BJP reminded about Subhash Chandra Bose when it is locked in a grim battle with the son of another Netaji

A year ago on January 23 the contributions of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose were highlighted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at an official function of the Union government in Kolkata, the capital of West Bengal which was heading for the Assembly election.

But the function ended up in a different note with the state chief minister Mamata Banerjee walking out after registering a strong protest over the raising of political slogans by many of those who were attending the programme. “Jai Shri Ram”, “Bharat Mata ki Jai” and “Modi, Modi” rent the air when Mamata rose to speak
on the occasion ahead of the Prime Minister. An upset Mamata asked how can such slogans be raised in a function of the Ministry of Culture organised in honour of Netaji, whose year-long 125th birth anniversary had started on that day in 2021.

Mamata scored her point as it may have been appropriate had such slogans been made in a programme of the Bharatiya Janata Party and not that of the government of India held to pay respect to such a great freedom fighter.

One hundred days after January 23 last year when the election results of West Bengal were announced on May 2, one came to realize how badly the BJP failed to capitalise on the issue of what it calls the neglect of Netaji by the Congress.

Like last year this time again five states are going to poll. Of course, West Bengal is not among them. But the state was once again in the news because the tableau of West Bengal themed on Netaji’s freedom struggle for the Republic Day Parade in Delhi was rejected by the Centre. The tableaus of Tamil Nadu and Kerala
were also rejected.

The Trinamool Congress once again got an opportunity to turn the table on the BJP and termed it as a dishonour to Netaji. The DMK and Left also protested. Whether there was any political motive of the Modi government or not can not be said with conformity, but if there certainly was any, it is not going to serve any purpose. If the Netaji card failed so utterly in West Bengal last year, how can it bring more votes for the saffron party in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Manipur and Goa.

Voters are more concerned about their livelihood and security, rather than any debate on who actually neglected whom in the history. The youths are demanding jobs or employment, farmers seeking guarantee for the Minimum Support Price and small traders, labourers and craftsmen fighting for their survival.

Any such speech or television debate is listened to and watched by only those who have their stomach-filled or are ideologically motivated, and their percentage is small.

By overplaying the issue of neglect of Netaji or for that matter Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel with the help of half-baked and distorted information the BJP top brass is commiting the same old mistake. It is providing its rival (read Congress) and independent historians an opportunity to come out with their own
versions.

Now common people are knowing that Netaji was actually a hard-core secularist and dead against the Hindu Mahasabha and RSS. The Bharatiya Jan Sangh or the BJP did not exist during his life-time. In fact some of the most trusted lieutenants of Netaji were Muslims.

They are Colonel Shahnawaz Khan, Habib-ur-Rahman, General Mirza Anayet Ali Baig,Abdul Majid, Colonel Mahboob etc. Maulana Obaidullah Sindhi sent Netaji out of India in disguise with various names. One of them was Maulana Ziauddin. Major Zainul Abedeen helped him flee to Germany. Major Abedeen, who knew German, became his interpreter. Actually it was he who gave the slogan of Jai Hind to the Indian National Army in 1941.

Like Netaji the BJP is trying to appropriate Sardar Patel, Bhagat Singh and several others who were actually opposed to the Sangh ideology. Sardar Patel, as the home minister of India, banned the RSS after the
assassination of Mahatma Gandhi on January 30, 1948.

In the same way Bhagat Singh was greatly influenced by the Communist ideology and was not at all the votary of the Hindutva brand of politics as many in the Sangh Parivar want to project.

These facts could become common knowledge only because the saffron brigade tried to thrust its own interpretation of history. The truth is that after a point of time it is gradually losing all such battles as the counter-narrative is also getting space. Its bigwigs have not learnt any lesson from the West Bengal humiliation last year.

The BJP needs to be reminded that the party is at present facing a stiff challenge from the son of a different Netaji in UP. Mulayam Singh Yadav, the father of Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Singh Yadav, is addressed by his admirers and supporters as Netaji. – India News Stream