Dhonni se ek chhele, tar galpo boli shono

dhonni se ek chhele, tar galpo boli shono
achena ek gaayer chheler katha
kamon kore se raja holo tari satti gatha

Ethiopia, sabai jane gorib desh bole
je deshete durbhbhikko ase bachhor bachhor ghure
sei desheri okhyato ek gram
Asella bole itihase uthechhe tar naam

sei grameri mather dhare, pata-chhawa kutire
basante ek janmo nilo shirno ek chhele
dash bhai-boner ekjon se krishaker sansare
bujhte paro kato aar tar pabar chhilo baba-mayer kachhe!

pathsale se bhorti holo gramer theke dure
dosh kolimeter giye tobe aste hoto phire
balok birer takon thekei dour je suru holo
boikhata booke dhore doure giye doure asto phire

emni kore chhotar suru poth chhere mathe ghate
sei chheler ee sujog elo bhir sahorer mathe
‘parbo na ami?’ bhabte bhabtei suru holo chhota
sedinee bujhiye dilo se lomba dourer ghora

tarpor sabee je galpo hoye galo
eker por ek chute tar sapno saphol holo

1993 er August mase Germanyr Stuttgert e
bissho-championshiper asor, tar bayos takhon kuri
10000 miterer doure sonar medel niye
Ethiopiar kalo chhele karlo hridoy churi

adore uchchhase manush tene nilo buke
prithibi joyer kanna-hasi bhoriye dilo sukhe

taro pore 1999 e notun itihas likhte holo abar
char-charte bissho-khetab jite nilo porer por por
porer bachhor 2000 Atlanta Olympic e
abar itihas gorlo se dubar sona jite

10000 er sonar chele bhablo ebar thak
dher hoyechhe track e, ebar rastai chhota jak
balbo ki aar tar pore se uthlo kise mete
kato record bhangle se je, sonar paye thuke

tobu ekta baro khed chhilo tar mone
marathoner bissho record asbe na nagale?

Sepember er 30 tarikh Berlin sahor jure
2007 marathoner asore, lok jutechhe kato
dour suru halo jei, hawai uthlo dak
‘Haile, Haile, Haile, ektu jore chhoto’

sabai jakhon eke eke pichhiye porlo dure
Haile takhon eki bhabe chute chollo lakhkhoti sthir rekhe
aboseshe prothom hoye record niye tobe
sonar chele ghore phirlo sonar hasi hese

bhabchho bujhi mithye ek rupkathar ei galpo?
satti na mano dekho khuje internete alpo
link ekta dilem rekhe ei charaner seshe
khuje dekho naamti jar Haile Gebrselassie

........... Sudip Ghosh, Dec. 9, 2007

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haile_Gebrselassie)
N.B. BBC ran a nice documentary on Haile last October. Look for it in their archives.

Video footage puts police in dock over Nandigram

The video footage of the March 14 police firing in Nandigram - recorded by the police themselves - has raised question marks over the West Bengal Police role in the incident that killed 14 people.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has identified 27 outsiders - clad in khaki and heavily armed - accompanying the police force that went to remove the barricades put up by the Bhumi Uchched Pratirodh Committee (BUPC) that day.

Who gets Justice when the prosecution and defence lawyers collude?

Another expose conducted by NDTV reveals shocking new evidence of how justice was twisted by a rich and powerful family and their high profile lawyer.
Investigations show that the prosecution witness and the lawyers for both the defence and the prosection may have all been on the same side - the side of the accused.

A 17-yr girl stoned to death for her love

This CNN report talks about a 17 yr Kurdish girl being stoned to death for loveing a man in another muslim community. It happened in broad daylight while securitymen remained spectators and men around there seemed too absorbed in taking images of the dying life
.......... HUMAN(E) JUSTICE INDEED!!!

BESU upgrade at stake

The recent news report carried by The Telegraph, Calcutte, about BESU upgrade (‘Dec.5 deadline set for BESU upgrade’, 24 Nov. 2007) is indicative of yet another probable backlash for the LF Government in their desperate move to retain control over the premier technical institute of the state. The State authorities will have to find answers to several uneasy questions should the MHRD at the Centre decide eventually to back out from its declared decision of taking over BESU as an IIEST, in the face of indirect opposition from the LF. An NIT-like status, which may go well with the LF Government’s demand for 50% reservation and management control after upgradation, will be seen as a factual downgrade for this famous institute by the academic community as well as the industrial and business establishments in the state and across the country.
The questions that one would like to sek answers to are:
1. How was the state’s demand for 50% (initially 75%) reservation justified after BESU’s upgrade to a national institute when there was no such state reservation in pre-upgrade situation?
2. Was the State Government’s demand backed by any state expert committee or legislative committee recommendation?
3. How wise was it for the State Govt. to retain control over management and student admission in BESU at the expense of IIEST status when it could boast of giving an IIEST to the nation and utilize the financial burden thus saved in bringing up other technical institutes in the state, thereby expanding technical education infrastructure in the state?
The ruling LF do not seem to care much about popular opinion. They are however known for confessing wrongdoings and blunders decades after they are committed. The people of the state may therefore have to wait before they hear today’s leaders talking about today’s blunders several decades after.


Sudip Ghosh
Switzerland 5313
30.11.2007

Tashlima moved out of Jaipur for Delhi

How organized are these forces?
Tashlima being taken out of Jaipur by Rajasthan Police for Delhi.

AIIMS director at govt's mercy

Unbelievable!!!
Fantastic example of how Legislature follows the Executive in a Democracy while it is supposed to be the other way.
A complete bill is being introduced and passed (no information about debate) because a powerfull member of the executive machinery simply wanted to remove a person (widely believed to be popular and eligible) from a high office.

Snake charmers to vote for the 1st time...Gujrat Polls

No Indian varsity among world's top 200 universities

No Indian varsities, including the prestigious Indian Institutes of Technology, figure among world's top 200 universities this year while six Chinese universities were listed, signalling the rapid stride the Communist giant is making in higher education.
Harvard University tops the league table followed by Cambridge and Oxford at second and third positions respectively. The top 10 universities are all either in the United States or the United Kingdom, a survey has found.

Abducted Nandigram youth narrates experience

Nandigram - sufferings as watched by NDTV

An NDTV visual of the sufferings of people in Nandigram.

