Congress event to mark 50 years of `71 war |
The Indian National Congress is looking now to revive its image in the political arena with the public projection of archival film material of the 1971 war and seminar talks about its geopolitical impact. The Congress Party is set to take the memory of the creation of Bangladesh to the smallest unit of the national landscape in a bid to use the golden jubilee of the iconic war identified with the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi to revive its stock among the people. The party has readied the blueprint of the yearlong celebration programmes to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the 1971 war, overseen by an AICC committee headed by former defence minister A K Antony and comprising veterans like Punjab CM Amarinder Singh, former speaker Meira Kumar and convenor Pravin Davar. The programmes would include seminars, lectures on the creation of Bangladesh and its importance in national security. At the same time, the party will hold essay and quiz competitions to familiarise the younger generation with the seminal event. A social media blitzkrieg on the subject would form a major part of the exercise. For the party struggling to capture the national imagination after its eviction from power in 2014 and facing a political onslaught of the ruling BJP, insiders thought of celebrating the 1971 war as a way of reviving its grassroots connect. The pitchforking of 1971 and mascot Indira Gandhi in the grassroots campaign is an attempt to retrieve the nationalism plank. The celebrations, to kickstart after the coming assembly elections, will culminate in a national meet in the national capital Delhi on the Golden jubilee of Victory Day — December 16, 2021.
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