Netaji Bose with Mahatma Gandhi and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. Photo: AFP
As Netaji Files Near Release, A Call To Revisit Report on His Death
The West Bengal government is releasing 64 files on Netaji, which were classified, on Friday.
KOLKATA: As the countdown begins to the release of 64 files on Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose by the West Bengal government on Friday, there is also a growing demand to revisit a report on his death, rejected by the Congress-led government in a 2006.
Set up by the Atal Behari Vajpayee government in 1999, the report by the Justice Mukherjee Commission had concluded that the Indian freedom movement leader did not die in an air crash at Taihoku on 18 August 1945 and the ashes kept at Renkoji Temple in Japan are not Netaji's.
"I feel it is most unfair. The government of India appoints a commission of inquiry, they spend a lot of public money, and then they reject the report without any reason. I think it needs to be reviewed and revisited," said Chandra Bose, grandnephew of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose.
The government had earlier accepted the findings of the Shahnawaz Khan Committee set up in 1956 and the GD Khosla Commission report submitted in 1974. Both concluded that Netaji had, indeed, died in the air crash of 1945.
Purabi Roy is a researcher and author of a book called The Search for Netaji: New Findings. Her book contends the possibility that Netaji fled to Russia after the purported crash. She points out that while the earlier panels relied largely on the testimony of those who were associated with Netaji and the purported air crash, the Justice Mukherjee Commission had to look for circumstantial evidence.
"Both the reports by the Shahnawaz committee and the GD Khosla Commission were rejected by the public but accepted by the government. And when the public accepted the Justice Mukherjee Commission, the government rejected it. I'm very sorry to say that they couldn't go through it and never gave a chance to discuss the proper estimation of the finding," she said.
"I am aware there are legal issues about revisiting Justice Mukherjee's report but an attempt should be made," added Ms Roy.
Ms Roy was a deponent at the Mukherjee Commission and had a look at some of the 64 Bengal files on Netaji that will be put on public display at the Kolkata Police Museum on Friday.
Set up by the Atal Behari Vajpayee government in 1999, the report by the Justice Mukherjee Commission had concluded that the Indian freedom movement leader did not die in an air crash at Taihoku on 18 August 1945 and the ashes kept at Renkoji Temple in Japan are not Netaji's.
"I feel it is most unfair. The government of India appoints a commission of inquiry, they spend a lot of public money, and then they reject the report without any reason. I think it needs to be reviewed and revisited," said Chandra Bose, grandnephew of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose.
The government had earlier accepted the findings of the Shahnawaz Khan Committee set up in 1956 and the GD Khosla Commission report submitted in 1974. Both concluded that Netaji had, indeed, died in the air crash of 1945.
Purabi Roy is a researcher and author of a book called The Search for Netaji: New Findings. Her book contends the possibility that Netaji fled to Russia after the purported crash. She points out that while the earlier panels relied largely on the testimony of those who were associated with Netaji and the purported air crash, the Justice Mukherjee Commission had to look for circumstantial evidence.
"Both the reports by the Shahnawaz committee and the GD Khosla Commission were rejected by the public but accepted by the government. And when the public accepted the Justice Mukherjee Commission, the government rejected it. I'm very sorry to say that they couldn't go through it and never gave a chance to discuss the proper estimation of the finding," she said.
"I am aware there are legal issues about revisiting Justice Mukherjee's report but an attempt should be made," added Ms Roy.
Ms Roy was a deponent at the Mukherjee Commission and had a look at some of the 64 Bengal files on Netaji that will be put on public display at the Kolkata Police Museum on Friday.
Published: September 18, 2015 10:23 IST | Updated: September 18, 2015 13:33 IST Kolkata, September 18, 2015
West Bengal government declassifies Netaji Files
The Hindu Archives
The files, being kept at the Calcutta Police Museum, will be open to the public on a first come, first served basis from Monday.
Ending years of wait on classified information on Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose and his family members, the West Bengal government on Friday declassified 64 such files which were in the possession of the Kolkata police and West Bengal police.
The files are being kept at the Calcutta Police Museum, which is housed in the Office of Deputy Commissioner of Kolkata Police, North Division on 113 APC Road."Making the files public was quite a big task. There are 64 files which contained 12,744 pages and it had to be digitised before being made public," Surajit Kar Purakayastha, Commissioner of Kolkata Police said.
Files in their original form will be kept in a glass cabinet in Kolkata Police Museum, he said.
The digitised files in the form of a compact disc were handed over to members of the family of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose which included grand nephew Chandra Kumar Bose and former MP Krishna Bose.
On Friday, the museum was opened only for members of Netaji's family and the media. The files will be open to the public on a first come, first served basis from Monday.
