Know when and to whom 21 gun salute is given?

21 Gun Salute: Ramnath Kovind took oath for the post of President on 25 July 2017. With this, he was the 14th President of India. If you remember, when Ramnath Kovind became the President of India and when he reached Rashtrapati Bhavan for the first time, he was given a 21-gun salute. In India, on the occasion of Republic Day, Independence Day or other important national days, the day begins with a 21-gun salute. On the demise of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee ji, he was given state honors with a 21-gun salute. Now in such a situation, the question arises that who is given a 21-gun salute.

On Republic Day, the tricolour is hoisted by the President and a 21-gun salute is given, which adds to the grandeur of the celebration. Through this article, let us study who is given a 21-gun salute and why, what is state honour, etc.

To whom is the 21 gun state honour given?

For the first time in the country, 21-gun state honour was given for the last rites of Mahatma Gandhi. In 1950, for the first time, instructions were made regarding state honours that this honour was only for the Prime Minister, former Prime Ministers, current and former members of the Union Cabinet. After this, the President, Vice President, Speaker of Lok Sabha , Deputy Speaker of Rajya Sabha were also added to this list. After some time, the states were also allowed to perform the last rites of the Governor, Chief Minister and Cabinet members with state honours in their respective states. Let us tell you, this privilege is exercised by the Chief Minister with the advice of his senior cabinet ministers and then its order is sent to the concerned District Magistrate and Police Chief who follow it.

High ranking generals are given a 17-gun salute

In almost all countries of the world including America, Britain, Germany, France, China, India, Pakistan and Canada, 21 gun salute is given at the beginning of important national and government days. Now in India, every year in the Republic Day parade, 21 guns are fired at an interval of about 2.25 seconds. This is so that 7 guns can be fired continuously in three rounds in the entire 52 seconds of the national anthem.

There is a practice of giving 17 gun salute to high ranking generals. Marshal Arjan Singh has been the top officer of the Indian Air Force. According to tradition, he was given a 17 gun salute.

Image credit-Freepik