In 75th year of Azad Hind govt, it’s ‘my Bose vs yours’

Aditi Tandon

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, October 21

Politics today marred the commemoration by Prime Minister Narendra Modi of the platinum jubilee of Azad Hind Government’s proclamation by Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose in Singapore on October 21, 1943.

Moments after the PM, leading the commemoration event at Red Fort, accused the Gandhis of “ignoring Bose, Sardar Patel and BR Ambedkar to glorify one family”, the Congress hit back alleging that the PM was trying to “appropriate legacies because his party had none of its own”.

The slugfest developed into “my Bose versus your Bose” after the PM said: “In the attempt to glorify one family, other sons of Mother India like Netaji Bose, Sardar Patel and Babasaheb Ambedkar were ignored. But our government is changing that.”

The PM’s reference was to unveiling of a plaque to mark 75 years of the declaration of interim government by Netaji and the fact that the plaque would be housed at barrack three at Red Fort, where a museum would also come up. The historic Indian National Army trials happened at the Red Fort.

The Congress fielded spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi to challenge BJP’s proclaimed ideological closeness to Netaji. Singhvi cited documents to show that both Netaji and Sardar Patel were opposed to the “sectarian” politics of RSS and Hindu Mahasabha, BJP’s ideological mentors.

Netaji’s May 4, 1940, editorial entitled “Congress and communal organisations” Singhvi cited says, “There was a time, not long ago, when leaders of the Congress could be members of the communal organisations like Hindu Mahasabha and Muslim League…. But in recent times, circumstances have changed. These communal organisations have become more communal than before. As a reaction to this, Indian National Congress has put into its constitution a clause to the effect that no member of a communal organisation like the Hindu Mahasabha or the Muslim League can be a member of an elective committee of Congress.”

The Congress also listed the initiatives it took to preserve Netaji’s memory and attacked the PM for scrapping the Planning Commission whose seed came from Netaji’s National Planning Committee of 1938. Besides, Jawaharlal Nehru was a defence lawyer in INA trials, Singhvi said, accusing the BJP of playing politics on a historic day and of trying to rewrite history to “appropriate legacies”.

Among Netaji institutions, the Congress said it helped build Netaji Research Bureau in Kolkata (1957); Netaji Museum (1998); INA Martyrs’ Memorial complex at Moirang Manipur (1985); Netaji Museum Kurseong, Darjeeling (2005) and Netaji Museum, Cuttack (2007).

As the PM, while inaugurating the National Police Memorial today, attacked “previous governments for letting the memorial file gather dust,” the Congress also reiterated that Sardar Patel had questioned the RSS and Hindu Mahasabha for Mahatma Gandhi’s assassination. They cited a letter by Patel which says, “As regards the RSS and the Hindu Mahasabha… our reports confirm that, as a result of the activities of these two bodies, particularly the former, an atmosphere was created in the country in which such a ghastly tragedy became possible. There is no doubt in my mind that the extreme section of the Hindu Mahasabha was involved in the conspiracy.”

Importantly, it was TMC Lok Sabha member Sugata Bose who first demanded the commemoration of the 75th year of proclamation of Azad Hind Government by Netaji. Sugata had chosen to raise the matter in the Lok Sabha on August 9, the day that marked the 75th year of the assumption of INA leadership by Netaji.

1943: NETAJI'S BIG YEAR

July 2, 1943: Netaji arrives in Singapore after escaping from India earlier that year

July 4: Netaji accepts the leadership of the Indian liberation movement

July 5: Netaji takes salute as the supreme commander of INA and gives the call “Dilli chalo”; proceeds to mobilise Indians in Southeast Asia

Oct 21: Netaji announces the formation of the Azad Hind government