NEW DELHI: Unveiling the model of a proposed memorial dedicated to Netaji Subash Chandra Bose to be set up in Andaman and Nicobar, PM Modi named 21 islands of the UT after Param Vir Chakra awardees- India’s highest military decoration. A national memorial will be built on Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Dweep, earlier known as Ross Islands.
Addressing a gathering on the 126th birth anniversary of Netaji also celebrated as Parakram Diwas, Modi said these islands would be “a site of inspiration for generations to come”. “Netaji’s memorial in Andaman and Nicobar Islands will infuse feelings of patriotism in the hearts of people,” Modi said, adding that Netaji had “liberated Andamans first”.
The largest unnamed island was named after the first Param Vir Chakra awardee, Major Somnath Sharma, who died on 3 November 1947 while fighting Pakistani infiltrators near the Srinagar airport.
Home Minister Amit Shah who was also at the event said- this decision “acknowledges and appreciates the connection of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands with the Independence Movement of India”.
The GoI in 2021, declared 23rd January as Parakram Diwas to commemorate the birth anniversary of Bose, who was born in 1897. On this day in 1978, a portrait of Bose was unveiled by then President N. Sanjiva Reddy in the Central Hall of Parliament.
In 2022, a hologram of the statute of the freedom fighter was unveiled by PM Modi at Delhi’s India Gate.