Proposals To Commemorate 125th Birth Anniversary of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose

In News

Recently, the Government of India has approved various proposals relating to commemorating the 125th birth anniversary of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose.

Major Steps

• The Government of India has approved various proposals relating to Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose such as 
  • Establishing a memorial in Red Fort to INA martyrs and at Nilganj near Kolkata.
  • Short Videos on Netaji and INA, a documentary on INA trials.
  • Publishing of biography of Col. Dhillon and Gen. Shahnawaz Khan, publishing of photos of INA in the form of a pictorial book, children-friendly comics on Netaji. 
• Parakram Diwas
  • The government declared 23rd January as Parakram Diwas to commemorate the 125th birth anniversary of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose.
• Commemorative coins and stamps on Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose were released.

• Permanent exhibition and artists’ camp– A permanent exhibition on Netaji will be opened at the Victoria Memorial and a programme will be held in Cuttack, the birthplace of Netaji.
  • An artists’ camp at the National Library, Kolkata and an international conference on Netaji’s legacy will be organised.

• Museum: A museum has been set up in Netaji at Red Fort, New Delhi, which was inaugurated by the  Prime Minister in 2019. 
• Renaming of Islands :

• The Prime Minister renamed 3 islands in Andaman and Nicobar. 
• The Ross Island was renamed as Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Dweep, the Neil Island as Shaheed Dweep, and the Havelock Island as SwarajDweep

About Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose

• He was born on January 23, 1897, in Cuttack, Orissa. 
• His father Janaki Nath Bose was a famous lawyer and his mother Prabhavati Devi was a pious and religious lady. 
• He was a brilliant student right from childhood.
• He was strongly influenced by Swami Vivekananda’s teachings and was known for his patriotic zeal as a student. 
• He was a stalwart who committed himself to ensure every Indian leads a life of dignity. 
• He was known in particular for his militant approach to independence and for his push for socialist policies.
• He was also known for his intellectual prowess and organisational skills. 

                                            Image Courtesy: Times now

Chronological Events Associated With Him

• 1919: Went to London to give the Indian Civil Services (ICS) examination and got selected but he was deeply disturbed by the Jallianwalla Bagh massacre and left his Civil Services apprenticeship midway to return to India in 1921.
• 1921: Worked under Chittaranjan Das, a powerful politician in Bengal. He worked as the editor for Das’s newspaper, Forward, and later started his own newspaper, Swaraj.
• 1923: Became the President of the All India Youth Congress and also the Secretary of Bengal State Congress.
• Mid-1930s: Travelled in Europe and researched and wrote the first part of his book, The Indian Struggle, which covered the country’s independence movement in the years 1920–1934.
• 1938: After his return, took over as the elected President of the Indian National Congress in Haripur and stood for unqualified Swaraj (self-governance).
• He recommended the use of force against the British which then combated against Mahatma Gandhi and his views.
• 1939: Re-elected as President of INC in Tripuri.
  • However, soon resigned from the presidency and formed the All India Forward Bloc, a faction within the Congress which aimed at consolidating the political left.
• 1942: Travelled to Japan and took leadership of the Indian Independence Movement in East Asia. With Japanese aid and influence, he took the leadership of a trained army of about 40,000 troops in Japanese-occupied Southeast Asia known as the Indian National Army (Azad Hind Fauj).
  • The INA was first formed under Mohan Singh and Japanese Major Iwaichi Fujiwara and comprised Indian prisoners of war of the British-Indian Army captured by Japan in the Malayan (present-day Malaysia) campaign and at Singapore.
  • The troops of the INA were under the aegis of a provisional government, the Azad Hind Government, which came to produce its own currency, postage stamps, court and civil code, and was recognised by nine Axis states.
• 1942: Earned the title ‘Netaji’, in Germany by the Indian soldiers of the Azad Hind Fauj.
• 1945: The British Indian Army retaliated to the capture of Manipur, Kohima and Imphal by INA and killed almost half of the Japanese forces and the entire participating INA contingent.
  • Bose escaped to Manchuria seeking a future in the Soviet Union.
• Famous Slogans:
  • “Give me blood, and I shall give you freedom!”
  • “Jai Hind.”
  • The first person to call Mahatma Gandhi “Father of the Nation”, in his address from Singapore.
• Death: 
  • He is said to have died in 1945 when his plane crashed in Taiwan. However, there are still many conspiracy theories regarding his death.

Source: PIB