Senior Trinamul Congress leader Kunal Ghosh on Monday said the Centre should recognise Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose as the first Prime Minister of the country, as he headed the Provisional Government of Free India formed in October 1943.

Ghosh also urged the West Bengal Education Department to include events related to the proclamation of the Azad Hind government by Netaji in the school curriculum.

Installing a statue is not a real tribute; that would be to declassify all files related to Netaji, DNA test of the Renkoji ashes and recognising him as the first PM, the Trinamul Congress state general secretary said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has announced that a grand statue of the legendary freedom fighter will be installed at India Gate in New Delhi as a symbol of the country’s “indebtedness” to him. Till the granite statue is completed, a hologram statue would be put up at the same place.

Ghosh said Netaji was also in charge of the Ministry of War and Foreign Affairs, and the Azad Hind government was recognised by nine countries, which had diplomatic relations with it.

Whether to accept this demand on recognising Netaji as the first PM is for the Union government to decide. But, I would like to urge the state education department that as the first step towards it, the episodes of the proclamation of the independent government, the distribution of responsibilities, and its international recognition should be included in detail in the curriculum. The syllabus committee should look into it, he said.

The nation on Sunday paid homage to Subhas Chandra Bose on his 125th birth anniversary, with leaders hailing his “monumental” contribution to India’s freedom struggle and Modi unveiling a hologram statue at the India Gate.

The day was observed as ‘Parakram Diwas’, announced by the government to mark the Azad Hind Fauj founder’s birthday, and a number of events were organised across the states and abroad where floral tributes were offered at the statues and portraits of the iconic freedom fighter.

Also Read: Remembering Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose