Visit railway stations associated with Indian freedom movement, PM Modi in 'Mann Ki Baat'

New Delhi, July 31: Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his monthly 'Mann Ki Baat' address on Sunday urged people to visit railway stations of historical importance -- especially those related to the Indian freedom movement.

Through an initiative named 'Azadi Ki Railgadi Aur Railway Station', the objective is to make people know the role of Indian Railways in the freedom struggle.

"In this very July an interesting endeavour has been undertaken, named Azadi Ki Railgadi Aur Railway Station. The objective of this effort is to make people know the role of Indian Railways in the freedom struggle. There are many such railway stations in the country, which are associated with the history of the freedom movement. You too will be surprised to know about these railway stations," the prime minister said.

"Gomoh Junction in Jharkhand is now officially known as Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Junction Gomoh. Do you know why? Actually at this very station, Netaji Subhash was successful in dodging British officers by boarding the Kalka Mail. All of you must have heard the name of Kakori Railway Station near Lucknow. The names of bravehearts like Ram Prasad Bismil and Ashfaq Ullah Khan are associated with this station," he said.

"The brave revolutionaries had displayed their might to the British by looting the treasury of the British being carried by train. Whenever you talk to the people of Tamil Nadu, you will get to know about Vanchi Maniyachchi Junction in Thoothukudi district. This station is named after Tamil freedom fighter Vanchinathan ji. This is the same place where Vanchi, 25 years of age then, had punished one British collector for his actions," he added.

The Prime Minister further said that the list is pretty long. 75 such railway stations have been identified spread over 24 states across the country.

"These 75 stations are being decorated very ornately. Many types of programs are also being organised in these. You should also take out time to visit one such historical station in your vicinity. You will get to know in detail about pages from the history of the freedom movement that you have not been aware of. I urge the students of the nearby school, and the teachers to take the small children of their school to the station and narrate the whole chain of events to those children, explaining them," PM Modi said.

The prime minister also said the 'Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav' is turning into a mass movement and urged people to put 'tiranga' as profile picture of their accounts on social media platforms between August 2 and 15.