“ India wouldn’t be free without Bose, Gandhi’s freedom movement became a ‘non-event’: Tamil Nadu Governo ”

   22-Jan-2024

Speaking on the 127th birth anniversary of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, Tamil Nadu Governor R N Ravi said on Tuesday that it was Bose who should be credited, not the Indian National Congress or Mahatma Gandhi, for compelling the British to leave India in 1947. Delivering a speech at Anna University in Chennai, Ravi also claimed that for a long period after the British left, systems were in place that ignored India’s cultural, spiritual, and civilisational heritage. According to him, this neglect extended to the freedom fighters and martyrs, including those from Tamil Nadu who he said significantly contributed to Bose’s Indian National Army (INA). Arguing that Bose’s role in India’s independence has been misunderstood and under-appreciated, Ravi highlighted Bose’s progressive vision, including the formation of a women’s battalion, a concept that was only realised in Independent India’s military decades later.