Gandhi's favourite 'Abide With Me' hymn dropped from Beating Retreat ceremony

One of Mahatma Gandhis favourite hymns Abide With Me has been dropped from this years Beating Retreat ceremony on January 29 according to a brochure released by the Indian ArmyAbide With Me written by Scottish Anglican poet and hymnologist Henry Francis Lyte in 1847 has been part of the Beating Retreat ceremony since 1950 The Centre had in 2020 also planned to drop Abide With Me from the Beating Retreat ceremony but had later retained it after a huge uproarThe brochure released by the Indian Army on Saturday listed 26 tunes that will be played at this years ceremony at Vijay Chowk For this years ceremony the hymn has been replaced by the popular patriotic song Ae Mere Watan Ke Logon which was written by Kavi Pradeep to commemorate the supreme sacrifice made by the Indian soldiers during the 1962 IndoChina war The move to drop the hymn from this years ceremony came days after the Centres decision to merge the Amar Jawan Jyoti flame at the India Gate with the eternal flame of the National War Memorial NWMThe merger took place during a brief ceremony on Friday While some military officials defended the decision to merge the flame several opposition parties including the Congress accused the BJPruled Centre of removing history Reacting strongly Congress incharge of Sikkim Nagaland and Tripura Ajoy Kumar on Saturday tweeted new India No Amar Jyothi no Abide With Me during the Beating Retreat Sickos BJPThis years Beating Retreat ceremony will conclude with Sare Jahan Se Acha the brochure stated The 26 tunes that will be played at this years ceremony include Hey Kanchha Channa Bilauri Jai Janam Bhumi Nritya Sarita Vijay Josh Kesaria Banna Veer Siachen Hathroi Vijay Ghosh Ladaakoo Swadeshi Amar Chattan Golden Arrows and Swarn Jayanti according to the brochure Veer Sainik Fanfare by Buglers INS India Yashasvee Jai Bharati Kerala Siki A Mole Hind Ki Sena Kadam Kadam Badhaye Ja Drummers Call besides Ae Mere Watan Ke Logon are also part of the tunes that will be played on the evening of January 29 the brochure notedThe ceremony will see the participation of 44 buglers 16 trumpeters and 75 drummers Beating Retreat is a centuriesold military tradition dating from the days when troops disengaged from the battle at sunset it mentioned As soon as the buglers sounded the retreat the troops ceased fighting sheathed their arms and withdrew from the battlefield it added Beating Retreat marks the end of nearly weeklong festivities of Republic Day which used to begin on January 24 But this year the celebrations will begin on January 23 the birth anniversary of Netaji Subhash Chandra BoseAhead of Boses 125th birth anniversary Prime Minister Narendra Modi had on Friday announced that a grand statue of the iconic freedom fighter will be installed at India Gate as a symbol of Indias indebtedness to him Till the statue made of granite is completed a hologram statue of his would be present at the same place he said adding that he will unveil the hologram statue on January 23This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever