New Delhi: A video of an Indian Army band allegedly performing aarti went viral on social media. The video has sparked a debate on whether religious music during the ceremonial parade is allowed or not.
Although many veterans claimed that the video is of a passing-out parade, Army spokesperson Colonel Sudhir Chamoli said that the men were performing aarti outside the temple of their unit on a religious occasion, Telegraph India reported.
Reacting to the video, ex-army officer Harcharanjit Singh Panag tweeted, “Great leap forward for ceremonial military parades!”.
Soon after the video went viral on social media, another veteran, Brig R S Pathania wrote, “OMG! When did they start this??”.
While, many veterans pointed out clues and said that it could be a passing-out parade, some of them raised questions over the authenticity of the video.
The former navy chief, Admiral Arun Prakash, had raised a query by tweeting, ” My doubts: Is this clip authentic? & if so, is this drill & bagpipe score as per Indian army custom/ tradition/ SOP for a parade @Vedmalik1″.
Replying to it, Gen Malik tweeted, “This appears to be a religious event organised by an Artillery Regt. A new event by its nature. Let someone from younger generation answer custom/SOP query”.