Italy marked Republic Day on Tuesday with festive aeronautics displays, speeches, and memorials, without forgetting the plight of two marines detained in India in connection with the shooting deaths in 2012 of two fishermen during an anti-piracy mission there. Crowds applauded a reference to Massmiliano Latorre and Salvore Girone, who could face trial in India for murder in connection with the deaths, during speeches and a military parade on Rome's Via dei Fori Imperiali. The Italian government and diplomacy have worked unsuccessfully for over three years to bring the servicemen home on grounds the case falls outside India's jurisdiction. Meanwhile, President Sergio Mattarella said the Italian military is bringing "hope for a better world" through its work in conflict zones. "Today, in countries torn by conflict and devastation, by bringing aid to suffering civilians the Italian Armed Forces can help us regain confidence in the future and hope for a better world," Mattarella said. The sacrifice of the military "constitutes... a valuable asset... in this period when we see injustice and barbarity we thought were definitively wiped out," he added. Mattarella also paid homage to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at the monumental Altar to the Fatherland in central Rome, amid calls from the Radical Party for the creation of an analogous monument to the Unkown Migrant in recognition of one of the "great tragedies of our time" - the death by drowning of thousands of migrants as they flee war and hunger at home to make the perilous sea crossing from north Africa to Europe. As well, Senate Speaker Pietro Grasso on Republic Day urged young people to remember the cost of their freedom and the high value of human rights and democracy.
"I hope there is more and more attention - from the legislature and the institutions - to the issue of human rights, which are at the basis of all other rights," said Grasso. Separately Agnese Moro, whose Christian Democratic politician father was kidnapped and murdered by leftwing Red Brigade terrorists in 1978, said "intelligent patriotism" could only grow out of "a careful study of our past, for a full understanding of our history".
Meanwhile three-color flags in Italy's white, green and red fluttered across the country in remembrance of the June 2, 1946 referendum in which Italians voted to abolish the monarchy in favor of a republic, and tricolor brooches were distributed to visitors at the Expo world's fair in Milan. The traditional Republic Day opening of the gardens at the Quirinal presidential palace had to be brought forward by 90 minutes to 1.30 pm to accommodate the large number of people gathered to visit.
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