Calcutta HC gave a 'tight slap on the face of the Govt'...says Chairman-NHRC

Outlook report 19 Nov, 2007
---------
.... ......... ....
Earlier in the day, Justice Babu told newsmen on the sidelines of the Fourth Annual Meeting of NHRC with State Human Rights Commissions in Delhi that Nandigram and Godhra were severe assaults in the face of democracy.
"They were the worst scars on the face of nations," he said, adding that the NHRC was committed to protect the rights of the people, who were victims of 'opportunist' politics in both West Bengal and Gujarat.
He said the Calcutta High Court had provided a 'tight slap on the face of the government' by condemning the attack on farmers.
----------------------

Thevar claimed of meeting Netaji in 1950

Muthuramalingam Thevar was a freedom fighter and a confidant of Subhas Chandra Bose from late 1920s onwards. Thevar was the first person to depose before Shah Nawaz Committee, the first official probe into Subhas's reported death. This very hearing on April 1 (1956) convinced Thevar that it was unlikely to do justice. On April 3, he held a press conference in Delhi. Calling the committee "an eyewash", Thevar said he would furnish "conclusive proof that Bose was alive....
Thevar wanted Dr Radha Binod Pal to head the enquiry committee in place of Congress MP Shah Nawaz.
The more startling bit about Thevar's press conference was the claim that he met Subhas Bose in China in 1950. He said that in late 1949 he met Netaji's ailing elder brother Sarat Chandra Bose in Calcutta. Sarat Bose confided in something to Thevar, who then made a surreptitious trip to China to meet Subhas Bose.

Party takes on Judiciary over Nandigram

CPM state secretary Biman Bose advised the state government to move Supreme Court against the Calcutta High Court order. The court on Friday had decreed that the March 14 police firing in Nandigram, which had killed 14 people, was "unconstitutional" and "unjustified".
"Will the judiciary dictate the government what it should do and what it shouldn't? If that is the case then there is no need for other wings of democracy namely the executive and legislature. Let there be a hike in the salary of the judges who will look after everything," said Bose at a party gathering.

Chief Minister's 'our people' are not really the people of his state

WB CM on Nandigram
-----------------------
“They had occupied the area for 11 months. So our people had no choice.”
‘They’ve been paid back in their own coin,” asserted the chief minister. That instant, the chief minister didn’t seem even remotely concerned about whether he represented the state government or his party. The lines had evidently been blurred.

- Economic Times, 14 Nov 2007
----------------------------------
So the Chief Minister's 'our people' are not really the people of his state ... ... God save the state..

Nandigram updates - Nov 2007

Mamata Banerjee resigned as Member of Parliament on Saturday in protest against the continued violence in West Bengal's Nandigram: http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/story.aspx?id=NEWEN20070032372&ch=11/10/2007%205:21:00%20PM

Nandigram turns into 'war zone': http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/story.aspx?id=NEWEN20070032375&ch=11/10/2007%2011:12:00%20AM
In a strong criticism of ruling Left Front major CPI(M), West Bengal Governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi on Friday night termed as ''unlawful and unacceptable'' the manner of recapture of villages in Nandigram: http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/story.aspx?id=NEWEN20070032348&ch=11/10/2007%2010:29:00%20AM
CPI-M takes on governor: http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/StoryPage.aspx?id=1cfd3f6f-48d6-45b3-b223-f0d38d473d80&ParentID=cd51a76e-cd59-4aca-98f8-19affbe3ebdf&MatchID1=4585&TeamID1=1&TeamID2=8&MatchType1=1&SeriesID1=1151&MatchID2=4587&TeamID3=3&TeamID4=5&MatchType2=1&SeriesID2=1152&PrimaryID=4585&Headline=Fresh+violence+in+Nandigram%2c+CPI-M+takes+on+governor

RTI effect: Netaji papers to be released- Hindustan Times

The government is finally preparing to make public a selection of secret and controversial documents relating to Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose’s reported death and subsequent events.
The documents include communications to and from then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and the chiefs of intelligence, which had been given to the Shah Nawaz Khan Committee of 1956 and Justice GD Khosla Commission of 1970.
Both had concluded that Netaji died in an air crash in August 1945, a conclusion trashed
by the Justice M.K. Mukherjee Commission in its November 2005 report.
The documents were never allowed to be made public for the next four decades. Till July, the Union Home Ministry also staved off attempts to release them under the Right To Information law saying the documents sought were voluminous, top secret in nature and may lead to chaos in the country if disclosed.
But a Central Information Commission decision in the same month has helped bring about the change in its assessment.
Officials said the Shivraj Patil-led Home Ministry had come around to the view that there really was no fear of a law and order problem if the secret documents were revealed.
Last week, Patil moved the Cabinet Committee of Political Affairs to seek a decision on releasing the files.

People' s Tribunal Report on 14 March Nandigram Violence

Nandigram violence dubbed ‘state sponsored massacre’
People’s Tribunal Report Says CBI Probe Should Continue
In its final report the People’s Tribunal on Nandigram has called the violence of 14 March 2007 a ‘pre-planned, state-sponsored massacre’ carried out ‘to teach a lesson’ to people opposing the SEZ project on their land.

For executive summary of the report: http://www.labournet.de/internationales/in/peoplestribunal.pdf

WW II : Lesser known facts

WW II pilot saved by parachute made by his mother

Around midnight on June 5, 1944, Private C. Hillman, of Manchester, Connecticut, serving with the US 101st Airborne Division, was winging his way to Normandy in a C-47 transport plane. Just before the jump, Private Hillman carried out a final inspection of his parachute. He was surprised to see that the chute had been packed by the Pioneer Parachute Company of Connecticut where his mother worked part time as an inspector. He was further surprised when he saw on the inspection tag, the initials of his own mother!

SOVIET RAPES IN BERLIN: UNKNOWN TOTAL

The official figures for Berlin rapes by Soviet troops does exist but has never been published. However, Berlin’s former mayor, Ernst Reuter, said that the figure given him was 90,000. In 1945, Berlin had a population of some 2,700,000 of which about 2,000,000 were women. Many rapes of course were never reported and the figure of 90,000 includes only hospitalized cases and doctors reports. Some 10,000 women in Berlin died as a result of rape , many by suicide. The death rate was thought to have been much higher among the 1.4 million estimated victims in East Prussia, Silesia and Pomerania. Doctors were besieged by women seeking information on the best way to commit suicide. A charity institution, orphanage and maternity hospital, 'Haus Dehlem ' was forcibly entered by second line Russian troops and pregnant women and women who had just given birth were repeatedly raped. In the Soviet Zone of Germany nearly 90% of females ages between 10 and 80 were raped in what undoubtedly was the largest case of mass rape in history. This included women expelled from the eastern provinces. Among the rape victims were many women who became prominent figures in post-war Germany. Hannelore Kohl, wife of former Chancellor Helmut Kohl was raped when twelve years old, along with her mother while they tried to escape from Berlin on a train heading for Dresden. Hannelore Kohl committed suicide in 2001.
Most German children born in Berlin in 1946 were the result of rape. Women and young girls were forcibly dragged from their homes and raped, the drunken Soviet Mongolian soldiers queuing up to await their turn. For two whole weeks these mass rapes of women continued. Some Jewish women, thinking that their nationality would save them, showed their identity cards to the rapists but none of them could even read. Marshal Zhukov issued orders that any soldier caught in the act of rape after the two week period was up, was to be shot on the spot. Many a Russian soldier met his end this way. No US soldier was ever executed for rape in Germany. As one GI wrote 'Many a sane American family would recoil in horror if they knew how 'our boys' over here conduct themselves'. The psychological effects on many of these rape victims were devastating, future relationships with men became extremely difficult for the rest of their lives. ( Between 1942 and 1945, a total of 2,420 rapes were reported in England, 3,620 in France and more than 11,040 in Germany by the occupying troops.) It is estimated that around two million German women had undergone an illegal abortion in the three years after the war ended.

