Now Reading: BJP MP Ananta Maharaj apologises for calling Netaji ‘war criminal’
-
01
BJP MP Ananta Maharaj apologises for calling Netaji ‘war criminal’
Rajya Sabha MP Nagendra Roy alias Ananta Maharaj apologised on August 14 for calling Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose a “war criminal” and questioning the Azad Hind Fauj’s role in the freedom struggle.…
The Story in Brief
Rajya Sabha MP Nagendra Roy alias Ananta Maharaj apologised on August 14 for calling Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose a “war criminal” and questioning the Azad Hind Fauj’s role in the freedom struggle. The apology came after West Bengal police registered six FIRs and arrested five people over derogatory social media posts about Netaji. The state government had withdrawn the Banga Bibhusan civilian honour conferred on the BJP-backed MP earlier this year.
West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari said 282 posts were taken down and warned against insulting national icons. BJP leader Tathagata Roy described Maharaj as a “rotten apple” in a big party. Maharaj, a leader of the Greater Cooch Behar Movement, claimed he spoke based on official records. Separate incidents of a Netaji statue vandalism in Kolkata and a street renamed for Syama Prasad Mookerjee have escalated the controversy.
The Indian Opinion
The outrage over Ananta Maharaj’s remarks is entirely justified. But the crisis also exposes how icon worship can flatten history into propaganda. Netaji’s contemporary critics, including the Congress leadership during the 1940s, also questioned his alliances with Axis powers. The renewed focus on Syama Prasad Mookerjee as a rival icon and the statue vandalism in Kolkata risk turning the freedom struggle into a zero-sum turf war. If the state government is serious, will it also condemn those who vandalised the Netaji statue?
Sources (2): thehindu.com, thehindu.com (2)
This story was synthesised by AI from the 2 sources linked above.
Updated: this story now draws on 2 sources.
