Blind students barred from Republic Day parade in Mumbai

What’s the bigger blow to the prestige of our Republic Day parade — excluding a platoon of blind students who had been practicing for it, or including them even if their marching was not as uniform as that of the visually unimpaired?

This has become a topic of debate among social activists after two city schools for blind children, which were hoping to participate in the Republic Day parade at Shivaji Park, were rejected for the event.

The schools had received the approval of the police department and were hoping to create a record as the first contingent of blind marchers at the parade.

But after they were observed during a practice at the Naigaon police ground, the police did not find them fit to take part in the final event.

The students were from the Victoria Memorial School for the Blind at Tardeo, and Kamla Mehta School for Blind located at Dadar.
Each school was expecting to send a 36-student platoon (18 girls and 18 boys) for the parade.

Before giving the final nod for their participation, the police wanted to see the children during their training session. After seeing their parade on Wednesday and Thursday, the police felt they did not make the cut.

“I agree that they may be not as good as the people marching in the police force parade. But we are in the 21st century, and we have to set an example by allowing such students to take part in the parade. Disabled people are also part of our society,” said Samir Zaveri, a social activist who has been fighting for the rights of the disabled in Mumbai.

“This decision may send out the wrong message to society. The police should have made some allowance for the fact that they are blind students,” he added.

A police officer said, “We feel bad denying them permission. But the parade requires a lot from its participants, including punctuality, discipline and uniformity. I think the students tried well and will finally succeed to take part in the event one day. But they need more practice.”

Bharat Joshi, a former home guards training officer, who has been training the children for the parade said that during the inspection, police trainers did not find uniformity in the marching formation.

“They have asked us to continue our practice so that we could make it to the Maharashtra Day parade on May 1 at Shivaji Park,” Joshi said. “We are hoping to be part of the Maharashtra Day parade. We will ask the director general of police to provide us with 15 days of special training at the Naigaon police ground.”

The schools said they understood the high standards prescribed for the event. “The police are not at fault because the Republic Day parade is very prestigious and everything has to be perfect. We will continue our practice,” said Shalan Chavan, principal of the Victoria Memorial School for the Blind.