One man who has
left the most indelible impression on India – as fighter par excellence was
certainly ‘Nethaji Subash Chandra Bose’ and the Nation remembers him today
..
After their first
defeat at the hands of British in 1757, there have been many occasions, when
Indian patriots formed groups and fought hard and bitter battles exhibiting
selfless sacrifice. Alongside hundreds
of Velu Thampi, Peshwa Baji Rao, Sardar Shyam Sing, Rani Laximibhai, Tantia
Tope, Maharaj of Dumraon, Nana Sahib, there are many hundreds hidden whose
exploits, history did not record or were neglected by the British historians
and later partisan historians. May be
those were the time, when such fighters did not fully realize that British singularly
constituted gravest threat to the whole of India and not to a particular
dominion alone. Despite some early stage
victories, ill-luck, being unorganized, better arms & ammunition, slavery, and
many other aspects led to their subjugation.
Years later in the
foreign land came another clarion call for organizing Indians in self-defence
and fighting for Independence occurred.
In a conference at Tokyo in March
- Giani
Pritam Singh, Swami Satyanand Puri, Capt, Mohammed Akram and K. A. N. Iyer
crashed and died while proceeding for attendance. Delegates to the Conference
came from Hongkong, Shanghai and Japan, Malaya and other places. Rash Behari Bose presided. The Conference
decided to start the Indian Independence movement amongst Indians in East Asia.
It was also decided to raise an Azad Hind Fauj and resolved that military action against the rulers of
India will be taken by the Indian National Army. The next conference was at Bangkok in June
1942, under Rash Behari Bose. The Indian National Army was formed on September 1,
1942. Capt. Mohan Singh was appointed G.O.C. A large
body of nearly 7,000 well disciplined troops was raised, the training and
fighting being done with British Arms, The Army was governed by the Indian National Army
Act which was specially prepared in August 1942.
Netaji
Subhas Chandra Bose arrived in Singapore on July 2, 1943. On July 4 a Conference
of delegates from all countries in East Asia assembled to meet him. At that conference
Rash Behari Bose formally handed over presidentship of the Indian Independence
League to Subhas Bose.
Tragically for the
Nation, Nethaji died in a hospital at Taipei (Taiwan) on 18.8.1945 – two days
later, his body was cremated and ashed arrived at Tokyo. The ashes were kept in a Buddhist temple in
Tokyo.
it is stated that
the British government did not really believe that Bose was dead. Even for some
months after the Japanese announced Netaji’s death, the British goverment
continued to discuss ways of ‘dealing with him’. Sadly, Indians under Congress believed the
death. After Independence too, the
Indian Govt was “not inclined to favour”
the bringing back of Netaji’s ashes kept in Renkoji temple, Tokyo “due to
possible adverse reactions from members of Netaji’s family, as well as certain
sections of the public, who refused to believe in his death in the plane crash
in August, 1945”. The commission under GD Khosla was fully convinced that the wooden casket lodged in the Renkoji Temple
at Tokyo contained Bose's ashes and these ashes were placed in the box at
Taipei after the cremation of his dead body.
According to a
confidential report prepared by the home ministry in 1977, the Indian embassy
was paying the temple authorities in Tokyo Rs 5000 a year for the safekeeping
of the freedom fighter’s ashes. The
chief priest at the temple sought some kind of recognition in the form of a
letter or a medal from the Indian government for the trouble he took to retain
the ashes. Later it was paid to Netaji’s daughter and was duly discontinued in
1965 when she got married !
That was the sad
story of the greatest hero of India – born in 1897, Bose became president of
the Congress Party for India's independence but resigned from the post
following differences with Mahatma Gandhi. He exiled himself in Germany before
moving to Japan. In 1944, he commanded the Indian national army at the Battle
of Imphal, a clash during the now-defunct Imperial Japanese Army's invasion of
British India through Burma, now Myanmar. He was said to have aspired to
continue fighting in the former Soviet Union.
Recently, the Japanese government declassified archival
materials to help settle the long-held controversy over the death of Subhas
Chandra Bose, and the Indian govt too declassified its files containing
information on the leader’s mysterious disappearance aka presumed death.
After
the fall of Japan on 15th Aug 1945, Tokyo radio reported on
23.8.1945 that Subash Chandra bose had died in a plane crash at Taipei, in
former Taiwan on 18.8.1945 ~ however not many bought this report and certainly
not Prof. Samar Guha former MP who wrote to Comrade Mikahil Gorbachev, then
President of USSR – here is his letter in Nov 5, 1988 – which was sent to the
President of India and by him to the PM, VP Singh. The noted Parliamentarian Guha had been a
close associate of Nethaji. He was an
academician, whose books on Chemistry were widely used. He was elected as a Praja Socialist Party
candidate MP in 1967 and relected in 1971 & 1977.
