An attempt to defame Nehru

An attempt to defame Nehru

FPJ BureauUpdated: Friday, May 31, 2019, 06:26 PM IST
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It is not surprising that the RSS mouthpiece Panchjanya has demanded a probe into the alleged letter of December 26, 1945 by Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru to the British Prime Minister Clement Attlee describing Subhas Chandra Bose as ‘a war criminal.’

The Modi government has declassified on January 23, some 100 ‘secret files’ of Subhas Chandra Bose. The files — 36 from PM’s Office, 18 of Home Ministry and 46 from EAM-pertain to the period between 1950 and 2013. There has been an intense pressure from Netaji’s extended family members to place the files in public domain. However, contrary to the expectation, nothing has come out of the files. The fact that Netaji died in a plane crash on August 18, 1945 is not disproved. Nor has it substantiated the theory that he was alive. In fact, the declassification of documents has brought to the light that Nehru’s government was sympathetic to his widow and daughter and that the Congress had created a trust — with Nehru as one of its trustees — to send Rs.1500 every quarter to Anita and her mother Emilie Schenkle.

The purported letter of Nehru to Attlee had been doing rounds on the social media even before the papers were made public. It was not a part of any file. It was typed and inserted between the papers. It was a deliberate attempt to defame the first Prime Minister – the father of modern India. If we look at the letter, it is obvious it is fake. There are several grammatical and other errors in the letter. It does not bear the watermark of National Archives of India, unlike all other documents declassified. It does not have Nehru’s signature.  Anybody acquainted with Nehru’s writings, particularly his highly acclaimed Classics – Glimpses of World History, An Autobiography and The Discovery of India – would swear that such a cheap letter full of mistakes could not be the work of a great man of letters.  It is an insult to his intellect and stature.

Click Here to read related stories of Netaji files.

The historian Ramchandra Guha, Sugata Bose — the grand nephew of Netaji — the author of his biography His Majesty’s Opponent and other historians of repute have publicly denounced the  letter as the handiwork of some elements having ulterior motive. They said the letter is fake. An independent probe alone can establish the truth behind the motive.  The people responsible for the mischief to defame a great world statesman and man of history should be punished. It is in the national interest to find out who planted the letter in the first place.

It is important to recall here that, after World War II, the British had captured some 23,000 INA soldiers and charged them with treason, torture, murder — the war prisoners facing the potential of death penalty. In November 1945, the INA trials began at the Red Fort. The British trials by courts-martial of the INA officers, including Shah Nawab Khan, Prem Sahgal and Gurubaksh Singh Dhillon, Abdul Rashid, Shingara Singh, Fateh Khan and Captain Malik Munawar Khan Awan, had continued between November 1945 and May 1946. The Defence Team consisting of eminent lawyers – Jawaharlal Nehru, Bhulabhai Desai and Asaf Ali- had staunchly defended the INA soldiers. Nehru argued at the trials that they had committed no war crime and that they were patriots fighting for the independence of their country.

The INA Day was observed on 12 November and the INA Week from 5 to 11 November, 1945. While 50,000 people would turn out for the larger meetings, the largest meeting was the one held in Deshapriya Park Calcutta, organsied by the INA Relief Committee of the Congress. It was addressed by Sarat Bose, Netaji’s elder brother, Jawaharlal Nehru and Sardar Patel- attended by an estimated crowd of five to seven lakhs. It is preposterous to think that, when he was defending the INA war prisoners as patriots at the Red Fort trials, Nehru could write such a letter to Attlee calling Bose ‘a war criminal.’

The author has written Nehru and World Peace, is Professor of Political Science and a retired Principal and Founder Secretary, Association of Indian College Principals.

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