Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Read online

  Thus if Bose returned by a miracle from Moscow, he would not mind whether his brand of Leftism was correctly interpreted or how badly he was placed among the radical ideologues, he would have began executing his goals.

  A lonely Bose, NG Jog said he was a ‘Man of Destiny, if there was ever one…’ would have ignored them all and walked his way.

  For Jog says, ‘What is the mark of a man of destiny? That he is born with a mission. That he creates his own milieu to fulfil it. That he infuses others with his own faith and purpose, makes them embrace poverty, suffering, death itself for the cause. That he writes his will across the lives of millions.

  All this Netaji did.’ N G Jog, In Freedom’s Quest, p 342

  Interview

  You cannot blame Stalin alone

  ‘Y

  ou cannot blame Stalin alone for Bose’s fate,’

  says Dr Roy.

  Dr Purabi Roy a Russian language expert and The Asiatic Society scholar, also happens to be a Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose activist. She, in line with the efforts of several top Indian politicians, dug up definite clues regarding the most feared Indian revolutionary’s end in the former Stalinist Soviet Union.

  Dr Roy spoke to this present writer though we have shades of difference, especially on Stalin, but she shared some of the realisations from her research on what could have happened to Bose, in a candid manner. Ironically, Roy somehow avoided mentioning in her book The Search for Netaji: New Findings that Bose lost his life in Soviet Union.

  Though she has written a very revealing book, during this interview, she shared something beyond the revelations she has made in her book. She, who has traversed many lands including Russia, had deposed before the Justice Mukherjee Commission on several occasions, and her focus has always been on Bose in Russia after 18 August 1945.

  Santanu Banerjee/Author

  Question: Madam, could you tell us the difficulties you faced when you researched Bose’s connection with Russia after 1945?

  Answer: I faced problems such as non-cooperation from the governments of UK and India. However, interestingly I didn’t face many problems in Russia when I tried to enter their archives, barring the ones which needed me to be endorsed by the government of India.

  The more dangerous problems were the offers of money, setting bullying journalists after me, and then of course, threats over the telephone.

  When they failed to stop me, they wanted to know the publisher’s and printer’s name. I was very cautious and didn’t reveal the name of the printer. The lady who published my book handled it very wisely.

  Finally, there were the government-sponsored historians and scholars who questioned my integrity and capability.

  Question: Well, keep as it is this has been the reaction from India, could you tell us how the Russian authorities have reacted to your research.

  Answer: Not as yet. But to quote a very ancient Sanskrit proverb – maunatin sanmati laksham (silence often proves that either you are supporting it or you know it).

  However, my research has fetched me recognition and welcome in Europe, especially in Germany and among Russian scholars. I was invited to German universities to deliver lectures on South East Asia with special reference to Bose.

  In this context, I would like to refer to a new awakening in Japan regarding another Bose. Recently, a scholar wrote a wonderful biography on revolutionary Rash Behari Bose who was also involved in the making of the Indian National Army (INA) in South East Asia.

  They were silent all these years because of pressure from US administration, but now they are slowly coming out.

  Question: Did you ask your Japanese friends if they are trying to come up with a fresh study on Subhas Bose?

  Answer: They told me unless Tojo and Fujiwara’s documents are declassified, it may not be possible.

  Question: Now coming to some of the revelations that you made in the last chapter of your book, quoting a Russian scholar who wrote: ‘India’s Garibaldi halted at Siberia?’ Could you tell us exactly what he wrote?

  Ans: It was in last chapter that I tried to gather the reactions and responses of the Russian scholars about Bose following perestroika and glasnosts. I have these articles. If readers want, I can translate and give it to them.

  All I wanted was to leave glimpses into what happened after the great opening up in Russia.

  However, let us not forget that after the Swedish government’s persistent inquiries about its diplomat Raoul Wallenberg, Russia had to admit their hand in the diplomat’s disappearance, after fifty-six years! Of course, the Swedish government wanted to know about Raoul’s fate, while in India they do not.

  Ques: Madam though there wasn’t any mention in your book, what do you think actually led to the breaking down of negotiations between Bose and Stalin? There was a British historian, Michael Edwardes, who, in book Last Years of British India, gave us an insight into the British mind. They feared an immediate Soviet intervention, if they left India just like that. Did the physical exhaustion and inability of the Soviet Union just after the war, forced Stalin ignoring Bose?

  Ans: If you consider the scenario just after the war, we have reason to believe that Bose was escorted by Douglas MacArthur to the Russian border. MacArthur was then stationed in the Philippines, in Manila. There were talks that Bose was brought to his camp.

  There were also talks that finally MacArthur had ordered the execution of Bose.

  However, no research could be conclusive unless his diary was seen. And it isn’t available. If the American commander of South East Asia took Bose to Russia, there was an understanding between the two emerging superpowers, as Bose was the most important post-war revolutionary to affect the superpowers’ interest for the Allies.

  So you cannot blame Stalin alone as he gave Bose the refuge from British hounds. And unfortunately, he died in 1953, though his death wasn’t above suspicion either.

  Besides MacArthur escorting Bose to the Russian border, Stalin never quite liked the fact that India was Partitioned.***

  The records that we have, prove this, as he always referred to Pakistan as the western part of India, and East Pakistan as the eastern part of India.

