Mamata Banerjee Demands National Holiday On Netaji's Birthday, Appeals People To Blow Conch On Jan 23

Mamata Banerjee on Monday demanded that January 23, Netaji's birth anniversary, be declared as a national holiday in the memory of Azad Hind Sena's founder.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee

Bengal Elections 2021: With the Assembly polls in West Bengal inching closer, Mamata Banerjee reiterated her demands on Monday that January 23, Netaji's birth anniversary, be declared as a national holiday in the memory of the Azad Hind Sena's founder.  She has written a letter to the Centre demanding that January 23 be declared a national holiday in memory of the founder of the Azad Hind Sena. "I personally feel we haven't done anything important for Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose after independence. I've written a letter to the Centre to declare 23rd January, the birth anniversary of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, as a national holiday. It is my demand," news agency ANI quoted Mamata Banerjee, Chief Minister of West Bengal, as saying. She further said that 'Desh Nayak Diwas' will be celebrated in West Bengal on January 23, the birth anniversary of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose. "On January 23, a rally will be taken out from Shyambazar to the Netaji Statue in Kolkata at 12:15 pm, along with the police band. A tableau will also be displayed on the theme based on Netaji's life on January 26," the West Bengal Chief Minister declared. She further appealed to everyone in the country to blow conch at 12:15 PM on January 23 to pay tributes to Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose on the latter's birth anniversary.

On January 23, a rally will be taken out from Shyambazar to Netaji Statue in Kolkata at 12:15 pm, along with the police band. A tableau will also be displayed on the theme based on Netaji's life on January 26: West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee pic.twitter.com/lrdGlN2F94

— ANI (@ANI) January 4, 2021

Notably, the West Bengal Chief Minister has repeatedly insisted that Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose and his contributions to the country's freedom movement has long been "neglected". Even after 75 years of his "disappearance", people have no clue about what happened to Netaji, she said. "These days, priority is being given to people who at that time protested the fight for independence. It is being done to make people forget the truth," Banerjee had told reporters at the state secretariat in November last year.

 Amit Shah to Head High-Level Committee to commemorate Netaji's birthday

However, the Government had already decided to constitute a High-Level Committee to commemorate the 125th Birth Anniversary of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose. This High-Level Committee will decide on the activities for a one-year-long commemoration starting 23rd January 2021. The High-Level Committee will be headed by the Union Home Minister, Amit Shah. The Commemoration is being held as a tribute and as a mark of gratitude to the colossal contribution Netaji made to India’s freedom struggle.

Government's steps to preserve Netaji's heritage

In the recent past, the Government of India has taken several steps towards preserving and conserving the precious heritage of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose. A museum has been set up on Netaji at Red Fort, New Delhi, which was inaugurated by the Prime Minister on 23.01.2019. A permanent exhibition and a Light and Sound show on Netaji has been planned to be set up at Kolkata in the historic Victoria Memorial building. In 2015, the Government of India decided to declassify the files relating to Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose and make them accessible to the public. The first lot of 33 files were declassified on 4 December 2015. Digital copies of 100 files relating to Netaji were released by the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi on 23rd January 2016 to meet the long-standing demand of the people. During his visit to the Andaman and Nicobar Islands in 2018, the Prime Minister joined the programme to mark the 75th anniversary of Netaji Bose by hoisting the Tricolour. He paid tributes to Subhas Chandra Bose’s Provisional Government of Azad Hind, which administered the Islands during World War II. The Prime Minister renamed 3 islands in Andaman and Nicobar. The Ross Island was renamed as Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Dweep; the Neil Island as Shaheed Dweep; and the Havelock Island as SwarajDweep.