As part of the festivities to mark the 75th anniversary of India's Independence Day, 750 Sikhs wearing saffron turbans took part in a tricolor motorbike rally on Saturday.
The rally began at Talkatora Stadium in New Delhi and was flagged off by the Federal Minister of Tourism, Culture and Development of North Eastern Region of India Gangapuram Kishan Reddy.
The rally was led by Reddy and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) member Manjinder Singh Sirsa.
Sirsa told reporters: “The rally is part of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav and the Har Ghar Tiranga [tricolor on every home] campaign. It is a 750km rally. We started it at 7:30am with 750 bike riders who came here wearing a saffron 'dastar' [turban].”
Explaining the purpose of the rally, the BJP politician said: “We want the people of our country, and indeed the world, to know about how Sikhs contributed to the freedom struggle - even today, when there is strife at the border, we will never hesitate to lay down our life [for the country].”
Days ahead of the 75th anniversary of India's Independence Day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi in July launched the Har Ghar Tiranga campaign, encouraging people to hoist or display the national flag outside their home between 13 and 15 August.
The campaign is an initiative of the Federal Ministry of Culture aimed at deepening people’s connection with the national flag.
On 2 August, while paying tribute to Pingali Venkayya, the designer of India’s national flag on what would have been his 146th birthday, Modi also urged people of the country to change their display picture on all social media platforms to celebrate the Tricolor.