The announcement to declassify the files was made by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on September 11.
Also read:
-Editorial on the top secret Netaji files. The secrecy regime
-Netaji’s kin seeks declassification of files. Read the article here
-Why are the Netaji files still classified, asked the Calcutta High Court in April this year. Read
-These files would now be readied and kept in the Police Archives for all to see. It was up to the media to unravel the truth. "People must know the truth." Read more
-Files pertaining to Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose in the State government's custody, will be put in the public domain, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee announced last Friday.
Mr. Subhas Bose missing from his residence, search by relatives and friends
"He was much depressed that, at such a critical juncture, the Congress leadership had failed the country."
Whereabouts of Mr. Subhas Bose
“It has been common talk in certain quarters in this country for some time that Mr. Subhas Chandra Bose is either in Rome or in Berlin and has entered into a pact with the Axis powers"
Mr. Subhas Bose reported killed in air crash
A Bangkok dispatch to the German News Agency says that two leaders of the Indian community in Siam were killed in an aeroplane crash off Japan.
'Brave son of India' - Congress leaders' tributes
"The tragic end of Subhas, while he was still in the prime of life, will cause deep sorrow to all those who knew him."
Bose dead, fatally wounded in air crash: Japanese report
An Agency said that Mr. Subhas Chandra Bose died in a Japanese hospital from injuries received in an air crash.
Subhas Bose's last days
Mr. Subhas Chandra Bose was being brought to Tokyo as the first step in his transfer to Manchuria where he was expected to seek safety and protection from the Russians
West Bengal declassifies 64 files related to Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose
As the files are thrown open to the public, many more secrets are expected to emerge on Netaji, whose death has been an enduring mystery for decades.
Yahoo India – 30 minutes agoKOLKATA: Ending a 70-year-long wait, the Mamata Banerjee-led West Bengal government on Fridaymade public 64 files on freedom fighter Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose to help unravel the mystery behind his disappearance.
The digitised version of the declassified 64 files were made available in a set of seven DVDs.
The original files have been housed at the Calcutta Police Museum.
The files comprise 12,744 pages and are available to researchers and scholars.
They were handed over to descendants of Netaji and mediapersons by Kolkata Police Commissioner S.K. Purkayastha after a small ceremony at the museum.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on September 11 announced her government's decision to declassify 64 files on Bose, saying the mystery surrounding his disappearance needs to be put to rest.
"Still the mystery surrounding Netaji's disappearance continues to be unsolved. So whatever files we have, we will declassify them which may help in unravelling the mystery.
"...all the 64 files that we have will be open for public. They will be kept at the city police archive," said Banerjee.
But a large number of Netaji's admirers, researchers and family members don't buy the theory.
What is the Netaji mystery about?
The questions have been haunting, agitating and engaging Indians, in particular Bengalis, for 70 years, but the mystery endures, said an India Today report.
A section of Netaji's descendants, including his daughter Anita Pfaff, as also some Indian National Army (INA) veterans, hold that the revolutionary leader perished in the accident and his ashes have been interred at Tokyo's Renkoji temple, said India Today.
During her visit to Kolkata in 2013, Pfaff said she was convinced that he died when the Mitsubishi Ki-21 Japanese heavy bomber Netaji boarded at Saigon with his close aide Col. Habibur Rahman on August 17, 1945, purportedly to shift base to the erstwhile Soviet Union and continue his fight for India's independence, crashed in Japanese-occupied Formosa, said India Today
"It would be the perfect homecoming for him if the ashes are brought to India. His ashes should be immersed in the river Ganges," Pfaff had said.
Netaji's grand nephew and Harvard University professor Sugata Bose is another big votary of the crash theory and has detailed his viewpoint in his book 'His Majesty's Opponent'. Bose bases his arguments on "overwhelming evidence", citing the testimony of six of the seven survivors of the crash as also that of doctors and paramedics who treated Netaji at the Taipei Military Hospital.
The Indian government's three attempts to unravel the mystery by constituting probe panels - Shah Nawaz Khan Committee (1956), GD Khosla Committee (1970) and the Justice MK Mukehrjee Commission which submitted its report in 2006 - have only fuelled the debate. While the first two panels concluded Bose perished in the Taipei crash, the Mukherjee Commission debunked the theory, reported India Today.
Will move court, if Centre doesn't declassify Netaji's files, says Swamy
Bharatiya Janata Party leader Subramanian Swamy on Friday said that he would move court against the Central Government, if it doesn't declassify the files related to Netaji Subhash Bose by the end of this year.
