Heritage Bengal Global celebrated the 126th birth anniversary of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose on 22 January at Ealing Town Hall in London. Hosting Saraswati Puja for the second time, the event also saw a portrait drawing competition featuring India’s freedom fighters, where the final works were displayed at the Ealing Town Hall, followed by an exhibition at India House in Aldwych on 23 January to mark Netajis’ birth anniversary celebration.
Believed to be a brainchild of the Deputy High Commissioner of India to the UK, Sujit Ghosh, the competition involved the Bengali diaspora globally, as a part of the Government of India's Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav initiative.
Some of the participants for the drawing competition included Aaliya Sen from Germany, Dyutimoy Banerjee from Kolkata, Nandini Kumar, a student at Parsons School of Design in New York, Rajib Saha from Harrow, Kalyanmoy Roy from Cambridge, Sayantan Chakraborty from Ruislip, Mahua Bej from Sutton and Sourav Pal from Harrow.
HBG also celebrated Saraswati, that included cultural programme and pushpanjali for all.
The dual celebration at Ealing Town Hall was attended by dignitaries, including, Sanjay Sharma, Deputy Director of Nehru Centre, Cllr Mohinder Kaur Midha, Mayor of Ealing, Virendra Sharma MP, Rajesh Agrawal, London’s Deputy Mayor for Business, Mitali Choudhury, granddaughter of Sarat Bose (Netaji’s brother), INA veteran Ajit Roy, singer Sahana Bajpayi to name a few. It also saw the launch of the London-Kolkata direct flight campaign.
High Commission marks Netaji’s birth anniversary
On Monday marking Parakram Diwas and celebrating Netaji’s 126th birth anniversary the High Commission of India organised a reception at India House. The portraits by HBG members were on display at the foyer, in the embassy’s majestic and historical building.
HE Vikram Doraiswami, the Indian High Commissioner to the UK, in his address following floral tributes to a portrait of Netaji in the Gandhi Hall, said, “Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose and his many feats of military and political courage live on.
“The museum in his memory is Calcutta is well worth visiting to see the courage, daring and enterprise that he displayed in escaping from custody in house arrest, his extraordinary journey through India, his efforts to mobilise an army including prisoners of war – all of this is the stuff of legend.”
The envoy also highlighted the legendary freedom fighter’s selflessness, shunning a life of privilege and luxury in favour of the hard road to fight for the independence of his country.
He added, “His message essentially was to reject the idea that had been imposed upon us since 1857, that the people of our subcontinent were largely not a martial race, that Indians couldn’t actually fight… Netaji showed that was not true.”
There was a lecture on Netaji’s military campaign by journalist Vijay Rana and rendering of patriotic songs by members of the community.
Direct Flight campaign
The Indian Bengalis have launched a campaign, demanding direct (if not non-stop) flights to Kolkata, at least thrice a week, urging community organisations and individuals to join this initiative.
HBG formally launched the petition in association with Asian Voice newsweekly at Ealing Townhall. Signatures supporting the cause were collected to kickstart the campaign, so that they could persuade Air India, Indian government, especially the Prime Minister, Aviation Ministry and Ministry of External Affairs to restart the direct flights between London and Kolkata.
Though as a part of the Vande Bharat mission, there were nonstop and direct flights available to Kolkata for a short period of time, decades ago, British Airways and Air India had flown to Kolkata non-stop and directly, before continuing to other destinations like Bangladesh. Though the initial plan is to have London-Kolkata direct flights reinstated, this eventually could be extended to Birmingham, Manchester and Scottish airports in the UK, depending on the demand and could also extend the route to north-eastern states of India from Kolkata.
Direct flights are not just hassle free or important to save time for busy businessmen and professionals, but it also helps pregnant women and the elderly, for whom disembarking and embarking an aircraft, transferring to another, sometimes after collecting and re-checking their luggage is an exhausting task. Even if it’s not a non-stop flight, the sheer fact that you do not need to disembark the aircraft, makes it much easier for those with even slight mobility issues.
