school children.

The Presidents of India since Independence

1) Rajendra Prasad (26 January 1950 to 13 May 1962 – 12 years, 107 days)

2) Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan (13 May 1962 to 13 May 1967 – 5 years, 0 days)

3) Zakir Husain (13 May 1967 to 3 May 1969 – 1 year, 355 days)

4) Varahagiri Venkata Giri (3 May 1969 to 20 July 1969 – 78 days)

5) Mohammad Hidayatullah (20 July 1969 to 24 August 1969 – 35 days)

6) Varahagiri Venkata Giri (24 August 1969 to 24 August 1974 – 5 years, 0 days)

7) Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed (24 August 1974 to 11 February 1977 – 2 years, 171 days)

8) Basappa Danappa Jatti (11 February 1977 to 25 July 1977 – 164 days)

9) Neelam Sanjiva Reddy (25 July 1977 to 25 July 1982 – 5 years, 0 days)

10) Giani Zail Singh (25 July 1982 to 25 July 1987 – 5 years, 0 days)

11) Ramaswamy Venkataraman (25 July 1987 to 25 July 1992 – 5 years, 0 days)

12) Shankar Dayal Sharma (25 July 1992 to 25 July 1997 – 5 years, 0 days)

13) Kocheril Raman Narayanan (25 July 1997 to 25 July 2002 – 5 years, 0 days)

14) Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam (25 July 2002 to 25 July 2007 – 5 years, 0 days)

15) Pratibha Patil (25 July 2007 to 25 July 2012 – 5 years, 0 days)

16) Pranab Mukherjee (25 July 2012 to 25 July 2017 – 5 years, 0 days)

17) Ram Nath Kovind (25 July 2017 ends on 25 July 2022)

The Prime Minister of India since Independence

1) Jawaharlal Nehru (15 August 1947 to 27 May 1964 – 16 years, 286 days)

2) Gulzarilal Nanda (27 May 1964 to 9 June 1964 – 13 days)

3) Lal Bahadur Shastri (9 June 1964 to 11 January 1966 – 1 year, 216 days)

4) Gulzarilal Nanda (11 January 1966 to 24 January 1966 – 13 days)

5) Indira Gandhi (24 January 1966 to 24 March 1977 – 11 years, 59 days)

6) Morarji Ranchhodji Desai (24 March 1977 to 28 July 1979 – 2 years, 126 days)

7) Chaudhary Charan Singh (28 July 1979 to 14 January 1980 – 170 days)

8) Indira Gandhi (14 January 1980 to 31 October 1984 – 4 years, 291 days)

9) Rajiv Gandhi (31 October 1984 to 2 December 1989 – 5 years, 32 days)

10) Vishwanath Pratap Singh (2 December 1989 to 10 November 1990 – 343 days)

11) Chandra Shekhar (10 November 1990 to 21 June 1991 – 223 days)

12) Pamulaparthi Venkata Narasimha Rao (21 June 1991 to 16 May 1996 – 4 years, 330 days)

13) Atal Bihari Vajpayee (16 May 1996 to 1 June 1996 – 16 days)

14) Haradanahalli Doddegowda Deve Gowda (1 June 1996 to 21 April 1997 – 324 days)

15) Inder Kumar Gujral (21 April 1997 to 21 April 1997 – 332 days)

16) Atal Bihari Vajpayee (19 March 1998 to 22 May 2004 – 6 years, 64 days)

17) Manmohan Singh (22 May 2004 to 26 May 2014 – 10 years, 4 days)

18) Narendra Damodardas Modi (26 May 2014 till present – 6 years, 244 days)

Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar played a very important role in the social revolution and modern India and also formulated the Indian constitution. He was the man who helped the oppressed and fought for them.  He was the first Law Minister of India and fought against social discrimination against Untouchables and supported the rights of women and labour.

Most of the freedom fighters sacrificed their lives in the war for independence. Most importantly, freedom fighters inspired and motivated others to fight injustice. They are the pillars behind the freedom movement. They made people aware of their rights and their power.

Behind the celebration of Repupublic Day, there is a much violent and chaotic history of fierce rebellions, wars and movements done by thousands of spirited Indian freedom fighters.

All these freedom fighters of India fought, struggled and even sacrificed their lives in an effort to free India from British rule. Amongst thousand freedom fighters few are as Mahatma Gandhi, Subhash Chandra Bose, Bal Gangadhar Tilak, LalaLajpat Rai, Mangal Pandey, Chandra Shekhar Azad, Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and many more.