Kolkata NGO appeals to PM to declare Netaji Subhas Bose birthday as national holiday

Kolkata, Dec 30 (PTI) A city-based non-governmental organisation has appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to declare Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose’s birth anniversary on January 23 a national holiday and to institute a fresh inquiry into the nationalist leader’s disappearance.

In a letter dated December 29, the Azad Hind People’s Mission placed four demands before the prime minister, describing them as matters of national importance and historical justice.

The organisation urged the Centre to reconsider declaring Netaji’s birth anniversary a national holiday, noting that a similar proposal was turned down in 1962.

It claimed that it was working to preserve and promote the legacy of Bose and the ideals of the Azad Hind movement.

The appeal also sought posthumous conferment of Bharat Ratna on Dr Shyama Prasad Mukherjee and poet Kazi Nazrul Islam for their contributions to the nation.

In addition, it requested that 'Jai Hind', the salutation popularised by Netaji, be declared India's official national salutation.

Raising the issue of Bose’s disappearance, the NGO pointed out that the findings of the Justice Mukherjee Commission of Inquiry, submitted in 2005, were rejected by the government as incomplete. The commission had concluded that Netaji did not die in the alleged air crash on August 18, 1945, and that the ashes preserved in Japan were not his.

The organisation proposed setting up a fresh inquiry commission comprising eminent national and international jurists to conclusively establish the facts. PTI BSM MNB