Atom Bomb: President Truman's Press Statement, Aug 6, 1945

From Truman Library online resourses, as available on 1 Nov 2007

The statement says, " With this bomb we have now added a new and revolutionary increase in destruction to supplement the growing power of our armed forces".

The statement describes the competetion among the German and US-UK atomic research establishments as the "battle of the laboratories".

Truman writes about the Manhattan project: "We have spent two billion dollars on the greatest scientific gamble in history - and won." He also describes the project's success as "the greatest achievement of organized science in history".
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A nice documentation about the US decision making process for the first use of atom bomb could be foun d here:http://www.army.mil/cmh-pg/books/70-7_23.htm

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Interestingly today's CNN news informs that the pilot of the B-16 bomber that dropped the first atom bomb has just died at the age of 92.

Irish historian claimed that British asked their agents to assassinate Bose

The British told their agents to assassinate India's independence war leader Subhash Chandra Bose in 1941, an Irish historian has claimed.

"Two SOE operatives in Turkey were instructed by their headquarters in London to intercept Bose and kill him before he reached Germany," the Irish professor, who teaches at Trinity College, Dublin, said.
Mr O'Halpin said the SOE operatives in Turkey failed to because Bose reached Germany through Central Asia and the Soviet Union. "Every time [the operatives] checked back, headquarters told them the orders were intact and Bose must be killed if found."

Russia unwilling to share Netaji papers with Indian people

MEA conveyed to the CIC that "according to the correspondence received from the Embassy of India, Moscow, the Russian Foreign Office has stated that the documents handed over by them in June 2001 were meant only for the GOI's official use and for the work of the Commission in investigations into the disappearance of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose."

Follow the title link to read the full story.

Government to digitize expensive textbooks, give computers and freenet to teachers

A scheme that could change the face of higher education in the country, the Government is planning to make expensive textbooks available to students in a free digital format.
The Human Resource Development (HRD) Ministry has indicated that it is willing to share the cost with publishers of digitising study material for undergraduate and postgraduate courses.
Under the proposed agreement, the Government would compensate the publishers for any losses they might incur.
The Ministry is also considering setting up its own database, which would have top journals of the IITs and the Indian Institute of Science.
The government is even willing to pay half of what it would take to provide a computer to every teacher in the 18,000 colleges across the country.
In fact, the University Grants Commission would provide free Internet connections to institutes, which take up this offer. Also, teachers who provide online coaching to students would be remunerated for their services.

Text of Indo-US Nuclear Cooperation Agreement (123 Agreement)

Features of the Agreement (from Rediff article at http://www.rediff.com/news/2007/jul/27ndeal4.htm):
The Agreement is "between two States possessing advanced nuclear technology, both parties having the same benefits and advantages".
The purpose of the agreement is to enable full civil nuclear energy cooperation between India and the United States. The Agreement provides for full civil nuclear energy cooperation covering nuclear reactors and aspects of the associated nuclear fuel cycle including enrichment and reprocessing.
The Agreement contains a full reflection of the March 2, 2006 supply assurances, and the provision for corrective measures. The Agreement provides for the development of a strategic reserve of nuclear fuel to guard against any disruption of supply over the lifetime of India's reactors.
The Agreement provides for nuclear trade, transfer of nuclear material, equipment, components, and related technologies and for cooperation in nuclear fuel cycle activities.
The Agreement provides for the application of IAEA safeguards to transferred material and equipment.
The Agreement grants prior consent to reprocess nuclear material, transfer nuclear material and its products. To bring this into effect, India will establish a national reprocessing facility to reprocess IAEA safeguarded nuclear material and the parties will agree on arrangements and procedures within one year.

BESU to IIEST: Politics won and Academics failed

The governments at the centre and the state finally seem to compromise and find a mutually agreeable psotion on the issue of upgradation of BESU into an Idian Institute of Engineering science & Technology. IIEST, Shibpur, as it will now be called once the IIEST bill passes the Parliament and comes out enacted, will have to take 50% students from the state and will have state's representative(s) on the board of management.

Higher Education Minister of West bengal reportedly described it as a victory for the state (read a victory for a coalition partner).

So, another Institute of National Important (INI) is born to the state and hopefully BESU's signboards will change once again in a month or two. New batches of students will come through new national level entrance test and will pass out as engineering graduates or postgraduates in due course. The people of the state and students and stakeholders of the institute will become used to this new model of quota-based INI and will soon forget to remmber that this institute once had an entrance system which didn't have any reservation for the state's students.

And here lies the politics. When the institute was under the state's control, it didn't need any reservation even though the WBJEE was , and still is, a national level entrance test (and this is what the WB Govt often likes to speak of and boast of). And when the call came for its handover to the centre for a greater national need, the state preferred to seek a quota for the state and that too to the extent of 75%. The teachers, thouh, like to have the best students in their classes. And, for a new brand of INIs that is thought to emerge as one of the best brands of rsearch-intensive instutues of higher learning, any quota in the entrance system can only deter the growth pace of the brand. However, the insiders of the institute has to remain satisfied with the fact that political mentors eventualy could decide on the upgradation plan in the first year of the XI plan itself, allowing the implementation to take place over the rest of the plan period.

July 15, Switzerland

BESU achieves status of IIEST

From chennaionline.com

Kolkata, July 13: West Bengal's premiere Bengal Engineering and Science University (BESU) at Shibpur in Howrah district has been given the status of Indian Institute of Engineering Science and Technology (IIEST) by the Centre.
Announcing this at his Assembly chamber, Higher Education Minister Sudarshan Roy Chowdhury told reporters that altogether five leading institutions in the country had been elevated to this status with BESU on top of the list offering integrated engineering courses at the graduate and post-graduate level.
The other four institutes which were elevated to the status of IIEST were Cochin University of Science and Technology in Kerala, Andhra University College of Engineering and Osmania University College of Engineering and Technology in Andhra Pradesh and BHU Institute of Technology in Uttar Pradesh, Roy Chowdhury said.
The decision was taken on the recommendation of the Ananda Krishnan Committee, appointed by the Union Human Resource Development Ministry.
This would be effective only after legislation in Parliament is passed, indicating the type of governance, rules and regulation, modus operandi for selection of students for admission through a competitive All India Entrance Examination among these five IIESTs, Roy Chowdhury said. (Agencies)

Vigilance probe ordered in corruption cases involving Kerala CPI-M

Thiruvananthapuram, July 13: Kerala's ruling Communist Party Of India-Marxist (CPI-M) Friday suffered a huge setback when a special court ordered a vigilance probe in two corruption scandals involving the party mouthpiece Deshabhimani.Responding to a plea by the Indian Lawyers Congress, the special vigilance court asked the vigilance director to register a case and inquire into the Rs.30 million corruption allegations.The first case pertains to Deshabhimani collecting Rs.20 million in the form of a bond from lottery kingpin S. Martin.The second case involves its general manager K. Venugopal, who has been expelled both from the CPI-M and the newspaper, following allegations that he had taken a bribe of Rs.10 million from a controversial private financial institution, which was closed down last year.

