RTI makes PMO release info about "Panditji's file" on Netaji

But no clue who ordered its destruction & why

Press Release | 18 September 2007

A CIC decision has led to partial disclosure by the PMO of papers
relating to the destruction of an alleged file on the enquires made by
former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru about the whereabouts of Subhas
Chandra Bose. The bunch comprises notes from secret files, letter by
Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and recent correspondence between
Mukherjee Commission and Prime Minister's Office under Atal Bihari
Vajpayee.

A selection of the papers provided to Mission Netaji can be seen here.

File 12(226)/56-PM titled Investigation into the circumstances leading
to the death of Subhas Bose was described by Justice Mukherjee
Commission of Inquiry (1999-2005) as one which could have been of
"great assistance" in resolving the controversy surrounding Bose's
disappearance. It was destroyed "during routine process of
review/weeding of old records" -- as Kamal Dayani, PMO's Central
Public Information Officer, informed Anuj Dhar of Mission Netaji in
September last year.

Dhar took the matter to Central Information Commission (CIC). Last
month, Chief Information Commissioner Wajahat Habibullah directed the
Prime Minister's Office to provide certain documents identified by
Dhar. The PMO obliged, and so the contours of a shocking tale emerge.

In April 1957, more than ten years after the reported death of Subhas
Bose, a file was opened in what was then called the Prime Minister's
Secretariat. The file was suddenly destroyed in March 1972. Grapevine
had it that it was done at the behest of PN Haksar, Prime Minister
Indira Gandhi's all-powerful PS. The timing of the destruction clashed
with the ongoing judicial inquiry of GD Khosla. Strangely, Khosla, a
flamboyant friend of Pt Nehru's, went on to write in his report that
the "unwanted" file was "destroyed to lighten the burden of the record
rooms".

In contrast, Mukherjee, a former Supreme Court judge known for his
expertise in criminal law, forced the issue of destroyed Netaji
records with the PMO. They were asked to furnish the copies of the
order regarding the destruction as well as "authenticated Xerox copies
of the Rules and Procedures prescribed for destruction of files".

In response, the PMO Director wrote that "no order as such ... could
be located" and could only provide "the relevant page of the File
Register showing destruction of the file in 1972". The same has been
given to Mission Netaji under RTI along with page No 151/C of
classified PMO file 2(64)/56-70 PM, Vol-V. The documents give no clue
as to who could have ordered the destruction and for what reason.
Another PMO letter stated that the Commission may "acquaint themselves
with the destruction procedure of files in Govt of India offices" as
laid down in Manual of Office Procedure.

Mission Netaji traced the Manual of circa 1972 and found that official
files in those days were recorded in three categories. "Class A" files
or the "records fit for permanent preservation" included "files of
historical importance" -- those "relating to a well-known public or
international event or cause celebre, or to other events which gave
rise to interest or controversy on the national plane". The question
of destruction of such files under any "review and weeding of records"
did not arise before 25 years and prior consultation with the National
Archives of India.

File 12(226)/56-PM seemed to have been shredded hurriedly and
unlawfully. Why? Mukherjee Commission queried PMO on May 23, 2000 to
disclose "the subject and contents of the above file and the
circumstances under which the said file had been destroyed". PMO
replied that the file "contained agenda paper/cabinet decision" which
could be procured for the Cabinet Secretariat as "records of Cabinet
proceedings are kept permanently in Cabinet Secretariat"

. But
Commission got nothing from Cabinet Secretariat. Ditto for Mission
Netaji, whose RTI request was transferred to the PMO.

The released papers further disclose that former Prime Minister Indira
Gandhi reasoned in 1974 that the "file was destroyed only because it
contained copies". "I can assure you that this file (12(226)/56-PM)
contained only copies of certain documents which are still available
in other files, she wrote to late MP Samar Guha who had wondered
"whether such a vital file has been destroyed or withheld".

But, the papers show, this logic too worn thin as the PMO was unable
to prove the veracity of former Prime Minister's assertion by
providing documents supporting her contention.

"The impunity with which such an important file seems to have been
destroyed raises a big question mark on the accountability of our
political establishment and bureaucracy," remarks Mission Netaji's
Chandrachur Ghose.

Who are behind this and why is it important to know what happened to
Netaji?

Back to RTI crusade homepage

Chinese must junk misconceptions about Subhas Bose

The lopsided view about Subhas Chandra Bose, taken by Indian
historians and politicians alike, directly affected the Chinese notion
about Bose.

