To take on the CAA, Congress to highlight Netaji’s achievements

In its effort to combat the Citizenship Amendment Act, the Congress is looking at highlighting the achievements of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, a former president who the party has been accused of abandoning in the past.

The Congress has asked all of its state units to celebrate the achievements of the Indian National Army and to hold celebrations on January 23 to commemorate the birthday of Subhash Chandra Bose. The move, emphasised in a circular issued by General Secretary KC Venugopal on Wednesday, was a consequence of the meeting of Opposition leaders from 20 parties on January 13.

Bose had led a section of the Indian National Congress in the 1920s-1930s, and was the party president in 1938 and 1939. He was ousted from Congress leadership positions in 1939 owing to differences with Mahatma Gandhi and the party leadership.

In the circular, party general secretary Venugopal has asked state chiefs to organise a series of programmes to highlight that the CAA, National Register of Citizens and the National Population Register are a “package that is unconstitutional”.

One of them is to highlight the achievements of the INA. “The historic INA trial at Red Fort bolstered the communal unity of our people during those difficult times of 1945-46 … The INA Defence Committee was a committee established by the Indian National Congress in 1945 to defend the officers of the INA,” the circular reads.

State units have also been asked to organise readings of the Preamble on Republic Day, and take “oaths to safeguard it”. The programmes should highlight how the BJP has “threatened” the principles of the Constitution, the circular read.

On January 30, the day when Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated, units have been asked to hold interfaith prayer ceremonies. “The programmes should highlight the message of Gandhiji like non-violence and communal harmony,” the circular reads.