Guha
was of firm conviction that Bose was not killed on 18 August 1945 after the
overloaded Japanese plane that Bose was flying in crashed in Taihoku Japanese-occupied
Formosa (now Taiwan), As a parliamentarian, he was a devoted activist to make
Government of India accept that Bose lived after 1945. He also made several efforts to make
Government of India publish all secret files on Bose's death. Guha did not
believe prior Shah Nawaz Committee's report on this. Even though the secret
files were not published, Guha was one of the main vocal supporter of creating
G D Khosla commission to re-investigate Bose's death in 1970. However, G D
Khosla Commission also came up with the same conclusion as Shah Nawaz Committee
even after Guha's effort to point out the inconsistency in the report produced
by Khosla Commission.
In his
letter to Russian President, Guha mentions that Dr s Radhakrishnan who was
second Indian Ambassador in Moscow confided to his close friend Dr S Das, the
head of Philosophy Dept in Calcutta University and Dr LC Majumdar that he came
to know that Bose was kept captive in Stalin’s Russia. He added that he had come across an important
report on Bose’s presence in Russia in 1961, from an Engineer
A Sarkar who was sent to Russia 3 times for training from Heavy engg
Corporation for manufacturing heavy machinery set up in collaboration with
Russia. While working at Gorlovska, near
Doniesh he came into contact with a jew
- BA Zerobin who had earlier designed machines in Nazi Germany. Zerobin told Sarkar that he was captured in
Berlin after fall of Germany and sent to reorientation camp somewhere in
Siberian- Mongolian border and had met
Bose twice. Zerobin having seen him
earlier could identify him because of his handsome appearance and rare
cut. According to Zerobin, Bose was brought
to the Camp in a car accompanied by 2 Mongolians, one as his interpretor.
Zerobin believed that both the Mongolins were KGB men but it appeared to him
that Bose was well looked After. When Zerobin tried to converse, the
interpreter stopped stating that it was not allowed. Zerobin while disclosing his meeting with
Subhas Bose warned Sarkar that he should not disclose it while in Russia as it
would endanger both. Sarkar told about the matter to the Second Secretary of
the Indian Embassy in Moscow, who also warned him of the dire consequence if he
disclosed it to anybody. Sarkar told Saha after he came out of Govt service by
which time Zerobin also was dead.
Saha
addressed Comrade Gorbachev- You have taken many bold steps in disclosing many
suppressed facts of horror and repression of the Stalin days. You have done
great justice to history by rehabilitating Trotsky and Bhukharin and restoring
honour to the great scientist, Prof. Sakhalov. Inspired by your great liberal
policy of 'Glasnost', I would make an appeal - an appeal from the depth of my
soul to you – on behalf of the patriotic people of India to reveal all facts
about the Universally adored hero Subhas Chandra Bose. Stalin might have done injustice to the legendary
hero but why would you not reveal it now ? Bose was a Promethean hero of Indian
revolution who staked everything for the liberation of his motherland and was
always friendly with Russia. Why should
you not let the Indian people know what happened to the hero – and win the
hearts of millions of patriotic Indians.
When Comrade Brezhnev visited India in Nov, 1973, I met him in the
President’s house as leader of Socialist Party and gave him a letter seeking
information about Subash Chandra Bose’s presence in Russia. The letter was acknowledged but was not
replied. Considering the poignancy of
the issue, I hope you will excuse me for addressing this long letter to
you. I eagerly expect reply before you
visit India.
The truth
as they say, never came out ! and got buried elsewhere perhaps as most attribute to the Congress leaders who were not interested .. !! - Interestingly, Subhas Chandra was conferred with Bharat Ratna
but the award was subsequently withdrawn, due to a technicality, the only case of an award being withdrawn. It was
withdrawn in response to a Supreme Court of India directive following
a Public Interest Litigation filed in the Court against the “posthumous” nature
of the award. The Award Committee could not give conclusive evidence of Bose’s
death and thus it invalidated the “posthumous” award.
Sad to read the history of this great son of India ~ and
today (18th Aug) is the day when he reportedly perished
J a i H i n d
With regards – S. Sampathkumar
18th Aug 2018.
Biblio : story of INA by Kusum Nair; declassified files &
letters of Prof Samar Guha, Ex-MP
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