September 2, 2006

Professor Priyadarsi Mukherji

The colonial era in India and the semi-colonial phase in China saw a
series of cooperation and exchanges between the two peoples. The
colonial domination by the British over India and China brought about
misery and therefore prolonged struggle for freedom. However, certain
misconceptions have been noticed, and to a great extent deliberated,
so far as the Chinese interpretation of the Indian freedom struggle
and some Indian political figures are concerned.

We all know that an Indian medical mission was sent to China in 1938.
But the Chinese historians have chosen to emphasize that it was sent
by Jawaharlal Nehru. Whereas, the person solely responsible for
sending the mission along with an ambulance, after having collected a
sum of Rs 22,000 on the All-Indian China Day and China Fund days on
July 7-9, was none other than the President of the Indian National
Congress -- Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose. He had made an appeal to the
people through a press statement on June 30, 1938. In Modern Review he
wrote an article on Japan's role in the Far East and denounced her
assault on China, "our whole heart going out to China in her hour of
trial". Therefore, the Chinese assertion is wrong and biased.

Bose in his broadcast from Berlin on May 1, 1942 agued saying, "Those
were the days when Marshal Chiang Kai-shek was fighting for his
national principles and that was why he could win sympathy of Indians
in an overwhelming degree. But the Marshal who came to India the other
day to ask the Indian people to fight for England was quite a
different man, a puppet of the Anglo-American forces.

One should notice that Bose while touring the Japanese-occupied
South-East Asia in 1943, had been quite active in saving the lives of
several ethnic Chinese from Japanese atrocities. Yet Marshal Chiang
and later the communists branded Bose as a "traitor". Ironically in
September 1931 when Chiang gave up the whole of north-east China to
Japanese occupation, he was branded by the communists as a "big
traitor" (maiguozei). Later his aligning with the Anglo-American
forces brought him closer to his arch enemies, the communists,
ofcourse, temporarily.

While professing national salvation and frequently visiting India for
more funds, Chiang Kai-shek conveniently chose to ignore the cause of
Indian freedom from the British yoke. The "egalitarian" worldview of
the communists too failed to extend the logic of national liberation
in the case of India. As Bose was vilified as "the running dog of
Tojo" in his own motherland by the communists, on the other hand his
goodwill for all freedom-loving people was conveniently disregarded by
the Chinese historians in the name of his alliance wit the Japanese
fascists without going into the truthful details.

Even our scholarly historians have been quite unfair and ruthless
while dealing with Bose. They did not want to take cognizance of
Netaji's serious differences with Hitler and later with the Japanese
military authority. Netaji had a one-point programme in his life, the
complete independence of India.

... In this world, either total and uncritical acceptance, or total
repudiation especially in the political sphere is quite foolish and
diehard position. That is exactly what has happened in the Chinese
interpretation as well as some Indian outlook about Subhas Bose.

With Nehru at the helm of country, in post-independence India,
brutally partitioned by power-hungry statesmen, Bose's name found no
significant mention in the pages of modern history of India ... The
lopsided view about Bose, taken by Indian historians and politicians
alike, directly affected the Chinese notion about Bose. Thus, no
genuine effort has been made, either by the Indian government, or by
other states across the world, to unravel the mystery behind Bose's
alleged disappearance. There is no doubt that the Chinese side too has
been affected by such negative approach.

After 1949, despite Nehru's unconditional support to China, the latter
hesitated the least to squarely accuse him for perpetrating the border
crisis in 1962. His acceptance of Tibet as part of China became less
significant for China compared to his sheltering the Dalai Lama. His
alliance with the US during the days of Sino-Indian crisis, though
viewed very critically, was considered necessary by China so as to
counter Soviet Union in the late 1970s.

So, there has been no uniform parameter in China's policies or
viewpoints except that with Subhas Bose. If the British intelligence
officer Hugh Toye can change his views about Bose and become his
admirer, then why can't China? A thorough retrospection as well as
introspection are needed in this regard. An objectively realistic
vision would help dispel these misconceptions. For that, of course,
Bose has to be portrayed in the correct perspective firstly at home.
And then we can expect others to follow suit.

There are indeed many aspects in this history of Sino-Indian contacts
that remain shrouded in mystery or are simply unexplored. The reasons
primarily being the inaccessibility of material, and due to certain
erroneous policies of both Indian and Chinese governments so far as
mutual perceptions are concerned. New horizons of knowledge and
interactive relations must be explored so as to promote greater
understanding between the two cultures. A concerted effort is needed
to study the primary sources, to do field work, to make a knowledge
bank by pooling talents, to translate large number of works and to
disseminate and popularise those among general public.

Extracted from the paper India-China relations: A journey to the
unexplored domains of history and culture published in the journal of
the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library. Vol 2, Number 4
(October-December 2003).

