‘No Idea What is Planned’: Netaji’s Daughter Tells News18 Why She Will Give Bose’s Statue Unveiling a Miss
This story first appeared in News18
Expressing her displeasure, Anita said she was invited earlier for the ceremony on August 15, which got cancelled, and the government did not even inform her. ‘Circumstances and the uncertainty of what will happen and how make it undesirable for me to go at such a short notice’
The statue of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose will be unveiled under a canopy at India Gate in Delhi on September 8 but his daughter, Anita, will give this event a miss, she told News18.
“No, I will not. Circumstances and the uncertainty of what will happen and how make it undesirable for me to go at such a short notice. For all I know, nobody would take note of my sitting in the audience of maybe a hundred or more people. I have no idea what is planned for the event and I could only be reasonably certain that it would take place on September 3,” she told News18.
Expressing her displeasure, Anita said she was invited earlier for the ceremony on August 15, which got cancelled, and the government did not even inform her. Moreover, the second time the government had invited her for the event to take place on September 8 but she was not sure whether the unveiling will happen that time.
Anita Bose told News18, “The ministry of culture sent an official invitation on September 3 to me and others. I received an advance warning to expect the invitation on August 29. With respect to the past experience, I could not be certain till September 2-3. To this day, I have not seen a programme — there may be none. For all I know it may be a very short appearance by the PM and I would only see him from a distance.”
Throwing light on the timing of the unveiling, Anita said she was not happy how the events were unfolding ahead of the ceremony. “I am not happy because the organisation is so chaotic. But, of course, I am pleased about the statue. September 8 came totally unexpected. The date has no significance to Netaji. We all more or less expected October 21 (formation of Azad Hind) or January 23 (birth anniversary). The government wishes to honour Netaji, I am sure, but somehow everything is confusing. After all, we have to accept that the unveiling is only one of the many things they are dealing with.”
According to sources, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will unveil the statue along with revamped Central Vista Avenue on September 8.
The statue is part of the Rs 13,450 crore Central Vista Project, which will have new Parliament building, new residence and office of the Vice-President and the Prime Minister, ministry buildings, conversion of North and South blocks into museums.