Bose's Letter to Berlin, 18 August 1941

Bose gave Director of the Political Department this letter for the German Foreign Minister with the request that it be transmitted.

HOTEL ESPLANADE, BERLIN, August 15,1941.

YOUR EXCELLENCY: I feel constrained to take the liberty of addressing Your Excellency because the situation in India today is extremely serious.
I have been here since the beginning of April and my proposals were placed before Your Excellency soon after my arrival. [See vol. XII of this series, document No. 300]
The situation in my country was then exceedingly favorable for the success of my proposals. Unfortunately, no decision was arrived at by the German Government and since then, the situation in India has worsened considerably.
The outbreak of the war with Soviet Russia has been made to appear to India as an act of aggression and Soviet-British-American propaganda has made the fullest use of it. Day after day, the Soviet-British-American propaganda machine has been telling the Indian people that Germany is out for world-domination and, in particular, for the domination of the Orient. I am alarmed to see how effective this propaganda is gradually proving to be.
Even prominent people who have spent their whole life in fighting England and have been in prison for long years, are being increasingly influenced by this propaganda and are thinking that if there is no hope of obtaining India's freedom through the help of the Axis, it is better to make peace with Britain on the best terms available. If this process is not arrested, the time will soon come when the majority of the Indian people will definitely take their stand on the Soviet-British-American side. W e cannot hope to bring India over to the side of the Axis, if the Axis Pokers do not first declare their policy regarding India.
India is being prepared as the central military base of the British Empire. An army of one million men is being raised in India which will be fully equipped by modern war-industries newly established there. If this plan succeeds, we have no doubt that even after the German occupation of England, the British Empire will carry on the war, using India as the base.
America is now playing an increasing role in the internal politics of Oriental countries, e.g., of China, where she has brought about an agreement between Chiang Kai-shek and the Chinese Communist Party. [This may refer to press reports published in Japanese-occupied China at the end of July regarding an alleged agreement between the Chinese Government and the Communists according to which the latter would disband parts of their armed forces in return for subsidies paid by the Government. Cf. Foreign Relations of the United States, 1941, vol. V. pp. 533-536.] With a new American Minister and an American Military Attaché in India. America will also play a role in the internal politics of India. [Announcement of an agreement regarding the reciprocal exchange of representatives between the United States and India was released to the press on July 21. The nomination of Thomas M. Wilson and Commissioner of the United States to India with rank of Minister was confirmed by the Senate on July 24. See Department of State, Bulletin, 1941, vol. V, p. 74.] And if America succeeds in bringing about a similar compromise between Gandhi and the British Government, the position of the party standing for Independence and Revolution will be greatly weakened.
There is still time to save the situation in India, but if there is further delay in issuing the declaration regarding Indian Independence, I am afraid it will become extremely difficult for us to win over the Indian people to the side of the Axis. Once the majority of the Indian people go over definitely to the Soviet-British-American side, the declaration will no longer have any value for India.
Further, if there is no declaration regarding Indian Independence, the nearer the German armies move towards India, the more hostile will the Indian people become towards Germany. The march of the German troops towards the East will be regarded as the approach, not of a friend, but of an enemy.
If, therefore, the declaration is to come at all, it should come before the German armies are moving further eastwards.
The new Anglo-Soviet guarantee to Turkey indicates that the British attack on Iran is imminent. [See Document No. 238 and footnote 3.] The road to Afghanistan which has been open all these months will be cut after the British occupy Iran and it will then be difficult for us to work out our plans regarding India. With Iran under British occupation, there will be one solid bloc under British control, stretching from the Mediterranean to Burma. The work in the Tribal Territory and in India will then be much more difficult than before.
The joint announcement made by President Roosevelt and Prime Minister Churchill regarding their programme of post-war reconstruction has been interpreted by the London radio to mean that India will get her freedom after the war. [See Document No. 209.]America has also decided to negotiate directly with the Dominions on outstanding problems of common interest, independently of Britain. All these facts further confirm the view that America, will in future, intervene in the internal affairs of the British Empire and in consequence thereof, a compromise between Gandhi and the British Government appears highly probable in the near future.
I fully realise the complexity of your problem and I certainly cannot expect Your Excellency to do anything for India, which may be considered prejudicial to your national interest. But India stands today at one of the cross-roads of her history and the situation there is deteriorating from day today. If, therefore, we are to be effective in our work for India, we must act at once. I would, therefore, beg Your Excellency not to leave us in suspense any longer but to come to an early decision, whatever that decision may be.
Thanking Your Excellency,
Yours respectfully,

SUBHAS CHANDRA BOSE

From: US Department of State. Documents on German Foreign Policy, 1918-1945. Series D (1937-1945). Vol. XIII. The War Years June 23-December 11, 1941. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1964, 328-29

Communists acted as stooges and spies of the British Government: R C Majumder

When the Second World War began, because of the Stalin-Hitler Pact, the Communists found themselves on the same side as Nazi Germany. They were ordered by Stalin to support Hitler’s war as a war against imperialist countries like Britain and France. When Germany attacked Russia in June 1941, the Indian Communists made a 180-degree turn and began supporting the British! This meant working against national leaders like Gandhi and Subhas Bose, who were seen as enemies of the British. The great historian R.C. Majumdar wrote:
"During the great national upsurge of 1942, the Communists acted as stooges and spies of the British Government… Mr. Joshi (of the Communist Party) was placing at the disposal of India the services of his Party Members… Joshi had, as General Secretary of the Party, written a letter in which he offered ‘unconditional help’ to the then Government of India and the Army GHQ to fight the 1942 underground workers and the Azad Hind Fauz (INA) of Subhas Chandra Bose… Joshi’s letter revealed that the CPI was receiving financial aid from the British Government, had a secret pact with the Muslim League…"
As part of their pact with the Muslim League, the Communists openly supported the demand for Pakistan, "but went much further by saying that every linguistic group in India had a distinct nationality and was entitled … to secede." After independence, the Communists struck a deal with the Nizam’s Government in Hyderabad and joined hands with the Razakars to fight Hyderabad’s accession to India with Pakistan’s help. When Sardar Patel sent troops into Hyderabad, Kasim Rizvi ran away to Pakistan, handing over the bulk of his guns and other arms to the Communists. The Communists kept up an armed insurrection in the Telengana region for a few years until ordered to stop by the Soviet dictator Stalin.
The Communists supported China’s attack on India and 1962 and also the Chinese nuclear tests, while vehemently opposing India’s successful tests at Pokharan. It is this formidable record of treachery that the Communist intellectuals are trying to erase by controlling institutions like the ICHR, NIEPA and NCERT. They have now joined hands with the Sonia Congress in a desperate struggle for survival.

