Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday said that Subhas Chandra Bose was the first prime minister of undivided India. Speaking at the ‘Yuva Shodhveer Samagam’ programme in Greater Noida, the minister said, “The ‘Azad Hind Sarkar’ was the first indigenous government of India which was formed by Subhas Chandra Bose. He took oath as the prime minister of the country on October 21, 1943.”
Singh said that ‘Azad Hind Sarkar’ was not a symbolic government, but one which had presented thoughts and policies on several important aspects of human life. He said, “This government had its own postal stamp, currency, and a secret intelligence system. Developing such a system with limited resources was not an ordinary feat but a big achievement.”
He added that the contributions made by Subhas Chandra Bose were either ignored or undermined after the country got independence. “There was a time in independent India when the contributions of Bose were either deliberately ignored or undermined, it was not evaluated correctly. It was done to the extent that several documents related to him were never made public,” Singh said while addressing young researchers at the programme.
“In 2014, when Narendra Modi became the prime minister of India, he started giving respect to Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose which he always and rightly deserved,” the minister said. He mentioned that it was his government that declassified over 300 documents related to Bose and dedicated them to the people of India.
“Sometimes people wonder what more is there about Netaji that we do not know. Most Indians know him as a prominent freedom fighter, as supreme commander of the Azad Hind Fauj, and a revolutionary who underwent several difficulties for India's freedom. But very few people know him as the first prime minister of undivided India,” Singh said.
Reiterating the legacy of Subhas Chandra Bose, Singh said, “I have zero hesitation in calling the ‘Azad Hindi Sarkar the first swadeshi sarkar.”
The minister also elaborated on steps taken by the Government to honour the contributions of Subhas Chandra Bose. He said, “Our government renamed the three islands of Andaman and Nicobar archipelago as a tribute to Netaji. Ross Island has been renamed as Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Island, Neil Island as Shaheed Dweep, and Havelock Island as Swaraj Dweep.”
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He further added that his government has renamed Rajpath as Kartavya Path and installed a grand statue of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose at India Gate premises to free the country from a colonial mindset.
Singh was addressing the inaugural session of Young Researchers Conclave 2022 at the Galgotias University in Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh. The conclave was organised by Bharatiya Shikshan Mandal (BSM), an offshoot of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).
Gautam Buddh Nagar MP Mahesh Sharma, Jewar MLA Dhirendra Singh, and Rajya Sabha MP Surendra Nagara were among those present in the session attended by over 450 researchers from across the country.
(With Agency Inputs)