Rather than quibbling over Netaji’s birth anniversary, the Governments should have celebrated the event together

On the face of it, one would consider it a matter of great national pride and patriotism, though a little belated, that the Union Government has decided to celebrate the birth anniversary of one of India’s greatest nationalist icons who worked hard in the quest for the nation’s Independence, Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, on January 23 as ‘Parakram Diwas’. However, the political controversy the announcement has kicked off is quite unnecessary and unsavoury, to put it mildly. There are allegations and counter-charges that the decision has been taken to usurp the legacy of the revolutionary leader, who was actually born in Cuttack, Bengal Presidency, British India. While the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress (TMC) Government in West Bengal and the NDA Government at the Centre are in tandem on the issue of celebrating Netaji’s birth anniversary, the bone of contention is the nomenclature the event should have: The Centre wants to call it ‘Parakram Diwas’ while the TMC and the All India Forward Bloc — which was founded by Netaji and emerged as a faction within the Indian National Congress in 1939 — demand that the day be celebrated as ‘Desh Prem Diwas’. Both the parties are also angry that they were not consulted when the decision was being taken. The Culture Ministry recently issued a notification stating that in order to “honour and remember Netaji’s indomitable spirit and selfless service to the nation”, the Government has decided to celebrate his birthday every year as ‘Parakram Diwas’. But the TMC leaders are sticking to their guns that it should continue to be called ‘Desh Prem Diwas’ (the State-level celebrations have been held at Darjeeling since 2014) and that January 23 should be declared a national holiday as Netaji was a national leader and the head of the Azad Hind Fauj, and “these two aspects are not clearly reflected” in the name ‘Parakram Diwas’.

With West Bengal Assembly elections on the cards, and especially when it comes to Netaji’s birth anniversary, no party wants to let the opportunity to lure the voters slip from its hands. The State is expected to go to the polls in the first half of this year with the BJP hoping to wrest power from the TMC after emerging as the second-biggest party in Bengal in the 2019 general elections. The regional party’s leaders have gone so far as to claim that it was a “stunt” by the NDA Government keeping in mind the upcoming Assembly poll in West Bengal, and “not a mark of respect” to Netaji. The family members of Netaji also put their weight behind ‘Desh Prem Diwas’, saying that the name would have been more appropriate “but we’re happy with the announcement”. Hectic preparations have already commenced for the 125th birth anniversary of Netaji in Kolkata, both by the State Government and the Centre. While the TMC Government has planned a massive procession in Kolkata, the Centre is also making preparations for a grand event at the Victoria Memorial Hall, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to be present. Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan will participate in a programme in Cuttack, Odisha, where Bose was born. Another programme will be held in Haripura village in Gujarat’s Surat district where Bose was elected the president of the Indian National Congress in 1938. But the bottom line remains that the true respect and honest tributes to Netaji had been if both the Governments had joined hands to celebrate the 125th birth anniversary of one of India’s greatest sons who strove to free India from the iron clutches of the British Empire.