Kerala state govt prepared to handover CUSAT to Centre

With the Centre's proposal for upgrading the varsity into an IndianInstitute of Engineering, Science and Technology (IIEST) pending, theState Government is moving towards handing over the varsity to theCentre, though it is engaged in hard bargaining to make the Centreagree to certain conditions put forward by it.
... ... ...
''The Centre is not averse to having a nominee of the State Governmentin the three-member panel to select the director.The State may also be given five members in the 17-member board of governors, in place of the three members proposed now.The talks are deadlocked on the demand for a 50 percent quota forMalayali students,'' sources said.

Washington Post on Netaji (2005)

"Bose wrote that 'Gandhi wants to change human beings, and all I want to do is free India' ", informs Benegal in an interview.

Guardian's May 2006 report on Netaji Commission

The Guardian report of May 18, 2006 has two notable points:

1. Justice Mukherjee told the Guardian, "As he would be 108 today, I have no doubt Bose is dead but he did not die in a plane crash."
(Justice Mukherjee's conclusion is purely based on average lifespan consideration and is not supported by any evidence.)
2. "He was a very clever man and a good bloke. I had a lot of time for him,"Hugh Toye, the former British intelligence officer whose job it was to track down Bose, told the Guardian. "If we had caught him he would have been sentenced to death though. I still think he died in the plane crash."
(Toye's remarks pointing towards British plan of trial as war criminal.)

Subhas Bose in Bengal in 1924: Mihir Bose

Mihir Bose investigates the case of Subhas Chandra Bose in Bengal in 1924 to show what can happen when a government is able to lock people up on the suspicion of terrorism.

.... ....
Jallian Wala Bagh picture in the document (source: http://www.amritsar.com/Jallian%20Wala%20Bagh.shtml)

Indian Legion Stamps

Some Azad Hind stamps on display at this site.

Netaji and INA : from Ranjan Borra article

.... ..... .....
For the INA the importance of the Imphal campaign was that it was the only major battle in which it would participate with the object of achieving freedom for India. As Salto and Hayashida writes:
The Imphal Operation was the final offensive of the East Asia War, mounted by three Burma-based Japanese divisions, and one INA division. The campaign lasted from 15 March to 9 July 1944. The operation has often been compared to the operation Wacht am Rhein or the Battle of the Bulge, which was the final all-out drive launched by Germany towards Ardennes on the Western Front, from December 1944 to January 1945. Both operations al most succeeded and both are termed "gambles" by historians today. If the German push towards Ardennes was Wacht am Rhein, the Japanese-Indian thrust against Imphal might be called "Wacht am Chindwin" although the official Japanese code-name for the action was most prosaic: Operation "U".[33]
River Chindwin lay across the Indo-Burmese border, and its crossing from the east by an army would signal an invasion of India.
Execution orders for Operation U became operative on 7 January 1944, coinciding with completion of the shifting of the Provisional Government headquarters in Rangoon. In the evening of the same day, Lt. General Masakazy Kawabe, commanding the overall Burma headquarters, held a welcome party in honor of Netaji and his staff officers. Netaji spoke, and concluded his speech with these words. "My only prayer to the Almighty at this moment is that we may be given the earliest opportunity to pay for our freedom with our own blood.',34 One INA Division, named after Netaji as Sublias Regiment, was readied for action at the front with the Japanese. Toye writes.
... He spent the whole days... with the Subhas Regiment, reviewing, watching it at exercises and on parade, talking to its officers, exerting his magic on it in a way that he had not attempted before. These were his comrades, the men by whose means he would uphold the rights and honour of India. Everything depended on their achievement in battle; they must absorb all his feelings of confidence, feel the whole of his personal force. On 3 February he bade them farewell: "Blood is calling for blood. Arise! We have no time to lose. Take up your arms. There in front of you is the road. our pioneers have built. We shall march along that road. We shall carve our way through enemy's ranks, or, if God wills, we shall die a martyr's death. And in our last sleep we shall kiss the road which will bring our Army to Delhi. The road to Delhi is the road to Freedom. On to Delhi!"

Netaji Subhas: Prof. Satadru Sen's account

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After the Imphal defeat, the Japanese retreated steadily through Burma and into Malaya, pursued by British and colonial Indian troops. The INA retreated with them. This retreat, ironically, brought Out Bose's best qualities as a leader. On the long trek from Burma to Bankok, followed closely by British tanks and under frequent attack from the air, he marched for days on end, refusing the offer of a car while his men had to walk. Throughout the march, he made sure that INA troops had proper food and medical care. In the chaos of the retreat, Bose was their best protection, and everybody knew it. Without him, the Japanese would have been only too eager to abandon the INA.

.... .... .... .....

Netaji notes on World Association of Intl Studies website (Stanford Univ.)

Interresting comments found on this Stanford University link:

....the rapid advance of Japanese troops was a sort of racial payback time for the white man. There is some good reason to say that by kicking out the British or Dutch, the Japanese actually speeded up the decolonization process. In fact, pro-Japan “independence” leaders sprang up all over Asia after the Japanese expansion. Today most of their names ar forgotten. In India, it was Subhas Chandra Bose, in Cambodia, Son Ngoc Thanh, the list is long, Indonesia, Vietnam etc.

Glynn Wood writes: Readers should know that Rajan Borra was a member of Subhas Chandra Bose’s Indian National Army that fought against the Allies in World War II. Borra was the long time head of the South Asia collection at the Library of Congress, and (on his own) held an annual conference on Bose. The thrust of the conference was that Bose had not been killed in an air crash in Taiwan in 1945, but would come back when Bengal needed him. ... ... ...

