Indian Army to host cultural festival to mark 1971 victory

As part of the ongoing ‘Swarnim Vijay Varsh’ celebrations, the Indian Army is hosting a first-of-its-kind cultural festival by the name Bijoya Sankritik Mahotsav.

The event is being organised in remembrance of the glorious victory of 1971 operations and to pay homage to the sacrifices made by people of Bangladesh and the Indian armed forces.

The festival that promises to be an unparalleled experience of theatre, fusion band, rock band and films would be held from September 26-29 in Kolkata, said a statement by the Eastern Command on Monday.

During the Mahotsav, for the first time there will be a film festival being hosted by the Army in which popular war movies would be screened, it noted.

The Eastern Command said that the inaugural event will witness a new collaboration between an army band and a civilian band.

A new theatre play has been conceptualised and created just for this event and will be performed by the RSR Group.

On the subsequent day, a rock band will also perform at the event.

This entire year is being celebrated as ‘Swarnim Vijay Varsh’ to commemorate the golden jubilee of the 1971 Bangladesh-Pakistan war.

In December 1971, Bangladesh emerged as a new independent nation as the Indian Armed Forces along with the freedom fighters secured the victory over the Pakistan Army.

The victory resulted into the largest military surrender post World War-II wherein approximately 93,000 soldiers of the Pakistan Army surrendered.

The ‘Swarnim Vijay Varsh’ celebrations began with Prime Minister Narendra Modi lighting the Victory Flame on December 16, 2020.

Various commemorative events are being held throughout the country as part of the Swarnim Vijay Varsh celebrations.