"I have already told the government to declassify the files or else I will move court by the year end. They don't have an authority to keep the files of Subhash Bose in secret," Swamy told ANI here.
"The courage that Mamata Banerjee has shown is commendable and the Central Government should also declassify files related to Bose. This should have been done earlier," he added.
Swamy also said the reason given by the bureaucrats, that the declassification of these files would hamper the foreign relations, is totally baseless.
"There is no Soviet Union now and in England the Labour Party is no more in power so it won't hamper the foreign relations but it would defame Nehru and the Congress party," he added.
Acknowledging that there was a long-standing demand for the declassification of the files on Bose, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had announced that her government would be declassifying 64 files related to Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose on September 18.
Mamata should have consulted Centre, MEA before deciding to declassify Netaji's files: RK Singh
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and former home secretary RK Singh on Thursday said that it would have been better if West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee would have consulted the Centre or Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) before taking decision to declassify freedom fighter Subhash Chandra Bose's files.
"It would have been better if Mamata Banerjee would have consulted with the Central Government and Ministry of External Affairs," RK Singh told ANI.
Another BJP leader Siddharth Nath Singh, however, welcomed the decision and said that Netaji's life must be demystified.
Meanwhile, Abhijit Roy, relative of Subhash Chandra Bose said that this step by the West Bengal Government would provide vigour and vitality to their struggle.
"We are happy that the West Bengal Government and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee have taken a decision release the 64 classified files... We have been demanding this particular declassification issue from 2012," said Abhijit Roy.
Congress dubs controversy on Netaji files as 'needless'
The Congress Party on Friday welcomed the declassification of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose files, but said that the controversies surrounding the issue are entirely 'needless'.
"All the controversies regarding Netaji's files are needless and they have been created in a political environment. The files are there with the government and they can declassify them whenever they want," Congress leader Sandeep Dikshit told ANI.
"This is a welcome step. The declassification may throw light on the new facts that maybe unknown to us," he added.
Responding to a question on whether the Central Government should also declassify the files of Netaji files, Dikshit told that it should be left to the government to decide. They know the reason behind not declassifying the files better.
"The governments of different parties in the Centre have said in the past that declassifying these files won't be in the interest of the country and its foreign relations," he added.
Acknowledging that there was a long-standing demand for the declassification of the files on Bose, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had earlier announced that her government would be declassifying 64 files related to Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose on September 18. (With inputs from IANS, ANI and Agencies)
https://in.news.yahoo.com/west-bengal-declassifies-64-files-related-to-netaji-subhas-chandra-bose-053815154.html
West Bengal government releases files on Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose
The West Bengal government went ahead on Friday to declassify around 64 files on freedom fighter Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose. 8 DVDs of over 12,000 pages were released at a function that was attended by Bose’s family members in Kolkata.
Many are hoping that the secret files will reveal as to how Netaji died, which has been a mystery for decades.
The files will be transferred to the Kolkata Police Archives, said Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, adding they will be put on display at the Kolkata Police Museum.
“We want to maintain transparency and accountability. We don’t feel that there is anything related to internal security in the files. Everybody wants to know what happened to Netaji. He was a national icon. We know about his date of birth. We have no idea about his death. People deserve to know about his last day,” she added.
Asked if the state will request the Centre to declassify the files it has in its possession, Mamata had said: “It is for the Centre to decide, but we want the truth about Netaji to come out”.
Many of these files have as many as 300 pages, with handwritten notes on the margins. Among these files are personal correspondences between Netaji and his elder brother Sarat Chandra Bose, the British intelligence’s analysis of Netaji’s speeches at various public meetings and invitations given to him to attend various functions.
Backgrounder. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O87sHn9Asfk
Anuj Dhar@IITK:Declassification of files related to Netaji's dissapearance Published on May 15, 2015
Vivekananda Samiti, IIT Kanpur was privileged to organize an exciting
Lecture series on the "Issue of Declassification in the Context of
Netaji's Alleged Death" by Scholar Mr. Anuj Dhar. He is the
founder-trustee of New Delhi based not for profit organization Mission
Netaji. The lectures were organized as per the following schedule:
Lecture series on the "Issue of Declassification in the Context of
Netaji's Alleged Death" by Scholar Mr. Anuj Dhar. He is the
founder-trustee of New Delhi based not for profit organization Mission
Netaji. The lectures were organized as per the following schedule:
Talk 1:
Date: Monday, 23rd Feb., 2015
Time: 5:00 pm
Venue: RM-101 (New CSE Building), IIT Kanpur
Talk 2:
Date: Tuesday, 24th Feb., 2015
Time: 6:15 pm
Venue: L-1(Lecture Hall Complex), IIT Kanpur
About the Speaker:
Anuj Dhar is the author of the bestseller "India's biggest cover-up". A
former journalist, he is well-known for his research and books about the
controversial death of Subhas Chandra Bose and various issues linked to
it. It is to his credit that today the demand for the declassification of
secret files about Netaji has become a national issue. He currently serves
as the founder trustee of Mission Netaji, which carries out research on
the mysterious death of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose.