Some more links:
Sources:http://library.flawlesslogic.com/bose_1.htmhttp://library.flawlesslogic.com/And on the “revisionist” site Journal of Historical Review:http://www.ihr.org/jhr/v03/v03p407_Borra.ht

A Slide Show on Netaji Subhas

This slide show contains exclusive images of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uSyGjun_tgc...related&search=

Link taken from missionnetaji.org forum

Khosla Commission Witness Spoke of Netaji's Entering Russia

"Shyam Lal Jain, the confidential secretary of Asaf Ali, who was the secretary to INA Defence Committee told the Khosla Commission under oath that on 26 or 27 December 1945 he was summoned to Ali's residence by Nehru. Jain alleged that Pandit Nehru had asked him make typed copies of a hand- written note that said Bose had reached Russia via Diren. He also alleged that Pandit Nehru asked him to type a letter to British Prime Minister Atlee, that " Bose, your war criminal, has been allowed to enter Russian territory by Stalin. This is a clear treachery and betrayal of faith by Russians, as Russia has been an ally of the British-Americans. Please take note of it and do what you consider proper and fit." Though this information was not challenged before the Commission, Justice Khosla chose not to attach any importance to it. One wonders why."

An Indian Ambassador was allowed to meet Bose -- on the condition that he would not try to speak to him. When the Ambassador wondered about what to do in case Bose wished to speak to him, "he was told that it has been taken care of," … A rather ominous bit of hospitality. -- Reported in Hindustan Times dated 4 March 2001.

"But when a well-known researcher contacted Mikhael Gorbachev, the former premier evaded a direct answer, and is alleged to have said it was up to both governments (Russia and India) to solve the issue once and for all.A former head of the Foreign Security Service (the old KGB) has indicated to a prominent researcher that files in Russian archives do contain detailed information -- but the onus is on the Indian Government to show more interest."

MHRD speaks of Govt decision on IIEST / IISET

MHRD press release of April 10, 2007 says:
"We have also decided, in principle, to provide assistance towards upgradation of 5 Engineering Colleges to the level of an IIT, and name them as Indian Institutes of Science and Engineering Technology, subject to the concurrence of the concerned State Governments to hand them over to Central Government for declaring them as Institutes of National Importance."

Points to be noted:
1. MHRD considers Indian Institutes of Science and Engineering Technology (IISET) instead of Indian Institutes of Engineering Science and Technology (IIEST). Perhaps this is because because of XI plan's stress on Sc Education.
2. ITBHU being under centre itself, may be readily converted to IISET. Perhaps AP will concur in no time. CUSAT has long been posing itself as would-be IIEST (but what Kerala govt will now negotiate is unknown). So IISET will hopefully start to function soon with at least three institutes. Can WB then be far behind in giving concurrence?
3. 2007-08 budget keeps allocations for the 3 new IITs, 1 new IISER and another new IIM. But no provision for IISET/IIEST funding in budget. However, XI plan Working Group Report on Higher Education does have provision of Rs 2100 Cr for 'Upgradation of 5 Technological Institutes'.

Nandigram killings : Get informed

Updates:

For some photographs and video clips visit here:http://nandigramlalsalam.blogspot.com/index.html

Media reports /Factual Information
March 14 , till end March 2007

-14 villagers in Nandigram killed in police firing on march 14th, when around 3000 policemen and many CPM cadre moved in to occupy the area.
-Newspaper reports put the death toll between 6 and 32

-Intellectuals and artists protested strongly

Background info

22,500 acres of land to be acquired for chemical hub SEZ by multi-national salim group of indonesia.
On 2 January 2007, a notice was officially issued by HDA that initially about 14,500 acres of land in Nandigram.
Clashes between people and police and CPM cadre on 3rd Jan.
Since then violent incidents have been frequent, and the villagers have put up stiff resistance. (Medha Patkar's report )
Social activists had already warned of a growing build-up of CPM cadre and policemen around Nandigram.
Krishi Bhumi Uchched Virodhi Samiti is the organisation of the villagers. The Trinamul Congress, main opposition party, is externally supporting it.
Nandigram is a predominantly Muslim area and an erstwhile CPM support zone. Muslim organisations were among the first to get active.

CPM's perspective
Official CPM statements: 1. what happened 2. press statement 3. Buddhuda's assembly speech
"Anarchy would not be tolerated and would be crushed with a heavy hand." --Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, CM of West Bengal on March 11.
"This is no way to run a coalition regime. Things are being decided unilaterally," says Jyoti Basu, CPM big-shot and ex-CM of WB.
CPM version: http://www.outlookindia.com/full.asp?fodname=20070316&fname=kolkatakorner&sid=2
CPM claims (press statement ) that Trinamool Congress workers were fighting the police in Nandigram. Independent media reports do not corroborate this claim.

Links:-
Editors' Choice
For a detailed account, see Sanjay Sangvai's report: http://www.kafila.org/2007/03/15/nandigram-update-from-sanjay-sangvai/
Biases in the media http://www.thehoot.org/story.asp?storyid=Web5917617143Hoot120527%20PM2517&pn=1
reports from various sources: http://sanhati.com/home/hpart_new1.htm
Lots of updates daily and videos from unbiased sources: http://sacredmediacow.com/?cat=44


News Reports (larger issue of Nandigram SEZ and response)
MASUM fact-finding report: http://www.ahrchk.net/ua/mainfile.php/2006/2113/
resistance news: http://www.sanhati.com/resistanceNews.htm
reports from various sources: http://sanhati.com/home/hpart_new1.htm

News Reports (14th march police firing) and reactions
Violent censorship of press: http://www.calcuttaweb.com/nandigram.shtml (original in bengali )
Monobina gupta's account: http://www.kafila.org/2007/03/14/monobina-gupta-on-nandigram-and-the-cpm-whitewash/
Sanjai Sangvai's report: http://www.kafila.org/2007/03/15/nandigram-update-from-sanjay-sangvai/
CPM terrorizes journalists: Times of India report
historian couple returns award: http://singur-singur.blogspot.com/2007/03/nandigram-was-more-shocking-than.html
Leftist intellectuals protest: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/40495.html
List of news: http://singur-singur.blogspot.com/2007/03/that-night-in-nandigram.html
BBC 1: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6452733.stm
BBC 2: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6457147.stm
Amnesty: http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGASA200082007
I fled but my brother is missing: http://www.rediff.com/news/2007/mar/15nand8.htm
Buddha-bashing: http://www.outlookindia.com/full.asp?fodname=20070316&fname=kolkatakorner&sid=1
Poetry: http://cuckooscall.blogspot.com/2007/03/nandigram-joy-goswami.html See the video here: http://youtube.com/watch?v=nDMJ3YrzDmQ
Arms and ammo recovered in a CPM base near nandigram: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/41380.html
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Women_of_Nandigram_allege_rape_by_securitymen/articleshow/1775833.cms
The centre will not back out from the SEZ plans : Kamal Nath.
Criticism of Hindu's reports: By a blogger,
Articles/Analysis/blogs/well-researched reports
fact-finding report: http://www.sanhati.com/res/resdoc2.pdf
NAPM Report of the larger issue: http://www.kafila.org/2007/02/27/napm-report-to-nandigram-via-singur/
Criticism from the left: http://www.wsws.org/articles/2007/jan2007/beng-j26.shtml
Medha patkar's report: http://www.kafila.org/2007/03/15/medha-patkar-on-civil-war-in-nandigram/
The left is split
History and reality of CPI(M) in west bengal (Vir Sanghvi): http://www.hindustantimes.in/news/181_1953035,00300001.htm
interesting personal opinion: http://www.writingcave.com/the-nandigram-killings/
The CBI probe into the Nandigram incidents has already yielded significant results as CPM flags and leaflets have been confiscated from the area. http://www.ndtv.com/template/template.asp?template=nandigramviolence&slug=CBI+finds+CPM+flags+at+Nandigram&id=21649&callid=0&category=National
The reality of CPI(M) in Bengal: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/2007-March/008850.html


