Just like us, this is a ‘different’ year for Indian Navy too. For the obvious reasons, this year the Indian Navy could not celebrate the Navy Day the way they used to. Navy Day is celebrated on November 4 to commemorate the attack on Karachi harbour by Indian missile boats during the 1971 Indo-Pak War. That was a turning point in the war as Pakistan could no longer pose a threat in the seas.
The celebration usually starts a month before November 4 and includes activities like medical camps, interaction with school students and a performance by the Eastern Naval Command Band. According to Naval officer In-charge Commodore Suprobho De, the Indian Navy communicates with the civilians through these events and activities to educate the common people about the achievements of Indian Navy. “All these initiatives need physical contact and to avoid that we had to cancel these events. However, some were done via video conferencing,” Suprobho added.
Moreover, the glamorous party at Laskar Memorial that usually takes place in the evening, has also been cancelled and since the governor was not present, Suprobho himself went to meet him.
Even though the work and assignments didn’t stop, the officers had to constantly maintain the norms of physical distancing and in many ways, it became challenging for the soldiers. “Those who were on the ships, could not come out for a long time and there were special initiatives taken for the family members of the Navy,” informed Suprobho.
Along with the Indo-China conflict, the Navy had to take active part in distributing masks and sanitisers across the country to different wings of the Indian Armed Forces.
Source: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kolkata/contactless-celebrations-on-navy-day-in-kolkata/articleshow/79574834.cms
