After the Uttar Pradesh government under Chief Minister Yogi Aditynath has been on a roll of changing names of places that were given by British imperialist or Mughal invaders who decimated the sanctity of various places by imposing their own names, the family of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose has demanded from the government to change the names of Andaman and Nicobar islands to ‘Shaheed and Swaraj Islands’.
In recent moves by Yogi Adityanath’s government, Allahabad has been renamed Prayagraj while Faizabad became Ayodhya.
Netaji’s relative who also happens to be Vice-President of West Bengal BJP, Chandra Kumar Bose has written a letter to PM Narendra Modi for the same.
In his letter dated November 11, Chandra Bose said that Netaji, On December 30, 1943, as the ‘First Prime Minister of United Free India’ had hoisted the national flag at Port Blair, after which the Azad Hind government was established. Chandra Bose said that following this Netaji had renamed Andaman & Nicobar islands to Shaheed & Swaraj Islands.
Bose in his letter to PM Modi wrote, “By hoisting the National flag, Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, as the head of the Azad Hind Government also fulfilled his promise and commitment that INA (Indian National Army) would stand on Indian soil by the end of 1943.”
The letter went on to explain, “On December 29, 1943, Netaji accompanied by Sarvashri Anand Mohan Sahay, Captain Rawat-ADC and Col DS Raju, the personal physician of Netaji, landed at the Port Blair aerodrome in Andaman. The enthusiastic Indian residents accorded them a warm reception. Netaji appointed Indian National Army General AD Loganathan as the Governor of the Islands.”
This letter comes at the time when PM Modi is scheduled to visit Port Blair in December to mark the 75th anniversary of Netaji’s historic visit to the islands.
Chandra Bose further said, “India is celebrating the 75th year of flag hoisting by Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose on December 30, 2018. It is very heartening to note that you would be hoisting the Tricolour at Gymkhana Grounds, Port Blair, exactly from the same location where the first Prime Minister of United India had unfurled the flag. There has been a demand from the people of our great nation that the Government of India, rename Andaman & Nicobar Islands as Shaheed & Swaraj Islands as named by Netaji.”
On being asked by media about having a statue of Netaji, Chandra Bose said that the statue of a towering personality like Netaji must be unveiled in front of the India Gate and the Rajpath in Delhi.
Chandra Bose also added that Netaji’s birthday that falls on 23rd January should be celebrated as ‘Liberation Day of India’. It will acknowledge the contribution of Azad Hind Fauj in liberating India from British Imperialism.
Earlier, in the month of October PM Modi hoisted the National Flag at Red Fort in New Delhi commemorating the 75th anniversary of Azad Hind Government.
Prime Minister hitting out at Congress had said, “Today I can say this with certainty that if our nation was guided by the likes of Subhas Bose and Sardar Patel, if it was not looked at from a foreign perspective, then the situation of the country would be much different. It is sad that just to magnify the presence of one family; sons of India — Patel, Ambedkar, and Bose — have been obliterated from our national discourse.”
If the NDA government decides to change the name of Andaman and Nicobar Islands to Shaheed & Swaraj Islands, it will be a great tribute to the man who played a pivotal role in the struggle of Indian Independence.