Action initiatives
Online petition: http://petitions.aidindia.org/nandigram/index.php
Online Petition: http://www.petitiononline.com/nandigra/petition.html
local resistance: http://www.sanhati.com/resistanceNews.htm

Revisiting the JMC report on Netaji death theories

Article published on the MissionNetaji website, 15 March, 2007
(follow the link to reach the page)

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Apart from the question of alleged death in air crash, the other questions Justice Mukherjee Commission (JMC) attempted to answer to were:

1. Are the ashes kept in Renkoji temple ashes of Netaji?
2. Has he died in any other manner? If so, when and how?
3. Is Netaji still alive? If so, where is he?

To the first question, JMC categorically stated that the ashes are not of Netaji. As both the Taihoku air crash and the Renkoji ashes are parts of the same story, rejection of the former led to the rejection of the latter as well. After this rejection by a commission of inquiry, Government will not dare to propose bringing in the Renkoji ashes any more, in spite of its disagreement with the JMC report. And, here started another dilemma for the Government: whether to keep on paying for the ashes or to dispose them off somehow!

To the third question also, JMC answered in the negative. It reasoned that in answering the question ‘probability,’ rather than ‘possibility’, played the decisive role. While, for a mortal being, living beyond 100 years is possible and established, it’s more probable that a man will die before that age, given the average Indian life span of about 70 years. It needs mere common sense to say that neither ‘probability’ nor ‘possibility’ can replace evidence, either material or circumstantial. And no such evidences were put forward in support of the conclusive remark. Rather, all the death theories placed before the commission had been rejected. Moreover, when the life concerned is of Netaji (or of any other revolutionist fighter-leader), average life and death parameters do hardly apply. This is not to say that Netaji is alive but to reiterate the absence of conclusive proof in support of either death or living existence. In absence of concrete evidence or conclusive proof, one can, at best, make an assumption.

There exist a few stories about his coming back to the country in the disguise of a monk. The commission didn’t neglect any of them and investigated all such cases. The commission dealt with the comeback stories while examining the different versions related to the death of the leader. Apart from ‘death in air crash’ version, the commission examined four other versions of his death, all four talking about death on Indian soil. (Interestingly, the versions received by the commission didn’t include a death-in-Russia story.) While the commission dismissed three of the four, it could not really dismiss the one that talked about death in Faizabad. It could not accept the Faizabad death theory either. The death-in-Faizabad story concerns one Bhawanji alias Gumnami Baba alias Dasnami Sanyasi. Evidences suggest that some renowned people from Bengal used to pay clandestine visits to the sage and write letters to him. Notable among them were Pabitra Mohan Roy (INA secret service chief), Samar Guha (a professor and MP), Sunil Krishna Gupta (brother of Dinesh Gupta) and Lila Roy (Netaji’s one-time co-activist). A number of persons who deposed before the Justice Mukherjee Commission claimed that Bhawanji was none other than Netaji. A few of them had seen Netaji before 1945 and also met Bhawanji. While the JMC found no apparent reasons for not acting on or relying upon evidences of such witnesses, it could not make any conclusive statement as ‘other formidable facts and circumstances’ come in its way of accepting such evidences. The two apparent and strong evidences that go against the hypothesis are the ones dealing with the handwriting analysis and the DNA test on the teeth. But the reports that came from Government organizations on the handwritings as well as the DNA tests can always be doubted. Notable is the fact that a noted handwriting expert, Shri B Lal, an Ex-Government Examiner of Questioned Document, opined firmly that the handwritings of Gumnami Baba are indeed those of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose. On reading the commission’s report one would wonder whether JMC was about to accept, relying on the reliable oral and documentary evidences, that Gumnami Baba was indeed Netaji, had there been no Government reports on the handwritings and the DNA testing. (Notable, though is the point that mere establishment of Gumnami Baba’s identity doesn’t necessarily prove the death-in-Faizabad theory.) It is for the future to give a final verdict on the question and we have to wait to see whether the supporting oral and documentary evidences can overtake the disapproving Government reports.

15 March, 2007

Letter to the President from a teacher of West Bengal

Date: March 14, 2007

Hon’ble President of India

Words from a teacher of West Bengal

Sir,

Today, I was to plead before you seeking your intervention in the issue of the upgradation of my home University to an INI/IIEST at a time when the institute’s much deserved and recommended conversion seemed to meet a political blockade while the Government continued with declarations of new IITs, IIM and IISER at other places.

Suddenly I found myself losing words about the INI/IIEST issue as I witnessed on TV a big contingent of armed policemen marching towards a gathering of innocent rural people, women and children among them standing in the front. Shortly came into the focus a few bloodstained bodies, dead or half-dead, of women and children being carried away by a few others. The police are of this free country and the people are also of the same very free country. A country that, we say, has the biggest democracy on earth! The place is Nandigram, a village in the rural Bengal, where a pro-people, communism-preaching party leads the Government for thirty long years. An area which, as per the version of none other than the Chairman of the ruling Left Front, remained out of the state’s administrative control for some time.

And me, a servant of an Indian State, a teacher of a University of the state of West Bengal, destined to write to the President about the atrocities of the State that he serves. God knows who is more ill fated; my state or me? Or, my country that has got two most-learned, most qualified, most revered and perhaps most loved persons at the top two positions?

A few recent incidents made me thought a lot. But I am not wise enough to find an answer yet to the question: what public interest is served in horrifying public by implementing or threatening immediate acquisition of lands that they peacefully plough or reside in? Perhaps I will remain ever-stupid and will never understand how a state can acquire so much of cropping land so hurriedly and so securely, as it happened in Singur, snatching out from so many poor men and women for handing over to so big an industrial house like Tata, that is so private an enterprise. I get puzzled when I see that lands for projects like the Metro Railway lines or highways or bridges or flyovers take years and even decades to take over by the state, for the state and sometimes from the state. I cannot understand how a state preaches magical uplift of poor population simply by inviting Tatas or Salims to places where the Government failed to provide the people with safe drinking water, food grain, habitable habitat and electricity in six long decades after independence.