  There are also records to show the latter asking Left-leaning Muslim comrades from India in 1949-50s to go to Pakistan and create a popular opinion against Pakistan.

  Apparently, they were put behind bars, and it was Nehru who got them released from Pakistani jails. As Stalin passed away in March 1953, it wasn’t possible for both Soviet Union and Stalin to intervene in India just after the war.

  Ques: So it implies Bose’s misery began after Stalin’s death? According to you, who else in India knew about Bose’s fate,other than Nehru?

  Ans: Yes (Bose’s misery began after Stalin’s death). All top CPI leaders, especially those who visited Moscow in the early 1950s, knew it. For example, A S Dange, Ajoy Ghosh, and Basuphunnia knew it. They had detailed discussions with Stalin regarding Bose. A recorded version was with Dange’s daughter. When I requested her to release it, she refused. Dange and Bose had actually been friends. When PC Joshi had attacked Bose when Bose joined the Axis powers, Dange had tried to defend his friend. The recorded version of their discussion with Stalin about Bose remains the most sensitive part of this mystery.

  Secondly, Stalin would never open any dialogue with Nehru despite Indian Prime Minister’s his best efforts.

  Santanu Banerjee 12 11 2012

  ***Stalin didn’t like the Partition as Dr Roy revealed. It was proven in my chapters Bose in Russian Hand and When Thunder Spoke, that Bose had successfully convinced Stalin that the Partition was a superfluous political arrangement which both demagogues, Nehru and Jinnah had agreed to as well as helped the British with.

  Bibliographical references

  1.Books and documents by Subhas Chandra Bose.

  2.An Indian Pilgrim (an unfinished autobiography), Thacker, Spink & Co, 1948.

  3.The Indian Struggle, Asia Publishing House, New Delhi.

&
nbsp; 4.Patrabali (collection of Bengali letters) Vol I & Vol II, Netaji Research Bureau,

  5.Selected Speeches of Subhas Chandra Bose,

  6.Publication Division, Government of India.

  7.Through Congress Eyes, Kitabistan, Allahabad & London, date not mentioned must be in late 1940s.

  8.Crossroads (a collection of articles and political letters 1938-1940), Second Edition, 1981, Netaji Research Bureau.

  9.A collections of Articles, The Indian Printing Works, Lahore, date not mentioned, may be in early 1940s.

  10.Forward Bloc, in Vol I & Vol II, (collection of articles in Bose’s Forward Bloc daily which British Government banned, by Forward Bloc Party’s publication division, 2009.

  11.Bose’s Speeches and Writings, with commentary by J S Bright, Lahore, 1945.

  12.Why Forward Bloc, a political thesis by Bose about the party he launched after he was forced out by Gandhi and his men in 1939 despite former wishes. By Netaji Research Bureau, Calcutta, 1975.

  Books and documents by other authors:

  13.A J P Taylor, Origins of the Second World War, Penguin Books, 1991.

  14.Arthur Herman, Gandhi & Churchill, Arrow Books, 2008.

  15.Ashok Mehata and Achyut Patwardhan, The Communal Triangle, Kitabstan, Allahabad, 1942.

  16.Brothers Against Raj, interview of author by Santanu Banerjee, Patriot, (1st April, 1990).

  17.Communist Party of India, M R Masni, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, 1976.

  18.Abul Kalam Azad, India Wins Freedom, 1989.

  19.Bunch of Old Letters, Publication Division.

  20.Chattar Singh Samra, Leadership and Political Institutions in India.

  21.Dr Girija K Mookherjee, Subhas Chandra Bose, Publication Division, Government of India, 1975.

  22.Dr Purabi Roy, The Search For Netaji: New Findings, People Peacock Books & Art Private Ltd, Kolkota, 2011.

  23.Hiren Mukherjee, Bow of Burning Gold, People’s Publishing House, 1977.

  24.Louis Fischer, A week with Gandhi, 2011 paperback edition.

  25.Madan Gopal, Life And Times of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, Vikas Publishing House, Delhi 1977.

  26.My Experiments with Truths, M K Gandhi Navajeevan Publishers, Amhedabad, 1940.

  27.MK Gandhi, Collected Works.

  28.Men from Imphal, J Thevy, Netaji Research Bureau.

  29.Michael Edwardes, Last Years of British India.

  30.Modern Review, Calcutta, a monthly magazine

  31.Nanda Mookherjee, Netaji Through German Lens, Jayashree Prakashan, Calcutta, 1975.

  32.Netaji and India’s Freedom, a collection of articles, by foreign scholars on Bose, Netaji Research Bureau, 1975.

  33.N G Jog, In Freedom’s Quest, Orient Longmans, New Delhi, 1969.

  34.N G Ganpuley, Netaji in Germany, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, 1964.

  35.Romain Roland, The Life of Ramakrishna, Advaita Ashram, Calcutta, 1986.

  36.Stalin’s Indian Victims, Santanu Banerjee, The Indian Express, Delhi,

  37.Transfer of Power, Vol VI, Her Majesty’s Government, London.

  38.William L Shirer, Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, 1967.

  39.Why British Feared Bose So Much, Santanu Banerjee, 23rd January, 1989.

  40.Taya Zinkin, Reporting India, 1962.