Date: Monday, 23rd Feb., 2015
Time: 5:00 pm
Venue: RM-101 (New CSE Building), IIT Kanpur
Talk 2:
Date: Tuesday, 24th Feb., 2015
Time: 6:15 pm
Venue: L-1(Lecture Hall Complex), IIT Kanpur
About the Speaker:
Anuj Dhar is the author of the bestseller "India's biggest cover-up". A
former journalist, he is well-known for his research and books about the
controversial death of Subhas Chandra Bose and various issues linked to
it. It is to his credit that today the demand for the declassification of
secret files about Netaji has become a national issue. He currently serves
as the founder trustee of Mission Netaji, which carries out research on
the mysterious death of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose.
Netaji X-files reveal he was alive till 1964
KOLKOTA GOVERNMENT RELEASES 64 NATAJI FILES
PMO RELUCTANT TO RELEASE NATAJI FILES
WHY PM MODIJI IT IS IN THE NATION INTEREST?
KOLKOTA GOVERNMENT RELEASES 64 NATAJI FILES
PMO RELUCTANT TO RELEASE NATAJI FILES
WHY PM MODIJI IT IS IN THE NATION INTEREST?
The one file that could have contained definitive evidence on Netaji after 1945 has been destroyed.
KOLKATA/LUCKNOW: The secret files on Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose that will be declassified in Kolkata on Friday may contain enough circumstantial evidence that he was alive till at least 1964, say sources.
An American intelligence report prepared in the early 1960s suggests that Netaji could have returned to India sometime in February 1964 — 19 years after it was claimed that he died in an air crash in Taihoku, Taiwan. Though Russia is not mentioned, Netaji researchers believe American intelligence units had learned about his imminent return from Russia via China. He would have been 67 years old at the time.
"The report was prepared by the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), the US intelligence agency formed during World War II that later metamorphosed into Central Intelligence Agency or CIA. Remember, it was in 1949 that Netaji's elder brother Sarat Bose wrote an article: 'Netaji in Red China'. I believe this is conclusive proof that Netaji did not die in 1945," said Netaji researcher Jayanta Chowdhury, who had deposed before the Justice Manoj Mukherjee Commission, whose report had concluded that the Taihoku plane crash hadn't happened.
Among the contents of the 64 files — whose photocopies will be made available to the public at the Kolkata Police archives on Friday — is another US intelligence report on Netaji's escape from house arrest on January 16, 1941.
While history records that Bose, disguised as a Sikh, was driven away by his nephew Sisir, the CIA report — declassified and published 50 years later in the early 1990s — states that five Sikhs had arrived at 38/2 Elgin Road and all five had left in a wagon. One of them was Bose. But there is no mention of a relative. Intelligence Bureau records contain names of visitors to the Netaji residence on that date.
Another indicator that the Allied powers did not believe Netaji died in a plane crash on August 18, 1945, is the sixth volume of the Transfer of Power document published in the UK after the War. It explored several options about how to deal with Subhas Bose - considered a war criminal for his alignment with Axis powers Germany and Japan - including court martial, deportation to a Sicilian island and a suggestion that he wouldn't be made to surrender or tried "if he stays where he is".
Interestingly, Gumnami Baba — the ascetic of Faizabad, who some believe was Netaji — had told select followers, including former INA veterans, about the difficulties he and the country would face from superior powers if his presence became public.
The one file that could have contained definitive evidence on Netaji after 1945 has been destroyed. Only the front page of File No. 12(226)/56-PM regarding 'Investigation into the circumstances leading to the death of Subhas Chandra Bose' remains. A photocopy will be displayed at the police archive on Friday. The rest of the file was destroyed in 1972 when Congress was in power in Bengal and Siddharth Shankar Ray was chief minister.
"I believe some historical missing link may be obtained if successive state governments haven't already tampered with the files. While Congress had every reason to distort facts, so do Communists whose role as secret service agents in India during the Freedom movement is clear in the contents," said Chowdhury, adding that there is also a file on role of chief ministers in the Netaji mystery.