It’s true that the State of West Bengal has ushered into an era of no-discussion, non-consensus governance by a select few, advised by another select few where popular opinions hardly matter in issues of immense state importance. If one looks from Singur to Nandigram, from IT to real estate, from film festival to cricket, from book fair to environment, it’s the same rigidity, same intransigence and same audacity that prevail.

I believe some of the state affairs are equally disturbing for your mind, as for mine. I also know you have your own compulsions and commitments that may come in the way of expressing your mind to your people or the Government.

I’m aware that removing a popular Government is no good. Future Governments can even be worse. But still, containing atrocities by the State to the people of the State is a necessity, in whatever ways possible or feasible. So I, as a mere citizen, would request you to see what you can do about these atrocities.

Lastly, to establish my political non-affiliation, I would only state that I never cast a vote in this democracy, in spite of your public advice in favour of doing so. And, I still find no reason to ask for a voter identity card while I have my Indian Passport, issued under order of none other than the President of the Republic of India.

I remain
yours faithfully,

Dr. Sudip Ghosh

Lecturer (Sr), Department of Mechanical Engineering

Bengal Engineering And Science University, Shibpur

Howrah 711103, West Bengal, INDIA

Ph +91 33 2668 4561-63, 0521-25 Ext 288/279Fax +91 33 2668 4564/2916

E-mail: sudipghosh.becollege@gmail.com, ghoshsudip_2000@rediffmail.com, ghoshsudip@mech.becs.ac.in

Personal webpage: www.freewebs.com/ghoshsudip

WHY DID INDIA NEED TO BURY NETAJI BEFORE HIS DEATH?

Article published on the MissionNetaji website, 31 Jan, 2007 (follow the link to reach the page)
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After Justice Mukherjee Commission (JMC), it’s the Central Information Commission (CIC) with whom lay the hopes of millions of Indians of finding the truth about the mystery surrounding the disappearance of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, the greatest freedom fighter of this not-so-great country. While Mukherjee Commission could establish beyond reasonable doubt the truth about the falsehood of the myth of Netaji’s death in the August 18 air crash in 1945, a number of questions still remain unanswered. What happened to Netaji on that fateful day of 1945? Could he reach his destination? Did he end up in Russian prison? Did he really come back? Where and how did he die? Has he died at all? Did Nehru know his whereabouts and mislead the countrymen? Who else knew? What ‘contemporary official records’ prompted Prime Minister Morarji Desai to express doubt on the floor of the house about the findings of the earlier two enquiry panels? Why are Netaji papers ‘Top Secret’ in his own free country even after a lapse of more than 60 years? The answers still evade the people of this country.

In his report, Justice Mukherjee spent quite a number of pages in describing the actions and responses of various government departments and contradictions in their statements. A good number of documents contained in various classified government files could not see the daylight in spite of the commission’s efforts to uncover them. Even the records and documents placed before the earlier Khosla Commission were not furnished before the present commission. On affidavit, home ministry official made false statement saying no papers or files related to Netaji or INA were held by cabinet secretariat, IB or RAW. Around the same time PMO official confessed in writing that some classified documents on Netaji held by PMO were destroyed in 1972 (Khosla commission inquiry was in mid-way at that time). The non-cooperation of Govt. of India in the process of Commission’s investigation, Justice Mukherjee noted in no unclear terms, had ‘put a spoke in the wheel of this enquiry’. This non-cooperation with the commission has been there all along, right from the constitution of the commission to its final days of enquiry. The notable fact about this is that both the earlier BJP led NDA Govt. and the subsequent Cong led UPA Govt. were equally non-cooperative, a puzzle that needs to solved to understand why almost every file pertaining to Netaji remains ‘Top Secret’ in his own motherland 60 years after the independence.

The report of the commission was tabled on the house of the Parliament only days before the closing of the May session in 2006, six months after its submission in November 2005. There was no debate in the house at all and the Government played it safe in rejecting outright the JMC report without sparing a single word in support of its stand. Justice Mukherjee’s finding went against the findings of two earlier enquiry panels and concluded that there happened no air crash at all on that day of August at Taihoku, which could take the life of Netaji. By rejecting the report the Government, in a way, reiterated its acceptance of the earlier two reports of Shah Nawaz Committee and Khosla Commission. However, the evidences that the JMC gathered, in rejecting the air crash theory, have their own strength and will therefore find acceptance amongst general public, no matter what the Government’s stand is. Sooner or later the Government has also to concede to the finding.

It’s sheer coincidence that the year of enactment of Right to Information (RTI) Act is the same as the year of submission of the JMC report. It’s this RTI Act under which information have recently been sought from the Central Government on the classified and destroyed files. In response to an appeal made by Mission Netaji, the Indian Government has come out with an even more interesting and stunning statement. It said in its response that the contents of several classified files on Netaji could not be disclosed because such disclosure would affect the country’s relationship with other foreign country. The same stand was earlier taken by the GOI when JMC asked for the classified Netaji files. In its reply to the JMC, the Home Ministry had further stated that the disclosure would hurt the sentiment of the people, evoke widespread public reaction and lower the public image of the great leader. The Government sought relief under section 8(1) of the RTI Act, which allows secrecy on matters having bearing upon the nation’s sovereignty and security. When the matter reached the CIC, the commissioner, however, asked the center to furnish detailed list of documents held by various central ministries and departments.

Right we must have to the information on Netaji. One may wonder how the hell may break loose should the Netaji papers made public and how the disclosure of information about a national leader could pose threat to national security or jeopardize relationship with other countries! Even if it is assumed that Netaji had been a subject of negotiation of any sort among the allied powers or between the Governments of India and any other country in the post-war phase, the extreme secrecy on the Government’s part about every Netaji-related matter for such a prolonged period can’t be explained. For example, the apparent trivial matter of expenditure incurred on account of maintenance of alleged Netaji ashes in Renkoji temple. The fact that the Indian Government has been paying, and keeps on paying, the Renkoji authorities a handsome amount, has been and still is a closely guarded secret – a matter discussed only by the cabinet and that too as a confidential item on the agenda.

There are reasons to believe that the Government’s desperate efforts in maintaining secrecy of the highest level in Netaji-related matters has something to do with hiding some ugly faces or acts, not to uphold the Netaji stature or the nation’s security. But despite all that secrecy and destroying of vital papers, more and more information started coming out, notably from sources external to the Government and from abroad. It now appears that the key persons in Indian Government had the knowledge of the falsehood of the air crash report from the very beginning but the false was imposed upon the people of this country as truth. What was once Japan’s need, became India’s requirement. Japan needed the death story to save Netaji in the ensuing hours of capitulation and to make safe passage for him. India needed the same death story to bury him alive, to prevent his resurrection. The billion-dollar question is: why did India need to bury its greatest freedom fighter before his death?

Dr. Sudip Ghosh Jan 31, 2007