Taiwan invites Indians for more research where Netaji's plane crashed

Taiwan, where Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose' plane supposedly crashed in 1945, has invited Indian scholars to visit their island nation and study the historical documents on Netaji available in their archives. According to India Today, Taiwan’s Deputy envoy to India, Mumin Chen while speaking at an event organised by FICCI on Saturday for the 125th birth anniversary celebration of Netaji -- offered to open the National Archives to Indian scholars for further study about the Indian freedom fighter.

The Taiwanese diplomat said, "A lot of historical evidence and documents about Netaji and Indian independence movement are in Taiwan. Right now very few Indian scholars notice this there are photos and historical documents which show there were a lot of reports about Netaji."

“I call on our friends in India to do something about this in the future. We have National Archives and database. We could have Indian scholars to come and find out more about Netaji and his legacy who had a huge influence on Taiwan in the 1930s and 40s,” Mumin Chen said.

A fair amount of Netaji’s struggle to liberate India was on foreign soil, from Afghanistan and Burma, to the Far East in China including Taiwan, Japan and the South East Asia in Singapore; and Europe.

Mr Chen added that India and Taipei have “historical connections” that most who grew up before the 1990s had very little or no knowledge about. But he also acknowledged, "In 1940s, Chiang Kai-shek also wrote about Netaji in his dairy. He felt the decision to cooperate with Japanese in fight for independence, was understandable."

“We are now a full fledged democracy and have our own identity. Lot of young historians are conducting research about Taiwan with Southeast Asia and even India Taiwan and India should try to rediscover this common history of the Indo-Pacific. We have had historical connections,” said Mr. Chen.

The Taiwanese diplomat also highlighted that in Taiwan, where Netaji’s plane “crashed” in 1945, certain historical documents and photos were well preserved in the national archives, but received no public attention until now.

Certain historical documents and photos were well preserved in the national archives, but received no public attention until now, emphasised Chen.