Sources said there are other reports on the existence of Bose after the so-called air crash as well as the story on Anita Pfaff, whom the extended Bose family has accepted as his daughter but whose credence others question. The name mentioned in the column for 'father' in Anita's passport is the subject of one of the files.![Netaji X-files reveal he was alive till 1964]( "Netaji X-files reveal he was alive till 1964")
An American intelligence report prepared in the early 1960s suggests that Netaji could have returned to India sometime in February 1964 — 19 years after it was claimed that he died in an air crash in Taihoku, Taiwan. Though Russia is not mentioned, Netaji researchers believe American intelligence units had learned about his imminent return from Russia via China. He would have been 67 years old at the time.
"The report was prepared by the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), the US intelligence agency formed during World War II that later metamorphosed into Central Intelligence Agency or CIA. Remember, it was in 1949 that Netaji's elder brother Sarat Bose wrote an article: 'Netaji in Red China'. I believe this is conclusive proof that Netaji did not die in 1945," said Netaji researcher Jayanta Chowdhury, who had deposed before the Justice Manoj Mukherjee Commission, whose report had concluded that the Taihoku plane crash hadn't happened.
Among the contents of the 64 files — whose photocopies will be made available to the public at the Kolkata Police archives on Friday — is another US intelligence report on Netaji's escape from house arrest on January 16, 1941.
While history records that Bose, disguised as a Sikh, was driven away by his nephew Sisir, the CIA report — declassified and published 50 years later in the early 1990s — states that five Sikhs had arrived at 38/2 Elgin Road and all five had left in a wagon. One of them was Bose. But there is no mention of a relative. Intelligence Bureau records contain names of visitors to the Netaji residence on that date.
Another indicator that the Allied powers did not believe Netaji died in a plane crash on August 18, 1945, is the sixth volume of the Transfer of Power document published in the UK after the War. It explored several options about how to deal with Subhas Bose - considered a war criminal for his alignment with Axis powers Germany and Japan - including court martial, deportation to a Sicilian island and a suggestion that he wouldn't be made to surrender or tried "if he stays where he is".
Interestingly, Gumnami Baba — the ascetic of Faizabad, who some believe was Netaji — had told select followers, including former INA veterans, about the difficulties he and the country would face from superior powers if his presence became public.
The one file that could have contained definitive evidence on Netaji after 1945 has been destroyed. Only the front page of File No. 12(226)/56-PM regarding 'Investigation into the circumstances leading to the death of Subhas Chandra Bose' remains. A photocopy will be displayed at the police archive on Friday. The rest of the file was destroyed in 1972 when Congress was in power in Bengal and Siddharth Shankar Ray was chief minister.
"I believe some historical missing link may be obtained if successive state governments haven't already tampered with the files. While Congress had every reason to distort facts, so do Communists whose role as secret service agents in India during the Freedom movement is clear in the contents," said Chowdhury, adding that there is also a file on role of chief ministers in the Netaji mystery.
Sources said there are other reports on the existence of Bose after the so-called air crash as well as the story on Anita Pfaff, whom the extended Bose family has accepted as his daughter but whose credence others question. The name mentioned in the column for 'father' in Anita's passport is the subject of one of the files.
Netaji X-files reveal he was alive till 1964
The one file that could have contained definitive evidence on Netaji after 1945 has been destroyed.
KOLKATA/LUCKNOW: The secret files on Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose that will be declassified in Kolkata on Friday may contain enough circumstantial evidence that he was alive till at least 1964, say sources.
An American intelligence report prepared in the early 1960s suggests that Netaji could have returned to India sometime in February 1964 — 19 years after it was claimed that he died in an air crash in Taihoku, Taiwan. Though Russia is not mentioned, Netaji researchers believe American intelligence units had learned about his imminent return from Russia via China. He would have been 67 years old at the time.
"The report was prepared by the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), the US intelligence agency formed during World War II that later metamorphosed into Central Intelligence Agency or CIA. Remember, it was in 1949 that Netaji's elder brother Sarat Bose wrote an article: 'Netaji in Red China'. I believe this is conclusive proof that Netaji did not die in 1945," said Netaji researcher Jayanta Chowdhury, who had deposed before the Justice Manoj Mukherjee Commission, whose report had concluded that the Taihoku plane crash hadn't happened.
Among the contents of the 64 files — whose photocopies will be made available to the public at the Kolkata Police archives on Friday — is another US intelligence report on Netaji's escape from house arrest on January 16, 1941.
While history records that Bose, disguised as a Sikh, was driven away by his nephew Sisir, the CIA report — declassified and published 50 years later in the early 1990s — states that five Sikhs had arrived at 38/2 Elgin Road and all five had left in a wagon. One of them was Bose. But there is no mention of a relative. Intelligence Bureau records contain names of visitors to the Netaji residence on that date.
