Army veteran at ICHR seminar: ‘Use Netaji’s name to counter what’s happening at JNU, HCU’

At the event, where the guest of honour was the organising secretary of RSS’s Akhila Bharatheeya Itihasa Sankalana Yojana (ABISY), Balmukund Pandey, the council’s chairman Y S Rao announced that ICHR and ABISY will collaborate “to build the spirit of nationalism” through a week-long seminar on the life and work of Swami Vivekananda and Bose. The statements tie in with the current government’s policy of giving importance to figures like Bose, Shivaji and Vivekananda.

“Netaji was an icon of nationalism. Today you need to revive that nationalism. Ram se bada Ram ka Naam (the message of Ram is more important than Ram himself). Jo JNU mein ho raha hai, jo Jadavpur mein ho raha hai, jo Hyderabad University mein ho raha hai, usko counter karne ke liye agar aap rashtravad jagana chahte hai toh aapko Netaji ka naam istamaal karna hoga (You will have to use Netaji’s name to counter what is happening in JNU, Jadavpur and Hyderabad universities). I congratulate ICHR for taking up this responsiblity,” Bakshi told his audience at National Museum in the presence of its director general B R Mani. ICHR member Purabi Roy was convenor of the inaugural session.

The retired army officer further said Lord Clement Attlee, who signed the Act granting India independence, had in 1956 admitted to then West Bengal Governor P B Chakraborty that Bose, and not Mahatma Gandhi, had driven the Britishers out.

In his brief speech, Pandey referred to Congress MP Mallikarjun Kharge’s remark in Lok Sabha this week to push for revival of Bose’s legacy. Kharge had said that while members of Gandhi family sacrificed their lives for the country, no one from the BJP did so.

Pandey said Bose had been wronged by historians. “There has been an attempt to demonise our country’s icons and heroes and Subhas Chandra Bose was the biggest victim of this effort. If there is one person who represents the country’s freedom struggle, it is Subhas Chandra Bose. But, Bose and INA are missing from our national archives and our primary school textbooks. His contribution was so great that inspite of the efforts of a few governments, Subhas continues to rule the hearts of the people,” he said.

“I want to congratulate ICHR for organising a seminar for Subhas babu…Stories told in every household should mention the contributions of the INA. There is no other way to save this country,” the ABISY office bearer added. ABISY is RSS’ history wing and its objective is to write “Bharatheeya (Indian) history from a national perspective”.

Agreeing with Pandey, Rao said it was unfortunate that an effort was being made to invoke nationalism even 70 years after independence. He said ICHR would do its bit by organising a seminar on Vivekananda and Bose in collaboration with ABISY. He said Vivekanand and Bose were similar as they had imbibed the spirit of Goddess Kali.