Indians in the UK celebrated the Republic Day in Slough on Tuesday evening with flag hosting, speeches and cultural performances with the Mayor of Slough, UK MP Lord Rami Ranger and MP Virendra Sharma attending the celebrations.

Harish Kumar—Second secretary from Indian High Commission, London; Dilbagh Singh Parmar, the councillor of Slough; the Mayoress of Slough and many British Indians attended the event at the Slough Hindu temple. The event ended with an evening aarti and dinner.

Parmar spoke about the importance of Republic Day for the Indian diaspora and said that such celebrations keep Indian culture alive in the UK.

Going back into the history of the sub-continent, Lord Ranger said that after the Partition in 1947, two nations were created–one based on religion (Pakistan) and the other one irrespective of religion (India). Applauding India for its progress, Lord Ranger said that India is now exporting top engineers, doctors, nurses, architects, lawyers, to the world and has even given the UK a Prime Minister.

Appreciating India’s rich culture and heritage, Lord Ranger said that people of Indian origin are running a large number of blue-chip companies across the world.

Indian-origin MP from the House of Commons, Virendra Sharma exhorted the British diaspora to come forward and join British politics, emphasising that the young generation can choose any party they like. He said that the Indian diaspora must be active in UK politics and promised to mentor and guide members of the diaspora interested in joining British politics.

The event was organised by charity organisation, IDUK Group (Indian Diaspora in the UK) which aims to bring the Indians together and strengthen their links with the rich Indian culture and heritage.

The event was attended by a number of children in their traditional ethnic wear.

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