["The Netaji files, declassified on Saturday, throws light on various aspects of the life of this late freedom fighter. One of the files answers the question of whether Netaji's name was ever listed as a war criminal by UK after the end of World War II. Answering the question, Indian High Commission in UK said that his name was never part of the list of war criminals as the list was only drawn up for Japanese and German citizens." (Source: <http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report-did-uk-ever-put-netaji-subhas-chandra-bose-s-name-in-the-list-of-war-criminals-2169411>.)]
I/II. http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report-netaji-files-the-real-story-behind-nehru-s-letter-calling-subhash-chandra-bose-a-war-criminal-2169596 Netaji Files: The real story behind Nehru's letter calling Subhash Chandra Bose a ‘war criminal’ DNA WEB TEAM | Sat, 23 Jan 2016-10:58pm , dna webdesk What if we told you Nehru didn't write that letter. The biggest talking point from the 100 files that were released by Narendra Modi pertaining to Subhas Chandra Bose seems to be a letter doing the rounds. In this letter, allegedly written by Nehru in 1945 to Clement Attlee, the former PM of UK, he apparently refers to Bose as a 'war criminal'. In the letter, Nehru allegedly wrote: “Dear Mr Attlee, I understand from reliable sources that Subhas Chandra Bose, your war criminal, has been allowed to enter Russian territory by Stalin. This is a clear treachery and betrayal of faith by the Russians as Russia has been an ally of the British-Americans, which she should not have done. Please take note of it and do what you consider proper and fit.” ALSO READ Did UK ever put Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose's name on a list of war criminals? [Facsimile of a printed page including the supposed text of the alleged letter] It's being claimed that the letter was written in 1945, but all of this is a combination of lies. The letter was not written by Nehru, it wasn’t even written by his stenographer and has been part of the public domain for a while. The letter appears in an essay by Pradip Bose, Netaji's nephew, who had written a letter in 1998 to erstwhile Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in which he claims that the controversial letter is, in fact, quoting a report from the 1974 Khosla commission report where Nehru’s stenographer Shyam Lal Jain claimed he was asked to write the same. As you can see, there are a lot of claims involved. In fact, one of the files declassified on Saturday answers the question of whether Netaji's name was ever listed as a war criminal by the UK after the end of World War II. Answering the question, Indian High Commission in UK said that his name was never part of the list of war criminals as the list was only drawn up for Japanese and German citizens. Here is a screenshot of the related declassified file: [Screenshot] The Congress took offence to the letter and Anand Sharma was quoted saying: “It’s shameful when an attempt is made to besmirch the image of India’s great leader, a Mahanayak of freedom movement, (the) first Prime Minister, a world statesman.” “It’s a deliberately created controversy to mislead people and try to belittle the great achievements of (two) stalwarts of the Indian freedom struggle,” Congress spokesman Anand Sharma said. “The way PM has carried this out raises doubts about the intentions of the Modi government. Nation needs to understand this,” Sharma added. “It’s extremely unfortunate that the PM is doing all this to deflect attention from his miserable failure on all fronts.” Twitter reacted with its usual grace by creating hashtags like #NehrukilledBose and #Bhaktsfakeletter: Here's what the pro-letter brigade said: [A number of tweets] II. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Jwaharlal-and-not-Nehru-called-Bose-war-criminal/articleshow/50702123.cms 'Jwaharlal', and not Nehru, called Bose war criminal TNN | Jan 24, 2016, 05.06 AM IST HYDERABAD/LUCKNOW: One of the disclosures in the Netaji files, made public on his 119th birthday on Saturday, is that Nehru had written to then British PM Clement Attlee about Subhas Chandra Bose, saying, "Your war criminal has been allowed to enter Russian territory by Stalin. This is a clear treachery and betrayal of faith by the Russians, as they were allies of the British and the Americans. Please take care and do what you consider proper and fit." While this would appear to confirm a testimony by a stenographer, Shyam Lal Jain, who had told the Khosla Commission set up in 1970 to investigate Netaji's death that he had typed such a letter dictated by Nehru in December 1945, the Congress jumped at the typographical and factual errors to claim it was a hoax. In the type-written letter, Jawaharlal is spelled 'Jwaharlal', the office address of the British PM (described as prime minister of England) given as 10, Down Street, and Subhas spelled as 'Subhash'. A facsimile of the letter soon began circulating online and went viral following which Congress described it as a mischievous act to defame Nehru. "We have said from the very beginning that this is a deliberate controversy," Congress spokesman Anand Sharma said in Delhi. [Facsimile of the "letter"] Grammar crime: The spelling errors in the letter to Attlee Besides the several egregious errors, the letter does not bear the watermark of National Archives of India. All other documents declassifi ed on Saturday carry this watermark. It bears Nehru's name as sender but doesn't have his signature. And Russia is misspelled as 'Rassia', and yours sincerely as 'your sencerely'. Jain has said he was a stenographer to Congressman Asaf Ali and the dictation was taken at Ali's residence. Jain also said Nehru, in another letter, had stated that Bose had landed in Diren in Manchuria, and had a meal of banana and tea. Thereafter, he disappeared in a jeep along with Japanese General Shedai and a loaded trunk. Top Comment In the type-written letter, Jawaharlal is spelled 'Jwaharlal', the office address of the British PM (described as prime ... Read More Ruhidas Takur SEE ALL COMMENTSADD COMMENT For reasons unknown, the Khosla commission did not take note of Jain's testimony, which asserted that Nehru did not believe Netaji had died in the Taihoku air crash, but thought he had escaped to Russia. A year later, when Nehru came to the Bose household in Calcutta, he told Netaji's elder brother Sarat Bose that Netaji had died in the air crash. He also presented a watch saying it was recovered from the crash site. Sarat Bose said this was not the watch Netaji wore and rejected the theory of his death. -- Peace Is Doable -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Green Youth Movement" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send an email to [email protected]. Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/greenyouth. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
