West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee  |  Photo Credit: ANI
Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Sunday lashed out at the Centre even as she paid tribute to Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose on his 125th birth anniversary. Speaking at an event in Kolkata, the TMC supremo said that she took pride in the state’s role in India’s freedom struggle. Earlier in the day, Banerjee had batted for the commemoration of Bose’s birth date as a National Holiday.
“Had Bengal not been there, India’s Independence would not have been achieved. I take pride in this fact,” she said today.
Touching upon the recent exchange of words with the centre over the exclusion of West Bengal’s tableau for the upcoming Republic Day parade, she alleged bias on the Centre’s part. “Why so allergic to Bengal? You rejected Bengal tableau…You are making (Netaji) statue (in Delhi) because we pressurised you,” she contended.
The state incidentally plans to put a tableau on Netaji (also featuring other eminent freedom fighters), on display at the Republic Day parade in Kolkata.
While it is believed that Bose died more than 70 years ago, questions about the circumstances of his demise remain unanswered. The TMC has repeatedly demanded that the Centre declassify files on Bose’s disappearance in 1945, and said that ashes preserved at a temple in Japan, believed t be that of the freedom fighter, should be sent for DNA analysis.
“Till today we don’t know about Netaji’s whereabouts. They (Centre) had said that when they come to power, they will work on it but nothing happened. In fact, we (state) have released and declassified all files on Netaji Bose,” Banerjee noted on Sunday.
Earlier today, the Chief Minister had put out a lengthy Twitter thread paying homage to the freedom fighter and calling for renewing demand for a national holiday. Banerjee iterated that a Bengal Planning Commission will be set up in the state, inspired by Netaji’s thoughts on National Planning Commission. She also said that Jai Hind University will be set up in memory of the revolutionary leader with 100% state funding.