'Great freedom fighter, true son of Mother India: PM Modi pays tribute to Subhas Chandra Bose

Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid his tributes to Subhas Chandra Bose on Saturday on the 125th birth anniversary of the iconic freedom fighter as the Centre will be marking the day as Parakram Divas or a day of valour. "Bowing to Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, a great freedom fighter and true son of Mother India, on his birth anniversary. A grateful nation will always remember his sacrifice and dedication for the independence of the country," PM Modi tweeted in Hindi.

महान स्वतंत्रता सेनानी और भारत माता के सच्चे सपूत नेताजी सुभाष चंद्र बोस को उनकी जन्म-जयंती पर शत-शत नमन। कृतज्ञ राष्ट्र देश की आजादी के लिए उनके त्याग और समर्पण को सदा याद रखेगा। #ParakramDivas

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) January 23, 2021

PM Modi will be celebrating the iconic freedom fighter’s birth anniversary in Kolkata and will attend two programmes, one at the National Library and other at Victoria Memorial Hall, during his day-long visit. This is the first time since the Bharatiya Janata Paty (BJP) came to power at the Centre that PM Modi will be observing Bose's birth anniversary. The central government has also set up a committee to plan year-long anniversary programmes.

He will inaugurate a permanent exhibition called Nirbheek Subhas, inaugurate a projection mapping show on Netaji, unveil the book 'Letters of Netaji, release commemorative coin and memorial postal stamp and felicitate the veterans of the Indian National Army (INA).

The Prime Minister had in a series of tweets on Friday talked about Bose. "May the thoughts and ideals of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose keep inspiring us to work towards building an India that he would be proud of…a strong, confident and self-reliant India, whose human-centric approach contributes to a better planet in the years to come,” he had tweeted.

In one of the tweets, PM Modi also talked about the "special programme" at Haripura in his home state of Gujarat.

"Haripura has a special relation with Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose. It was at the historic Haripura Session of 1938 that Netaji Bose took up the Presidentship of the Congress Party. Tomorrow’s programme at Haripura will be a tribute to Netaji Bose’s contribution to our nation," he said.

The West Bengal government announced that it will celebrate the day as Desh Nayak Diwas, or day of the national hero. The state government also appealed to people through televised advertisements to blow conch shells at 12.15pm, the time when Bose was born in 1897. He died mysteriously in an air crash in Taiwan in August 1945.