CM: Bengal follows Netaji, Tagore, Vivekananda ideals

KOLKATA: Bengal follows Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, Swami Vivekananda, Ramakrishna, Rabindranath Tagore, Nazrul, Gandhi, Ambedkar and Maulana Azad, chief minister Mamata Banerjee said on Tuesday at a ceremony to commemorate Netaji's 127th birth anniversary in Kolkata, adding, "These illustrious people played a key role to transform our society and (form) our Constitution."
The statement comes a day after Banerjee's Sampriti Rally, which coincided with PM Narendra Modi's consecration of the Ram Lalla idol in Ayodhya.
Icons from the Bengal Renaissance and later may be a part of the Trinamool Congress narrative more often in the run-up to the general election as the party tries to counter the BJP's agenda of "hatred, polarisation and divisiveness," party seniors have said.
"We still follow Netaji and pray for his blessings. He was the true leader of the nation as he had Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Buddhists, Sikhs with him," Banerjee said at the ceremony, reminding her listeners that Netaji's vision for the INA was etched in three words: ittehad (unity), ittemad (faith) and qurbani (sacrifice). "Bless us so we can be your ardent followers and your fighting spirit and winning mission transcend to us, as you taught to keep our heads high," she added.
The chief minister said the BJP government at Centre had not declared Netaji's birthday a holiday, but did so for a "political campaign." She did not refer to the Ayodhya event directly in which a half-day holiday was declared. "For a political campaign, a holiday is granted, and freedom fighters who dedicated their lives to the country will cry silently as azadi is endangered," she said, adding that for the past 20 years, she had been trying to make Netaji's birthday a national holiday, but failed. "I apologise to you," she said. "I am ashamed."
Chief minister Mamata Banerjee, paying tribute to the leader on his 127th birth anniversary, said it was "our misfortune that we are unaware of what happened to Netaji".
The BJP, she claimed, had promised to lift the veil off the mystery shrouding Netaji's disappearance before coming to office, but had forgotten it since. "We declassified 64 files related to Netaji, which had communications of the British period; these are now in the public domain. There was a dock named after Netaji in Kolkata, but BJP changed its name, too," the CM said.
It was important for India to know what happened to Netaji, Banerjee said. "We are unaware about his last days. What happened to him? Was he kept confined or tortured or did he go underground? We are clueless. Where had he gone missing? What was his fate? The world salutes him, but we know nothing about his last days," she said, adding, "We want Netaji alive. We want to know where Netaji went missing. We do not know whether he is hale and hearty but pray for his well-being."
Banerjee was critical of the Centre for dismantling the Planning Commission, which Netaji - as Congress president - had had a hand in initiating in 1938, way before it had been formally instituted in 1950. "There is no plan for the nation now. The only planning is for killing and brutality, along with politics of hatred. They are planning to enforce a divide-and-rule policy. Niti Aayog (which has replaced the Planning Commission) is without any ethics. They hardly meet in a year. This Niti Aayog has no power; it's a powerless institution, a doll that has no links to the people, only speaking Mann Ki Baat."