Another indicator that the Allied powers did not believe Netaji died in a plane crash on August 18, 1945, is the sixth volume of the Transfer of Power document published in the UK after the War. It explored several options about how to deal with Subhas Bose - considered a war criminal for his alignment with Axis powers Germany and Japan - including court martial, deportation to a Sicilian island and a suggestion that he wouldn't be made to surrender or tried "if he stays where he is".
Interestingly, Gumnami Baba — the ascetic of Faizabad, who some believe was Netaji — had told select followers, including former INA veterans, about the difficulties he and the country would face from superior powers if his presence became public.
The one file that could have contained definitive evidence on Netaji after 1945 has been destroyed. Only the front page of File No. 12(226)/56-PM regarding 'Investigation into the circumstances leading to the death of Subhas Chandra Bose' remains. A photocopy will be displayed at the police archive on Friday. The rest of the file was destroyed in 1972 when Congress was in power in Bengal and Siddharth Shankar Ray was chief minister.
"I believe some historical missing link may be obtained if successive state governments haven't already tampered with the files. While Congress had every reason to distort facts, so do Communists whose role as secret service agents in India during the Freedom movement is clear in the contents," said Chowdhury, adding that there is also a file on role of chief ministers in the Netaji mystery.
An American intelligence report prepared in the early 1960s suggests that Netaji could have returned to India sometime in February 1964 — 19 years after it was claimed that he died in an air crash in Taihoku, Taiwan. Though Russia is not mentioned, Netaji researchers believe American intelligence units had learned about his imminent return from Russia via China. He would have been 67 years old at the time.
"The report was prepared by the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), the US intelligence agency formed during World War II that later metamorphosed into Central Intelligence Agency or CIA. Remember, it was in 1949 that Netaji's elder brother Sarat Bose wrote an article: 'Netaji in Red China'. I believe this is conclusive proof that Netaji did not die in 1945," said Netaji researcher Jayanta Chowdhury, who had deposed before the Justice Manoj Mukherjee Commission, whose report had concluded that the Taihoku plane crash hadn't happened.
Among the contents of the 64 files — whose photocopies will be made available to the public at the Kolkata Police archives on Friday — is another US intelligence report on Netaji's escape from house arrest on January 16, 1941.
While history records that Bose, disguised as a Sikh, was driven away by his nephew Sisir, the CIA report — declassified and published 50 years later in the early 1990s — states that five Sikhs had arrived at 38/2 Elgin Road and all five had left in a wagon. One of them was Bose. But there is no mention of a relative. Intelligence Bureau records contain names of visitors to the Netaji residence on that date.
Another indicator that the Allied powers did not believe Netaji died in a plane crash on August 18, 1945, is the sixth volume of the Transfer of Power document published in the UK after the War. It explored several options about how to deal with Subhas Bose - considered a war criminal for his alignment with Axis powers Germany and Japan - including court martial, deportation to a Sicilian island and a suggestion that he wouldn't be made to surrender or tried "if he stays where he is".
Interestingly, Gumnami Baba — the ascetic of Faizabad, who some believe was Netaji — had told select followers, including former INA veterans, about the difficulties he and the country would face from superior powers if his presence became public.
The one file that could have contained definitive evidence on Netaji after 1945 has been destroyed. Only the front page of File No. 12(226)/56-PM regarding 'Investigation into the circumstances leading to the death of Subhas Chandra Bose' remains. A photocopy will be displayed at the police archive on Friday. The rest of the file was destroyed in 1972 when Congress was in power in Bengal and Siddharth Shankar Ray was chief minister.
"I believe some historical missing link may be obtained if successive state governments haven't already tampered with the files. While Congress had every reason to distort facts, so do Communists whose role as secret service agents in India during the Freedom movement is clear in the contents," said Chowdhury, adding that there is also a file on role of chief ministers in the Netaji mystery.
Sources said there are other reports on the existence of Bose after the so-called air crash as well as the story on Anita Pfaff, whom the extended Bose family has accepted as his daughter but whose credence others question. The name mentioned in the column for 'father' in Anita's passport is the subject of one of the files.
Declassified Netaji files from Bengal could be earthshaking
LUCKNOW: The epic game of smoke and mirrors that is the Netaji disappearance mystery was scoreless until very recently. Of the three state governments playing, it is UP's that entered the game last, in late 1985, when news broke in Faizabad of the death of one 'Gumnami Baba', who it was claimed was none other than Subhas Chandra Bose living the secret, mystic, 'non-state actor' life.
Twenty-five trunks full of Baba's highly interesting possessions were soon taken into custody by the state government and have been lying sealed at the Faizabad district treasury for 30 years.
However, all that will change soon for though UP entered the game last, it made its move first.
