Absence of cross belt and sword in Netaji statue comes as a relief to admirers

Shubhadeep Choudhury                                                                                       

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New Delhi, September 10

The 28-foot statue of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose unveiled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the India Gate on Thursday evening was carved out from a single block of granite weighing 280 MT.

The giant piece was brought to Delhi from Telangana in a special truck with 100 wheels. A team of sculptors led by Arun Yogiraj gave shape to the statue which weighs 65 MT.

Initial pictures of the proposed statue circulated in the media showed Netaji in military uniform with a belt put diagonally across his bush coat. This drew the attention of experts who pointed out that Netaji wore a cross belt over a military uniform during the 1928 session of the Indian National Congress when he formed the Bengal Volunteer Corps (BVC) and anointed himself as its GOC. Cross belt was not part of Netaji’s uniform when he was leading the Indian National Army (INA), the experts pointed out.

The statue unveiled by the PM was of Netaji in military attire but without a cross belt. The model of the statue circulated initially had Netaji resting his left hand over a sword. But the statue unveiled on Thursday had no sword. The two omissions have come as a relief to all those who feared that the statue might turn out to be a depiction of Netaji as GOC of the BVC rather than the charismatic leader as the chief of the iconic INA.

Bose may always have nursed a fascination for the military. When the British raised the Bengalee Regiment during the First World War, Netaji volunteered for the service. “He was rejected because of his poor eyesight,” Sugata Bose, Netaji’s grandnephew and noted historian, said.