Republic Day must go beyond parades: Mehbooba Mufti - ‘Institutions meant to protect India being weaponised’

Republic Day 2026: People's Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti on Monday said that the Republic Day should not be limited to parades and speeches, but should also ensure the upholding of the Constitution of the country.

"Republic Day must be more than parades and speeches. 15 August 1947 gave us freedom from colonial rule, but 26 January 1950 gave us the constitutional right to live that freedom with dignity guaranteeing freedom of speech and religion, and above all the power to vote," Mufti said in a post on X.

The former Jammu and Kashmir cheif minister added that the Constitution created strong institutions, but some of these institutions are being used to undermine the very idea of India.

Mufti attended the Republic Day function at Bakshi Stadium in Srinagar. “Our Constitution created strong institutions to protect these values. Today, many of these institutions have been weaponised to undermine the very idea of India,” Mufti said in the post.

Earlier, India ushered in its 77th Republic Day on Monday with a grand display of its cultural diversity, economic growth, and military prowess that included missiles, warplanes, newly-raised units and lethal weapon systems used during Operation Sindoor.

Although the overarching theme of the event was 150 years of 'Vande Mataram', the Indian military's Operation Sindoor too found prominence at the parade on the Kartavya Path, the centrepiece boulevard of the national capital.

The parade commenced with the President Droupadi Murmu taking the salute shortly after she, Costa and von der Leyen, flanked by the Indian president's bodyguards, arrived at the Kartavya Path in a traditional buggy.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, several other Union ministers, the country's top military brass, foreign diplomats, and senior officials were among the spectators.

(With agency inputs)