Amid the political parties’ bid to claim the legacy of Subhas Chandra Bose ahead of the West Bengal election, Netaji’s daughter has broken her silence.
In an interview to Times Now, Anita Bose Pfaff said that Netaji belongs to India and its citizens and not to any political party.
The Centre has declared Subhas Chandra Bose’s birthday as Parakram Diwas.
Anita Bose on Netaji’s legacy
“I hope it will be done in a fashion which is also appropriate to the person like him who was a person of thought, action and had great love for his country,” she told Times Now.
On the question whether the previous governments failed to honour the legacy of Netaji, the publication quoted her as saying:
“..well in the past there were efforts to play down the importance of Netaji for the independence movement. But in more recent years, in more than a decade or so, the interest in Netaji has increased again.”
“I feel very good by the fact that even young people or the middle-aged, are respecting him and remembering his contribution to India’s history.”
The TMC has accused the BJP of declaring Bose’s birthday as ‘Parakram Diwas’ in view of the upcoming Bengal elections.
On these allegations, Times Now quoted Anita Bose as saying: “All political parties are political so they would not do something which would harm them politically.”
“I think there is nothing illegitimate about that. Trinamool after all also tried to keep up the memory of Netaji.”
“Of course, the Bengalis will be emotionally connected to Netaji, but still a political party will have its political interest in mind,” she added.
“He doesn’t belong to one party, he belongs to one country and its people,” she was quoted as saying.
BJP vs TMC over Subhash Chandra Bose’s legacy
The TMC government has rejected PM Modi’s decision to celebrate Subhas Chandra Bose’s birthday as Parakram Diwas every year. The Mamata Banerjee government has declared Netaji’s birth anniversary as ‘Desh Nayak Diwas’.
Mamata will lead a 5 kilometers grand procession in Kolkata on January 23.
On the other hand, PM Modi will visit Kolkata on Saturday to celebrate Subhas Chandra Bose’s 125th birth anniversary.
