As the 125th birth anniversary of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose draws near, the Centre and West Bengal government have been involved in a row over Netaji and the INA’s tableau for the 2022 Republic Day celebrations.
While the Centre has decided to start Republic Day celebrations from 23 January to coincide with Netaji’s birth anniversary, it has also verbally communicated to the West Bengal government that their proposal for a Netaji and INA themed tableau for the Republic Day parade has been rejected, according to reports.
There Will Be a Netaji Tableau
Subhas Chandra Bose’s grandnephew Chandra Kumar Bose, in an exclusive conversation with The Quint, confirmed that he spoke to sources in the defense ministry, and learned that a tableau commemorating Netaji and the INA is being prepared for the parade.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in a tweet, later confirmed that the Central Works Public Department's tableau includes Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose.
When talking to The Quint, Chandra Kumar Bose said that we should not indulge in “petty politics” over Bose.
Netaji and INA are above politics and no political colour should be associated with them. However, it needs to be examined if there was any political colour given to the proposal by the Bengal governmentChandra Kumar Bose
He believes that the centre should have taken the Bengal government “into confidence” and worked on a “joint proposal for a large tableau”, “had there been no political colour to the proposal.”
Incidentally, Bose had written to PM Modi on the 14 of January for a Netaji tableau during the Republic Day celebrations.
‘Father’s Legacy Partly Exploited for Political Reasons’
Subhas Chandra Bose’s daughter Anita Bose Pfaff has slammed the controversy over the tableau saying that her father’s legacy has been “partly exploited” for political reasons.
While talking to PTI, she said:
I have heard about it. I don't know under what circumstances it happened and why the tableau was not included. There might be some reasons. We can't imagine that the Republic Day function in the year when my father would have turned 125 is being held and his tableau was not included, it seems very strangeAnita Bose Pfaff to PTI
She further added the last year there were grand celebrations during his birth anniversary, especially in Kolkata and that “it had something to do with election and election prospects in Bengal.”
The fact that nothing happened this year....certainly the issue is not as important as last year.Anita Bose Pfaff to PTI
The Proposal
The proposal submitted by the West Bengal government for Republic Day celebrations aimed to “commemorate” the contributions of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose and the INA along with portraits of notable personalities including Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, Rabindranath Tagore, Swami Vivekananda and Birsa Munda.
An official statement from the state’s information and cultural affairs department read those discussions were halted “after reaching the model stage.”
We were not informed anything in this regard. Now, why we were not selected is not known to us as the Ministry does not give any explanation.Official statement from the state’s information and cultural affairs department
No letter has in writing has been given till the time of writing this article.
Trinamool Retaliates
The rejection of the proposal has invited sharp criticism from the state government, and even saw WB Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee write a letter to PM Narendra Modi requesting him to reconsider his decision as such a move would cause “pain” to the people of Bengal.
I may like to inform you that all the people of West Bengal are deeply pained by this attitude of the Central government. It is shocking to find out that the contribution of its valiant freedom fighters finds no place in the nation’s ceremony to celebrate the occasion of the Republic Day on the 75th year of our independence.Mamata Banerjee's letter to PM Modi
Sukhendu Shekhar Ray, TMC’s Rajya Sabha Chief Whip accused the Centre of “undermining the heroic battle of INA led by Netaji.”
It wasn’t just the TMC who retaliated, but also BJP MP Tathagatha Roy, who too urged the PM to allow the West Bengal government’s tableau.
This is the fourth time in recent years that the West Bengal government’s proposal for a tableau has been rejected by the centre. In 2020, the state had proposed three ideas for the tableau, namely the state’s Kanyashree scheme, Save Green Stay Clean scheme and the Jol Dhoro Jol Bhoro scheme, all of which were rejected. The previous two rejections came in 2017 (Unity in harmony) and 2015 (Kanyashree) respectively.
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