Declare Netaji’s birthday as national holiday, Mamata Banerjee tells PM

Mamata Banerjee also requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi to make public the findings about what really happened to Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose.

West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, requesting him to declare January 23, the birthday of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, as a national holiday.

West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee said a national holiday on January 23 to mark the birth anniversary of Subhash Chandra Bose would be an appropriate recognition to the iconic freedom fighter. (PTI FILE PHOTO)

Describing Bose as “a national hero” and “one of the greatest sons of Bengal,” Banerjee said this would be an appropriate recognition to Bose on his 125th birth anniversary.

She also requested the Prime Minister to “take decisive steps to find out what happened to Netaji and place the matter in public domain so that people get to know what finally happened to the great leader.”

Bose was never seen after August 18, 1945. While a section of researchers claim that he died in a plane crash at Taihoku in Taiwan on that day, a large section of his followers believe that he went into hiding and the ashes kept at Renko-ji temple in Japan are not his.

The All India Forward Bloc, the party Bose formed after leaving the Congress, has been demanding for years that January 23 be observed as national holiday.