Modi to head commemoration committee for Netaji's 125th birth anniversary

To commemorate 125th birth anniversary of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, the Central government has formed a high-level committee headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Surprisingly, Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is also a part of the committee.

New Delhi:A high-level committee headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been formed for the commemoration of the 125th birth anniversary of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, the government said on Saturday. The government has also published a gazette notification in this regard.

The committee will decide on the activities for a year-long commemoration, beginning on January 23, 2021, a statement from the Ministry of Culture said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had tweeted, "Netaji Subhas Bose’s bravery is well-known. A scholar, soldier & statesman par excellence, we are soon to commence his 125th Jayanti celebrations. For that, a high-level committee has been formed. Come, let us mark this special occasion in a grand manner!"

The members of the committee include distinguished citizens, historians, authors, experts, family members of Subhas Chandra Bose, as well as eminent persons associated with the Azad Hind Fauj (INA). Prominent BJP leaders, Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, BCCI President Saurabh Ganguly, musician AR Rahman, actor Mithun Chakraborty, former officials of INS, NCP Chief Sharad Pawar, Congress leader Gulam Nabi Azad have also been included in the committee.

The committee will lend guidance to the commemoration activities in Delhi, Kolkata and other places associated with Netaji and the Azad Hind Fauj, both in India as well as overseas, the statement said.

During this programme, schemes including activities to approve Netaji's 125th birth anniversary program will be done by the members of this committee. The Central and the state government have been at loggerheads due to the property owned by Netaji.

Banerjee had also written to PM Modi raking up Netaji's issue and asked the Central leadership to open all the files related to the deceased leader.

Last year, Modi had inaugurated Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose museum at Red Fort to mark the leader's 122nd birth anniversary. The museum on Bose and the Indian National Army showcases various artefacts related to Subhash Chandra Bose and INA. The artefacts include a wooden chair and sword used by the leader, medals, badges, uniforms and other artefacts related to the INA.

It is worth mentioning that BJP is gearing up for the assembly elections in West Bengal and this move is expected to benefit the saffron party in the long run.

The government had also decided to declassify Bose's files and in 2015, information of 23 files was made available. Details of 100 copies of such files were also declassified in 2016.