KOLKATA:The grand nephew of Netaji, Chandra Kumar Bose told ETV Bharat that his family has written a letter to the Prime Minister raising objections on the saluting posture of the hologram statute. “We welcome the raising of this hologram statue. However, it is impossible for anyone to be in saluting posture for 24 hours and 365 days. Secondly, the statue limit’s Netaji’s role as just a soldier. He was surely a soldier. But at the same time, he was a great thinker. So, we have objections about this stature,” Bose told ETV Bharat.
He also said that the Indian government must declare October 21 as Independence Day instead of August 15. “On October 21, Netaji declared India a free nation standing on the soil of British- ruled India. So, October 21 is the ‘Independence Declaration Day’. On the other hand, India was divided on August 15. Narendra Modi has himself declared Netaji as the first prime minister of undivided India. Hence demand is that October 21 should be declared as the Independence Day,” he said.
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Historian and professor of Rabindra Bharati University, Asish Kumar Das said that it would have been better had not the hologram statue portrayed Netaji in a saluting posture. “First I have doubts on how far the Union government is genuine about their intention of setting up the Netaji statute. The current Union government wants to distort the history of India, the greatest example of which was to do away with the Amar Jawan Jyoti, just because it was raised following an initiative of former Indian Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi.
"In the saluting posture, I agree that no one can stand in this posture for 24 hours and 365 days. Had there been a national flag or a statue of Mother India in front of Netaji’s hologram stature then this posture would have been justified. I feel that when the grand granite statue of Netaji will replace this hologram statue in due course then this posture should be changed,” Das told ETV Bharat.
However, a slightly different opinion was expressed by a retired Indian Police Service (IPS) officer and former additional director general of police of West Bengal, Nazrul Islam. “A full salute can be given or given back only if the person concerned is in uniform and also wearing the duty cap or hat. If the hologram statue of Netaji at New Delhi portrays him in uniform and also wearing the cap, then I do not find any irrationality in that. There can be polemics over this posture. But what is the harm in assuming that his salute is towards this great nation,” Islam said.
