JOIN USDon't politicise Netaji: Chandra Bose to Centre for rejecting Bengal's tableau proposal
The Centre’s decision to exclude West Bengal’s proposed tableau commemorating contributions of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose and the Indian National Army for Republic Day has upset the state, with Netaji's grand nephew urging the government not to politicise the freedom fighter.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee wrote to the Prime Minister expressing her shock over the decision. Netaji’s grand nephew Chandra Bose, a former vice president with state BJP, told Deccan Herald that a tableau jointly presented by the state and the Centre instead of outright rejection could have been the ideal solution.
“I had written to the Prime Minister a week ago, with various proposals concerning celebrations. One was about a tableau on Republic Day. In the meantime, we heard about West Bengal’s proposal on the tableau. When this controversy broke out, I contacted officials concerned (at the Centre). I was told that the Centre is preparing a tableau depicting Netaji and INA,” Chandra Bose told Deccan Herald.
"I feel that although Netaji was a political leader, a freedom fighter, a visionary, he is above politics. If Bengal was giving its proposal on tableau, this could have been jointly done,” he said. “For a national icon, the central government doing it is correct but at the same time, I would like to add that if the Bengal government had submitted a proposal, that should have also been considered and unitedly it could have been done,” Bose said.
Chandra Bose is still a BJP member but minces no words when it comes to Netaji. He adds that it needs to be seen if the Bengal government’s proposal had any political angle for which the exclusion was made. “But if it was blocked (just) because it was sent by the Bengal government, then it isn’t fair,” he added.
The tableau proposed by Bengal was also to carry portraits of Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, Rabindranath Tagore, Swami Vivekananda, Deshbandhu Chittaranjan Das, Sri Aurobindo, Matangini Hazra, Nazrul, Birsa Munda, and others. Highlighting their contributions in the letter, Mamata has stated “exclusion of the tableau amounts to belittling and undermining these freedom fighters”.
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