Parakram Diwas – January 23, 2023

 

Parakram Diwas is celebrated on January 23 every year. It is an Indian national holiday marking the birthday of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose (popularly called Netaji), a prominent nationalist, politician, and freedom fighter. This day was set aside by the government of India on Netaji’s 125th birthday to inspire Indians, especially the youth, to emulate his courage, doggedness, selfless service, and patriotic fervor even in the face of oppression.

HISTORY OF PARAKRAM DIWAS

On January 19, 2021, the government of India through the Ministry of Culture issued a release that the nation would celebrate the posthumous 125th birthday of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose starting on January 23, 2021. This holiday was called Parakram Diwas (or Parakram Divas), meaning “Day of Courage” or “Day of Valor,” to acknowledge Netaji’s sacrifice and immense contribution to India’s independence movement.

Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose was born on January 23, 1897, in Cuttack, Orissa/Odisha. His parents were Janakinath Bose and Prabhavati Dutt. A brilliant scholar and true Indian patriot, Netaji Bose obtained a B.A. in Philosophy at the Scottish Church College under the University of Calcutta. He subsequently went to complete the Indian Civil Service (I.C.S.) in England in 1919 and was fourth in his class with the highest mark in English. However, he resigned from his position in 1921 and returned to India because he didn’t want to serve the British government.

Back in India, Netaji joined the Indian National Congress (I.N.C.) under the tutelage of Deshbandhu Chittaranjan Das, who became his political mentor. He was also highly influenced by Swami Vivekananda’s ideologies and considered him his spiritual guru. In 1923, Bose became the President of the All India Youth Congress and later became the Congress President in 1938 and 1939.

In 1942, during WWII, Netaji formed and led a 5,000-man force known as the Azad Hind Fauj (Indian National Army) in Southeast Asia with the slogan of ‘Delhi Chalo.’ He also founded a new party, “the Forward Bloc,” to garner popular support in his home state Bengal.

Netaji reportedly died from third-degree burns sustained in a plane crash in Tohuku, Japanese Taiwan, on August 18, 1945. Although his demise was confirmed by the government in 2017, several conspiracy theories still exist about his disappearance.

Relevance of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose in the 21st century

Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose put forward a blue-print of the future for India in his famous Haripura address as president of the Indian National Congress in February 1938.

The role that Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose played in India’s struggle for independence has been much discussed and today there are several good books written about him and the role of the Indian National Army (INA) by both Indian and foreign scholars. Many more new studies are being published every year.

At the Haripura Congress session Subhas Chandra Bose as the president spelt out the fundamental rights of the people of India – rights that every citizen of India would enjoy once India was free of British rule. I would like to mention a few of those rights:

Every citizen of India has the right of free expression of opinion, the right of free association and combination, and the right to assemble peacefully and without arms, for a purpose not opposed to law or morality.

Every citizen shall enjoy freedom of conscience and the right freely to profess and practise his religion, subject to the public order and morality.

The culture, language and script of the minorities and of the different linguistic areas shall be protected.

All citizens are equal before the law, irrespective of religion, caste, creed or sex.

At Haripura, that is more than eight decades ago, Netaji had also set out a plan for reconstruction once India had attained her freedom. And he said: “regarding reconstruction, our principal problem will be how to eradicate poverty from our country.”