Observe Martyrs’ Day With 'Due Solemnity', Home Ministry Directs All States, UTs | Check Guidelines

The states and Union Territories have been asked to issue instructions to all educational institutions and public sector enterprises under their control for observance of the Martyrs’ Day.

Martyrs' Day 2022: Golden statue of Mahatma Gandhi at Gandhi Park, Port Blair, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, India | Getty

New Delhi: The Union Home Ministry on Thursday directed all the states and Union Territories to ensure that Martyrs’ Day is observed with “due solemnity” on January 30.

The Union Home Ministry said it has been witnessed in the past that while two minutes’ silence is observed in some offices, the general public goes about its occupation in the ordinary course, unmindful of the solemnity of the occasion.

The states and Union Territories have been asked to issue instructions to all educational institutions and public sector enterprises under their control for observance of Martyrs’ Day.

“Talks, speeches on freedom struggle, the national struggle may be organised in hybrid mode,” Prem Parkash, Under Secretary to the Government of India, said in his letter sent to the chief secretaries of all state governments and administrators of the Union Territories.

The Home Ministry also said it may be ensured that guidelines and Standard Operating Procedures issued from time to time regarding Covid-19 are strictly adhered to while observing the Martyrs’ Day.

Home Ministry's Instructions For Observance Of Martyrs’ Day:

• Silence should be observed and work and movement stopped for two minutes throughout the country at 11 a.m. on January 30.
• Wherever feasible, the commencement and termination of the two minutes’ silence period should be indicated by the sound of a siren or army guns.
• On hearing the signal (wherever available), all persons would stand up and observe the silence.
• At places where no signal is available, suitable instructions can be issued to all concerned for observing the silence for two minutes at 11 a.m.

Why Martyrs' Day Is Celebrated?

India celebrates Martyrs’ Day on January 30 every year. Martyr’s Day is celebrated across the country on January 30 to commemorate Mahatma Gandhi’s death anniversary.

Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi was shot dead by Nathuram Godse during his evening prayers in the Birla House on January 30, 1948.