West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Sunday wrote to PM Modi urging him to reconsider the decision of excluding West Bengal's proposed tableau for the Republic Day parade. "It is even more baffling for us that the tableau was rejected without assigning any reasons or justifications," Mamata wrote adding that she was profoundly shocked and hurt by the decision.
The proposed tableau was to commemorate Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose and his Indian National Army on his 125th birth anniversary. The tableau would have carried portraits of Vidyasagar, Rabindranath Tagore, Vivekananda, Chittaranjan Das, Sri Aurobindo, Matangini Hazra, Birsa Munda, Nazrul Islam, Mamata wrote,
"All the people of West Bengal are deeply pained by this attitude of the central government. Bengal was at the forefront of the Indian freedom struggle and has paid the heaviest price for the country's Independence through the partition," Mamata added.
Defence Ministry rejects Kerala’s Republic Day tableau again
This is the fourth time West Bengal's tableau proposal got rejected in the past few years, In 2015, 2017 and 2020, West Bengal's tableau proposals were rejected.
Before Mamata, leader of the Congress in the Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury wrote to defence minister Rajnath Singh over the rejection. "I am disappointed and shocked to learn that the Central Government has rejected the proposal of the State Government of West Bengal for tableau showcasing its cultural heritage and Netaji's life and contributions in our Freedom Struggle on Republic Day 2022. This is an insult to the people of West Bengal, its cultural heritage and our great hero Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose," Chowdhury wrote.
{{/usCountry}}Before Mamata, leader of the Congress in the Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury wrote to defence minister Rajnath Singh over the rejection. "I am disappointed and shocked to learn that the Central Government has rejected the proposal of the State Government of West Bengal for tableau showcasing its cultural heritage and Netaji's life and contributions in our Freedom Struggle on Republic Day 2022. This is an insult to the people of West Bengal, its cultural heritage and our great hero Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose," Chowdhury wrote.
{{/usCountry}}The Central Government has decided to start the Republic Day celebrations every year from January 23 instead of January 24 to include the birth anniversary of freedom fighter Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose.
The Centre has also rejected the Kerala government's proposed tableau on social reformer Sree Narayana Guru and the Jatayu Park monument. According to reports, the Centre wanted a tableau on Adi Sankaracharya but the government insisted on Sree Narayana Guru.