On July 9, chief minister Akhilesh Yadav ordered compliance with a 2013 high court judgment recommending the establishment of a museum for the display of the contents of the trunks, which the court believes "carry weight" and has deemed "historically valuable."
In further affirmation of his commitment to this welcome move, on August 17, the CM also allocated Rs 1.5 crore for this museum in the state's supplementary budget.
Though UP has thus scored a well-deserved point, it could well have done so more spectacularly and to greater political credit had the government chosen today—the day Gumnami Baba left for his heavenly abode—to formally free his earthly belongings from lock and seal and give the nation a sneak preview of some choice items.
On January 23, Netaji's birthday, Baba's glasses, his Rolex and Omega, his binoculars, his LP's, his cigars, thousands of books, hundreds of letters, maps, telegrams, notes, documents, photographs (even one claimed to be of him, circa 1978)—all shall be out for all to see and decide for themselves who this 'nameless' yet self-confessed 'Dashnaami' (ten-named) Sanyasi was, or not.
The next to move and score—and score big—was West Bengal last week. Chief minister Mamata Banerjee, on September 11, ordered to declassify and display, in one week, all hitherto secret Netaji files that her government holds. The order shook things up. In two days, the actual release of said files is expected to do more of the same.
Anuj Dhar, by far the first among equals in the legion of Bose researcher-activists, believes that their contents are "in-between" earthshaking and merely interesting. He speculates that the snooping of the Bose family and the Shaulmari Sadhu episode (which Gumnami Baba claimed was 'a parallel bluff' of his own design) will feature prominently in the revelations to come from these files.
The mother lode of secret Netaji-related information (75,000 pages as per reports, twice the size of the complete works of Shakespeare) is with the Central government and its continued resistance to make a move in the game continues to confuse.
Great hope had been inspired among all concerned when on May 9, Prime Minister Narendra Modi met the Bose family in Kolkata and assured them that the declassification of the Netaji files is no mere 'people's demand' but 'a national duty'. This hope was belied repeatedly thereafter by ministerial proclamations to the contrary in Parliament and multiple rejected RTIs and CIC orders. Many still remained optimistic that the PM will give a specific assurance on the matter from the Red fort on August 15, but that was not to be either.
The unkindest cuts came on August 18, with both home minister Rajnath Singh and BJP president Amit Shah commemorating the day as Netaji's death anniversary on their respective Facebook pages. Thankfully, both gentlemen were kind enough to see the error of their posts and removed them when vociferous Bose admirers online not-so-gently reminded the former of his pre-poll vow of declassification and the latter of the findings of the NDA-appointed Mukherjee Commission.
On September 13, the Bose family received yet another phone call from the PMO, followed by yet another invitation to meet the PM and talk about the matter. There's already been a good bit of talk on the matter and everybody knows talking a good bit is easier than doing a bit of good. Everybody also knows that games require moves, and the scores as they stand as of now are UP-1, WB-1.
Your move, Mr Prime Minister.
![‘Records of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose's death may have been lost’]( "‘Records of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose's death may have been lost’")
The author Adheer Som is a logician, researcher & columnist
Twenty-five trunks full of Baba's highly interesting possessions were soon taken into custody by the state government and have been lying sealed at the Faizabad district treasury for 30 years.
However, all that will change soon for though UP entered the game last, it made its move first.
On July 9, chief minister Akhilesh Yadav ordered compliance with a 2013 high court judgment recommending the establishment of a museum for the display of the contents of the trunks, which the court believes "carry weight" and has deemed "historically valuable."
In further affirmation of his commitment to this welcome move, on August 17, the CM also allocated Rs 1.5 crore for this museum in the state's supplementary budget.
Though UP has thus scored a well-deserved point, it could well have done so more spectacularly and to greater political credit had the government chosen today—the day Gumnami Baba left for his heavenly abode—to formally free his earthly belongings from lock and seal and give the nation a sneak preview of some choice items.
On January 23, Netaji's birthday, Baba's glasses, his Rolex and Omega, his binoculars, his LP's, his cigars, thousands of books, hundreds of letters, maps, telegrams, notes, documents, photographs (even one claimed to be of him, circa 1978)—all shall be out for all to see and decide for themselves who this 'nameless' yet self-confessed 'Dashnaami' (ten-named) Sanyasi was, or not.
The next to move and score—and score big—was West Bengal last week. Chief minister Mamata Banerjee, on September 11, ordered to declassify and display, in one week, all hitherto secret Netaji files that her government holds. The order shook things up. In two days, the actual release of said files is expected to do more of the same.
