FANS Hoists Tricolour in Port Blair

Port Blair: In order to commemorate the 75th anniversary of first national flag hoisting on liberated Indian soil by Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose and his Indian National Army (INA) on December 30, 1943, hundreds of people from various parts of the country paid homage to the freedom fighters who languished in the infamous Cellular Jail of Andaman & Nicobar Islands. The programme was organised by the Forum for Awareness of National Security (FANS) in which family members of the freedom fighters along with the members of FANS participated.

The function was held at the Department of Art and Culture at the Memorial opposite Andaman Club on December 30, 2018 morning. Shri Udit Prakash Rai, Deputy Commissioner of South Andaman, hoisted the tricolour. Shri Indresh Kumar, along with the members and descendents of freedom fighters like Mahavir Singh, Batukeshwar Dutt, Jaidev Kapoor, Shyam Deo Narayan, Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, Veer Savarkar, Dr Daya Prasad Katiyar, Baba Wasaka Singh, Bisen Singh and former INA Soldier John Lobo, Gaurishankar Pandey, Rupa Ray Vice-Chancellor of Puducherry University, Gurmit Singh and FANS president of A&N Islands Chapter Shri Girish Arora were also present.

Shri Indresh Kumar expressed happiness on the visit of Prime Minister Shri Narednra Modi to the Islands to commemorate the historic day by hoisting the tricolour. Shri Chandra Kumar Bose, Netaji’s grandnephew, Ranjit Savarkar, grandnephew of Veer Savarkar and John Lobo also shared their thoughts and expressed satisfaction on the visit of the PM. They said it was a moment of pride for the entire nation. Shri Indresh Kumar later visited John Lobo’s residence and discussed with him his experiences with the Indian freedom struggle as INA soldier.

Shri John Lobo was a soldier of the Indian National Army in early 1940s. He and other INA soldiers gave a ‘Guard of Honour” to Netaji on December 30, 1943 when he first arrived at the Andaman & Nicobar Islands freed by the INA. Shri Indresh Kumar also paid a visit to Cellular Jail along with the family members of the revolutionaries and other delegates.