Tripura school celebrating Netaji's ideals for years

Freedom fighter Subhash Chandra Bose got massive focus on Saturday when the government declassified documents about him on his 120th birth anniversary.

However, far from the limelight of political debates on Netaji’s life, a school in remote Tripura state has been living by his ideals for more than six decades.

Students and teachers of the Netaji Subhash Vidya Niketan, a government aided school, have been spreading awareness about the leader’s ideal since 1948 by organising an annual rally to spread his ideals among people during his birth anniversaries.

On Thursday, Agartala once again saw the annual ritual being played out on the streets as students from the school along with their parents and teachers took out a rally depicting various stages of Netaji’s life and time.

The biggest attraction was a long march by the students dressed as soldiers of Azad Hind Fauj and marching to the tunes of “Kadam kadam badhaye ja” as thousands lined up to pay tributes to Netaji despite a chilly winter morning.

The school was named after Bose by the founding members since they wanted the younger generation to be inspired by his words and works.

Tripura Education Minister Tapan Chakraborty pointed out that when Netaji was ‘largely forgotten’ across the country, this school for six decades has diligently tried to spread Netaji’s ideal.

“We are depicting the various culture and religion of India. We want to send the message that inspite of various religion and culture we are all humans. Here every student wants to be a Netaji,” said Sreya Sinha, a 9th standard student from the school.