West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Sunday said that Union Government’s decision to install a statue of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose at India Gate was taken under pressure and raised the issue of State’s tableau not been included in Republic Day Parade.
Participating in the 125th birth anniversary celebrations of Netaji next to the national icon’s statue on Kolkata’s Red Road, Ms. Banerjee asked “Why is this kind of neglect for West Bengal. None has the guts to wipe the history of West Bengal, I can challenge that. Nobody can change the real history of the country. If someone does that they will be playing with fire..”.
During the speech the Trinamool Congress chairperson raised issues of Amar Jawan Jyoti merging with National War Memorial and said that only installing statue of Netaji is not enough.“In so many years there is no clarity about Netaji’s death. On the statue, Netaji birth day can be written, will we able to write the date of his death ?” Ms. Banerjee asked.
‘Bid to divide country’
The Chief Minister emphasised the contribution of West Bengal in the country’s freedom struggle and said there are forces in the country are trying to divide the country over religion, over Hindus and Muslims. “I request them to read about Mahatma Gandhi, Swami Vivekananda and Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose. None of these personalities ever talked about dividing the country.” she said.
Ms. Banerjee said that it is matter of shame that Planning Commission which was envisaged by Netaji has been done away with. “We will have a planning commission in West Bengal… The tableau from West Bengal has not got space in Republic Day Parade in Delhi but will definitely participate in the celebrations at Red Road in Kolkata,” she added.
During the celebrations a siren was sounded at 12.15 hrs the time of Netaji’s birth accompanied by the Chief Minister blowing a conch. A number of announcements by the Chief Minister include two universities including a Sports University named after Netaji and Azad Hind Monument.
The State government has also set up committees to observe 125 th birth anniversary of Netaji and 75 th year of the country’s independence.
