Kolkata:
Amidst the fanfare over Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh’s plans to celebrate Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose’s birth anniversary in the city on January 23, his daughter Anita Bose-Pfaff has said that it is being done to “partially exploit” her father’s legacy.
RSS’s ideology and the nationalist leader’s ideas of secularism and inclusiveness are “poles apart and do not coincide”, she said.
As far as ideology is concerned, the Congress has a lot more in common with Netaji than any other party in the country, Ms Bose-Pfaff said.
RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat will address a public programme at Shahid Minar ground in the city to commemorate Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose’s birth anniversary.
Ms Bose-Pfaff said the BJP and RSS do not reflect the idea of respecting all religions as preached by Netaji, who was a devout Hindu but believed in respecting other faiths. He was in favour of a productive cooperation between members of different religions, she said.
“RSS and BJP do not necessarily reflect this attitude… If you want to put a simple label, they are rightists, and Netaji was a leftist,” she told PTI over phone from Germany, where she lives.
“From what I hear about the RSS ideology, I would agree that it and Netaji’s ideology are poles apart. The two value systems do not coincide. It will certainly be good if the RSS felt it wanted to embrace Netaji’s ideals and ideas. Many different groups want to celebrate Netaji’s birthday in different ways, and a number of them necessarily agree with his ideas,” Ms Bose-Pfaff said.
She agreed that the fanfare over the celebration of her father’s birth anniversary is to “partially exploit his legacy”.
This story was originally published in ndtv.com. Read the full story here