Reproduced with the permission of the writer, a Professor in Chinese
and Sinological Studies in Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi.

link is here
http://www.missionnetaji.org/page/chinese_view.html

Netaji is a much respected name in our country : P.M. Shinzo Abe

Netaji is a much respected name in our country, says Japanese Premier Shinzo Abe
Staff Reporter

He is deeply attached to Rabindranath Tagore and Swami Vivekananda

PHOTOS: ARUNANGSU ROY CHOWDHURY, PTI

ABES IN KOLKATA: Proshanto Pal, son of Radhabinod Pal, showing the pictures of his father and the grandfather of Japanese Premier Shinzo Abe, at his residence in Kolkata on Thursday.
Kolkata: The notion of a ‘Broader Asia’ has enough resonance in history as Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe discovered when he visited the Netaji Bhavan, ancestral house of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, here on Thursday.
“Mr. Abe walked through the museum inside the Bhavan. He pointed at a picture of Netaji speaking on Asian solidarity at the Greater East Asia Conference in 1944, where he had spoken of the need for Japan and India to assume leading roles in Asia,” said Krishna Bose, former Member of Parliament and widow of Sisir Bose, Netaji’s nephew.
Mr. Abe, who had talked of a ‘Broader Asia’ in his address to a joint session of Parliament in New Delhi on Wednesday, later said that relations between India and Japan would be strengthened, especially if the contributions made by individuals like Netaji were remembered. Netaji is a much respected name in Japan, he said.
Mr. Abe, who had expressed a desire to visit Kolkata as he felt deeply attached to Rabindranath Tagore, Swami Vivekananda and Netaji, was also overwhelmed by the collection of memorabilia displayed in the museum, a lot of which have been sourced from Japan.
“Mr. Abe spent a lot of time in the Asia room, looking at photographs of Netaji with Indian and Japanese dignitaries,” Ms. Bose said. “He also visited Netaji’s study room, where the latter worked as Congress president, and where the walls are still tri-coloured.”
Earlier in the day, Mr. Abe inaugurated an Indo-Japanese cultural centre, where he stressed the long-standing, deep-rooted cultural relations.
The centre, to be known as the Rabindra-Okakura Bhavan, has been named after Rabindranath Tagore and Okakura Tenshin. The latter also was a champion of Asian solidarity who had stated that “Asia is one” in the opening paragraph of his book, Ideals of the East.


Akie Abe, wife of Mr. Abe, meeting Sister Nirmala, head of Missionaries of Charity, during her visit to Mother's House in Kolkata. Radhabinod Pal lauded
Special Correspondent writes:
“The people of Japan love Radhabinod Pal [1886-1967] and still hold him in the highest esteem,” Mr. Abe reportedly told the son of the lone member of the International Military Tribunal for the Far East to have found not guilty all those accused in the famous Tokyo War Crimes Trial (1946-48).
Mr. Abe and Prosanto Pal (81) met at a hotel.
Mr. Pal told The Hindu that he presented Mr. Abe with a copy of a rare group photograph taken during a visit to Japan in October 1966 in which his father is seen with the former Japanese Prime Minister (1957-60), Nobusuke Kishi, who se daughter is Mr. Abe’s mother.
It was in 1966 that Radhabinod Pal was awarded Japan’s highest civilian order, ‘The First Order of Sacred Treasure,’ by the Japanese Government, he said.
“Highest regard”

That Mr. Abe had wished to meet him during his brief visit to Kolkata “is the highest regard shown to my father and something I could not have imagined,” Mr. Pal said.
“The Prime Minister told me that the new generation in Japan knew little about my father but they might have got to learn of him after a documentary on him shot by a government agency was telecast in that country on August 14,” Mr. Pal said.
“The day of the telecast marked the 62nd anniversary of the Japanese Army deciding that far too many innocent lives had been lost on the two occasions atom bombs were dropped in Hiroshima and Nagasaki on August 6 and 9 [in 1945] to fight on in the Second World War. A day later the Japanese surrendered,” Mr. Pal recalled.
“A year later my father got a telegram from Gen. Douglas MacArthur, Supreme Commander for Allied Powers, appointing him as judge in the International Military Tribunal for the Far East.
Later, exonerating all those being tried of war crimes, he was to say ‘the only crime that Japan had committed was that they had lost the war’ and that international law had yet to define that war is a crime.”
“Overwhelmed”

“What I told Mr. Abe was that I will not live much longer but tell your people how overwhelmed I and my family are at the privilege of meeting you,” Mr. Pal said.
“What he had to say was that ‘we believe that the friendship between India and Japan will last for much, much longer,’” he added.
http://www.hindu.com/2007/08/24/stories/2007082460801500.htm