The Hindu : National : `No disrespect shown to Netaji'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Jan 26, 2005

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National

`No disrespect shown to Netaji'

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI. Jan. 25. The Lok Sabha secretariat today clarified that full respect was shown to Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose at the function organised in the Central Hall of Parliament to commemorate his 107th birth anniversary. It also pointed out that the Lok Sabha Speaker, Somnath Chatterjee, had participated in two functions organised by him in Netaji's memory in Bolepur, his constituency.

In a statement, the Lok Sabha secretariat also pointed out that in the function organised in the Central Hall of Parliament, the Secretary-General of the Lok Sabha represented the Speaker. "It is not possible for the Speaker or the MPs to be present in every function that is held in the Central Hall and their absence should not be construed as showing disrespect to the leader in whose honour the programme was organised. Personally attending the ceremony and paying floral tributes to the leader whose portraits are hung in the Central Hall of Parliament, is not the only method by which respect to the memory of the leaders can be shown," the statement added.

The clarification came in response to a news report, which quoted a Forward Bloc leader as saying that disrespect was shown to Netaji, with neither the Speaker nor the MPs turning up for the function held in the Central Hall. "Before filing stories concerning the Speaker the facts must first be verified," the statement said.

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