New Delhi: The Modi government has once again decided to drop a centuries-old military hymn ‘Abide with Me’ from the Beating Retreat ceremony. Mahatma Gandhi’s favourite hymn, ‘Abide with Me’, which used to be played on the eve of Gandhi’s death anniversary on January 29, is a solemn and key part of the Beating Retreat ceremony. A hymn is synonymous with those killed in the Great Wars, of which Indians had such a key influence.
To mark the end of Republic Day festivities, the Beating Retreat ceremony, performed at Vijay Chowk in Delhi on the evening of January 29 every year. The hymn had been played every year during the Beating Retreat ceremony since 1950 but dropped in 2020 and reinstated last year after its exclusion created a furor.
In 2020, the hymn was initially dropped from the list of tunes but was subsequently restored to the final list after protests from a cross-section of the public on social media.
The decision comes a day after the government ‘shifted’ the ‘eternal flame’ from Amar Jawan Jyoti at India Gate to the National War Memorial.
The hymn was written by Scottish poet Henry Francis Lyte and composed by William Henry Monk in the 19th century.
This time, there is a total of three tunes without it instead of the four tunes last year including the Hymn.
The three tunes to be played by Massed Bands this year are ‘Kadam kadam badhaye ja’, ‘Drummers call’ and ‘Ae mere watan ke logon’. In contrast, the four tunes last year were ‘Bharat ke jawan’ (new composition last year), ‘Kadam kadam badhaye ja’, ‘Drummers call’, and ‘Abide with me’. Also, there are 24 Buglers, 44 Trumpeters and 75 Drummers participating this year.
Beating the Retreat function is a centuries-old military practice when the soldiers stopped battling, sheathed their arms pulled out from the front line, and got back to the camps at sunset at the sounding of the Retreat. Colours and Standards are cased and flags lowered.
Around 30-35 tunes played at the function consistently some of which are changed yet ‘Abide with Me’ has been all of the time there.
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