Modi government has decided to release Rs 75 commemorative coin on 75th anniversary of Tricolor hoisting by Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose at Port Blair. “The coin of seventy-five rupees denomination shall only be coined at the Mint for issue under the authority of the central government on the occasion of ’75th Anniversary of Hoisting of Tricolour’ for the first time by Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose at Port Blair,” said a notification released by Ministry of Finance.
The coin will be made up of 50 percent silver, 40 percent copper, 5 percent nickel, and 5 percent Zinc. Portrait of Netaji saluting the flag, with the cellular jail in Port Blair in the background, will be depicted on the coin. The coin will be having inscriptions- ‘First Flag Hoisting Day’ in English and Devanagri scripts. A numeral 75th along with the inscription ‘anniversary’ is also to be depicted below the portrait.
Recently, PM Modi unfurled national flag at the Red Fort to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the formation of provisional Azad Hind government. On October 21, 1943, Netaji had announced the formation of first provisional government of independent India. The decision to commemorate the coin on the anniversary of Tricolor hosting by Netaji is one of the steps taken by Modi government in order to recognize the contribution of revolutionaries in the Indian independence movement. The demand to rename Andaman and Nicobar Islands to Shaheed and Swaraj Islands is already in the pipeline as Chandra Kumar Bose, West Bengal BJP vice president who also happens to be the relative of Netaji has requested for this in a letter to PM Modi. “India is celebrating the 75th year of flag hoisting by Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose on December 30, 2018. It is very heartening to note that you will be hoisting the Tricolour at Gymkhana Grounds, Port Blair, exactly 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,”wrote Chandra Bose.
He also said that Netaji ‘As the first Prime Minister of United Free India’ had hoisted the national flag at Port Blair on December 30, 1943, thus establishing the Azad Hind government. The contribution of revolutionaries has been absent since long from the history books as they did not get the due recognition from previous governments. The history books written by cronies of Congress party presented the deeds of revolutionaries as acts of individual bravery and never acknowledged that those were actually the well-coordinated plans for the independence of the country. However, a thorough study of the acts of revolutionaries gives a clear indication that revolutionaries in one part of the country coordinated with people from the other part and tried to ignite people’s anger against the British Raj. Hindustan Socialist Republican Association (HSRA) whose members included Sachindra Nath Sanyal, Chandrasekhar Azad, Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev Thapar was formed back in 1924 to organize revolutionary activities.
Similarly, Indian National Army (INA), a well-organized armed force with strength of 43,000 was formed in 1942 in alliance with Japan to get independence for India. The Bombay Mutiny in the Royal Indian Navy and other mutinies in 1946 were triggered due to the trails of INA members. These mutinies compelled the British to give India its freedom.
However, these events do not find any significant mentioning in the history textbooks because the Congress governments promoted the historians who sang praises in their name while downsized the contributions of non-Congress people in the Indian Independence movement. This also presents a strong case for rewriting the history textbooks which are full of sycophancy for Congress leaders. Till now, the history of independence has been presented from a single point of view which dominantly was in favor of the Congress party. The alternative point of view for history must be explored by the upcoming authors and governments. Modi government is doing a great service to nation by recognizing the contributions of non-Congress leaders.