The survivors of the Azad Hind Fauj or Indian National Army (INA), Indian armed force veterans and followers of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose plan to raise the Indian flag at the Red Fort on October 21 to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the establishment of Azad Hind Government.
Netaji’s grandnephew and BJP Bengal vice-president Chandra Kumar Bose has written to the PM four times since May, requesting him to inaugurate the Azad Hind Museum at Red Fort on October 21 and hoist the Tricolour at the fort to commemorate the occasion but is yet to get a reply.
“We have requested for permission to hoist the Tricolour at the Red Fort in Delhi on October 21 to commemorate the 75 anniversary (Platinum Jubilee) of the establishment of the Azad Hind Government -the first free Government of United India. However, till date we have not received the permission. Nevertheless, a large number of us shall still be there to mark the historic occasion. The record of India needs to be set correct, our first Government came into being on October 21, 1943 and not on August 15, 1947,” said sociopolitical leader and chairman of SNSMT Suparno Satpathy who is also a lead member with the Netaji movement.
Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose on October 21, 1943, established the provincial Azad Hind Government in Singapore. “Congress leaders of those times, had then opposed the Azad Hind Government. Had they thrown their weight behind Netaji, possibly the INA would have proceeded to Delhi (as they had planned the Chalo Dilli to snatch freedom for India) and a united India would have been free long before August 15, 1947,” said Chandra Kumar Bose.