Republic Day celebrations in India will start from January 23 instead of January 24, this year, contrary to the typical practice, in order to include the birth anniversary of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose. Earlier, the four day long celebrations would conclude on January 29, with the Beating Retreat Ceremony. 

“This is in line with the Narendra Modi government’s focus on commemorating important aspects of India’s history and culture”, government sources said. Earlier, Modi had announced that Netaji’s birthday would be celebrated as ‘Parakram Divas’. 

Other such days, whose observance has become a yearly affair, are August 14 as Partition Horrors Remembrance Day, October 31 as National Unity Day (birth anniversary of Sardar Patel), November 15 as Janjatiya Gaurav Divas (Birsa Munda’s birth anniversary), November 26 as Constitution Day and December 26 as Veer Baal Divas (a tribute to the four sons of Guru Gobind Singh). 

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While the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has long tried to co-opt Netaji’s struggle for India’s freedom into their narrative, the party has faced resistance from Chandra Kumar Bose, his grand-nephew. Speaking to India Today, Bose said, “The people of India appreciate the efforts made by the NDA got under the leadership of Narendra Modi ji. But what is more important in today’s India, and I have written in this regard to PM Modi, is that we must implement Netaji’s inclusive ideology. He was the only leader who could unite the people irrespective of their religion as ‘Bharaiyas’. We have already seen the partition of India and Bengal. If Netaji had returned to India, there would have been no partition. But India is breaking up again. Divisive politics must stop. We must have communal harmony.” He concluded by saying, “The real tribute to Netaji would be to imbibe his ideology, fight against divisive politics, ensure communal harmony. Netaji envisioned a nation united. He never wanted any discrimination based on caste, creed and religion.” 

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Modi has, however, always doubled down giving Netaji the respect he deserves as a freedom fighter and even credited the government for reopening secret files pertaining to Bose. Ironically, Netaji was always opposed to the Hindu Mahasabha. In fact, when Syama Prasad Mukherjee joined the organization, he told the founder of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh, BJP’s predecessor, that any infiltration of the Hindu Mahasabha or communal politics in Bengal would not be tolerated. 

Mukherjee wrote about his meeting with Bose in his diary, saying Bose told him “He (Subhash Chandra Bose) would see to it, by force if need be, that it was broke before it was really born.” 

[Edited with PTI Inputs]