Visitors take a look at pictures of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose at a photography exhibition in Ranchi. Picture by Hardeep Singh

Ranchi, Jan. 23: Ask residents of the capital about Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose and they won’t stop at just his name. A Netaji fan has organised a photography exhibition in honour of the freedom fighter.

Ranchi-based Subroto Das organised a photography exhibition in the senate hall of Ranchi University on Netaji’s 107th birth anniversary. The exhibition threw light on the personal and political life of Netaji.

“I have been collecting data related to Netaji since I was a student of Class VI. I have a motley collection of photographs and literature explaining different stages of Netaji’s life,” said the Netaji fan, who works in the sales department of a pharmaceutical company.

The exhibition displayed several rare photographs, some of which were even unknown to some renowned historians.

The exhibition included pictures from his birth to his education at Cambridge, from his association with Germany and Hitler, to his manoeuvres in the Indian National Congress. From his historic speech at Tokyo University to his German wife, his escape from the British to the formation of the Indian National Army, the exhibition was an eye-opener for the visitors.

“This is my tribute to the man who did not harvest the crop of freedom that he sowed with so much pain,” said Subroto.

“Netaji received more respect abroad than in his own country. He was respected by the like of Hitler. Petty politics, which had its place among Indian leaders even during pre-Independence days, did not deter him from steering the country towards freedom,” Subroto added.

Subroto’s best photograph was the one in which Netaji was being felicitated by Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru after winning the presidential elections of INC. “This felicitation should also have been done after India achieved independence,” said a nostalgic Subroto.

Protest rally: Moulik Adhikar Suraksha Manch (MASM), a body of local intellectuals today organised a rally at Gandhi Maidan to protest the hostile attitude of the state government towards tribals on the 107th birth anniversary of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, reports our Dumka correspondent.