Children's Day (India)
| Children's Day | |
|---|---|
| Observed by |  India |
| Type | National |
| Significance | To increase awareness of the rights, care and education of children |
| Date | 14 November |
| Next time | 14 November 2024 |
| Frequency | Annual |
Children's Day is celebrated across India to increase awareness of the rights, care and education of children.[1][2] It is celebrated on 14 November every year as a tribute to India's First Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru. Fondly known as Chacha Nehru among children, he advocated for children to have fulfilled education.[3] On this day, many educational and motivational programs are held across India, by and for children.
History
The celebration of Children's Day in India dates back to 1956. Prior to the death of Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru, India celebrated Children's Day on 20 November (the date observed as Universal Children's Day by the United Nations). After the death of Jawaharlal Nehru, his birth anniversary was deliberated to be celebrated as Children's Day in India. It was done so because he was very popular with the kids as Chacha Nehru, hence, a resolution was passed in the parliament to give a befitting farewell to the first Prime Minister of India. [4][5][6][7]
Google Doodle
On November 2018, Google's doodle on Children's Day was designed to depict a child looking at a sky dotted with stars with a telescope. Crafted by a student from Mumbai, the design had won the 2018 ‘Doodle 4 Google’ competition in India for her fascination with space exploration.[8]
Controversy
Many questions have been raised by political leaders in the BJP about celebrating Children's Day on Jawaharlal Nehru's birthday. When Narendra Modi was the Chief Minister of Gujarat, he questioned about the what good Children's Day done for kids. Since BJP is a sister organisation of the RSS which didn't partake in the Indian freedom movement, there is a dearth of political narrative during the said struggle .After their sister organisation(The BJP) came into power in 2014 they started a thorough cleansing of historical facts often targeting pandit Jawaharlal nehru and his legacy.
In 2018, after Narendra Modi became the Prime Minister, sixty BJP MPs have requested him to designate 26 December as the new Children's Day in India.[9]
References
- ^ "Bal Diwas to mark chacha Nehru's B'day on Nov 14". The Times of India. 11 November 2008. Retrieved 4 April 2019.
- ^ "Nobel Peace laureate Satyarthi celebrates Children's Day with slum kids". Aninews.in. Archived from the original on 15 November 2014. Retrieved 15 November 2014.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|dead-url=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help) - ^ "Why November 14 celebrated as Children's Day? - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 13 March 2019.
- ^ "Why We Celebrate Children's Day On 14 Nov When UN Observes It On 20 Nov Worldwide". badhaai.com. Retrieved 14 September 2017.
- ^ Bollywood Country. "Children's Day". IANS Live. Retrieved 15 November 2014.
- ^ "Children's Day celebration photos". Kvsrobangalore.org. Archived from the original on 29 November 2014. Retrieved 15 November 2014.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|deadurl=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help) - ^ "'Bal diwas — a day to celebrate hair?'". The Times of India. Retrieved 15 November 2014.
- ^ "Children's Day 2018 celebrated with a Google doodle on space exploration". The Indian Express. 14 November 2018. Retrieved 13 March 2019.
- ^ "Shift Children's Day away from Nehru's birth anniversary, say BJP MPs". The Times of India. 7 April 2018. Retrieved 4 April 2019.
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