A statement that was unlikely to give a good publicity to the previous Governments that ruled from Delhi apart from kicking off a national debate, Bengal Governor KN Tripathi on Tuesday articulated what an overwhelming number of Bengalis had felt for the past so many decades about the alleged shabby treatment meted out to Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose by those who were in power.
Apparently touching a sore nerve Tripathi said justice was not done to Bose in Independent India. Demanding that least India could do was to declare his birthday as a National Holiday, Tripathi said he “strongly feel that justice was not done towards Netaji in the post-Independence period. He should have received much more honour, much more respect than what was given to him.”
He demanded that 23rd January the birthday of Netaji be declared a National Holiday. When asked to comment on this he said “personally I think it should be declared a National Holiday. If you honour your heroes, if you pay your respect to them by observing a holiday it is good. And even today whether Netaji’s birthday is a holiday or not, January 23rd is always a great day.”
Tripathi got an instant support from Forward Bloc leader Naren hatterjee who concurred with the Governor saying “we had been making such demands for so many years” adding Netaji by any means was “a leader of different breed and whose brand of nationalism was the purest in its form which was why he was the most popular leader of his time.”
An emotional Tripathi who had been an ardent follower of the national hero since he was 10 or 12 said there were so many things that required to be written about Bose. “Much requires to be discovered about him and much needs to be conveyed to the public about him” he said adding he was “a great warrior and not only a freedom fighter but the manner in which he fought for the country is really admirable and has been inspirational for the youths for all times.”
The Governor who was visiting the Netaji Bhavan said Netaji’s appeal to the nation to give him blood and he would give them freedom had such an electrifying effect on all including school children that Tripathi who was then in class six or seven donated a few drops of blood for the cause.