Anuj Dhar, by far the first among equals in the legion of Bose researcher-activists, believes that their contents are "in-between" earthshaking and merely interesting. He speculates that the snooping of the Bose family and the Shaulmari Sadhu episode (which Gumnami Baba claimed was 'a parallel bluff' of his own design) will feature prominently in the revelations to come from these files.
The mother lode of secret Netaji-related information (75,000 pages as per reports, twice the size of the complete works of Shakespeare) is with the Central government and its continued resistance to make a move in the game continues to confuse.
Great hope had been inspired among all concerned when on May 9, Prime Minister Narendra Modi met the Bose family in Kolkata and assured them that the declassification of the Netaji files is no mere 'people's demand' but 'a national duty'. This hope was belied repeatedly thereafter by ministerial proclamations to the contrary in Parliament and multiple rejected RTIs and CIC orders. Many still remained optimistic that the PM will give a specific assurance on the matter from the Red fort on August 15, but that was not to be either.
The unkindest cuts came on August 18, with both home minister Rajnath Singh and BJP president Amit Shah commemorating the day as Netaji's death anniversary on their respective Facebook pages. Thankfully, both gentlemen were kind enough to see the error of their posts and removed them when vociferous Bose admirers online not-so-gently reminded the former of his pre-poll vow of declassification and the latter of the findings of the NDA-appointed Mukherjee Commission.
On September 13, the Bose family received yet another phone call from the PMO, followed by yet another invitation to meet the PM and talk about the matter. There's already been a good bit of talk on the matter and everybody knows talking a good bit is easier than doing a bit of good. Everybody also knows that games require moves, and the scores as they stand as of now are UP-1, WB-1.
Your move, Mr Prime Minister.
Can’t declassify Subhash Chandra Bose files: PMO
‘Records of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose's death may have been lost’
NEW DELHI: The Prime Minister's Office has told the Central Information Commission that it cannot declassify files related to Subhash Chandra Bose as it will adversely affect relations with foreign countries. The CIC has reserved its order in the matter.
During the hearing before the CIC on Wednesday, the PMO admitted that it has files related to Bose but did not give any specifics and submitted that they could not be declassified keeping in mind relations with foreign countries.
It cited Section 8(1)(a) of the RTI Act which allows the government to withhold information, disclosure of which would prejudicially affect the sovereignty and integrity of India, the security, strategic, scientific or economic interests of the state, relations with foreign states or lead to incitement of an offence.
RTI activist Subhash Agrawal, who had sought declassification of documents pertaining to Bose, made a strong plea before the commission citing Section 8(2) of the RTI Act which allows exempted records to be disclosed if public interest outweighs the harm to protected interests. Agrawal said foreign relations could not be affected as Bose allegedly went missing 70 years ago.
Chief information commissioner Vijai Sharma has reserved his order in the matter.
Times View
Seven decades after Netaji disappeared and was suspected to have died in a plane crash, it is quite ridiculous for the government to continue to maintain that the facts in its possession cannot be revealed to the public because they could jeopardize friendly relations with foreign countries. Even if the revelations show that the erstwhile government of some foreign country had a dubious role to play in Netaji's disappearance or perhaps even his death, the current government of that country is hardly likely to feel outraged about such revelations. Indeed, even if such a reaction were likely, that would not be a good enough reason for concealing the facts from the Indian public.
During the hearing before the CIC on Wednesday, the PMO admitted that it has files related to Bose but did not give any specifics and submitted that they could not be declassified keeping in mind relations with foreign countries.
It cited Section 8(1)(a) of the RTI Act which allows the government to withhold information, disclosure of which would prejudicially affect the sovereignty and integrity of India, the security, strategic, scientific or economic interests of the state, relations with foreign states or lead to incitement of an offence.
RTI activist Subhash Agrawal, who had sought declassification of documents pertaining to Bose, made a strong plea before the commission citing Section 8(2) of the RTI Act which allows exempted records to be disclosed if public interest outweighs the harm to protected interests. Agrawal said foreign relations could not be affected as Bose allegedly went missing 70 years ago.
Chief information commissioner Vijai Sharma has reserved his order in the matter.
Times View
Seven decades after Netaji disappeared and was suspected to have died in a plane crash, it is quite ridiculous for the government to continue to maintain that the facts in its possession cannot be revealed to the public because they could jeopardize friendly relations with foreign countries. Even if the revelations show that the erstwhile government of some foreign country had a dubious role to play in Netaji's disappearance or perhaps even his death, the current government of that country is hardly likely to feel outraged about such revelations. Indeed, even if such a reaction were likely, that would not be a good enough reason for concealing the facts from the Indian public.
The author Adheer Som is a logician, researcher & columnist