Mission Netaji
Encyclopedia
Mission Netaji is a Delhi
based India
n non-profit trust
, conducting research on India
n freedom fighter Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose. Mission Netaji mainly looks into the circumstances of disappearance of Netaji. Mission Netaji runs the websites www.missionnetaji.org and www.subhaschandrabose.org. Mission Netaji is of the view that Indian governments over the years have been trying to smother the truth.
According to the Indian government, Netaji Bose died in a plane crash in Taihoku (Now, in Taiwan
) on August 18, 1945. His remains are kept at the Renkoji Temple
in Japan
. But from the documents Mission Netaji could collect, it is clear that Bose had plans to escape to Russia
during August 1945 and the plane crash was a cover-up to mislead the British
. This possibility was also hinted by Justice MK Mukherjee Commission of Inquiry
that probed into this case.
Anuj Dhar
, one of the founders of Mission Netaji, was instrumental in earning valuable information from the Taiwan government that no plane crash involving Netaji Bose had happened in or around Taihoku airport on or around August 18, 1945. The Mukherjee Commission corroborated this finding. But, the Indian government rejected the findings of the commission. Since then, Mission Netaji has been fighting to bring out the truth, utilising the Right to Information Act
.
Mission Netaji approached the Central Information Commission
of India, under the Right to Information Act, protesting against the Indian government's indifference in this matter. This has been a legal battle, covering almost all clauses in the RTI Act. Mission Netaji calls this fight by the name 'Right To Information Crusade' (RTI Crusade).
towards the end of the second world war
. But the Indian government has been holding on to its claim that Netaji died in the air plane crash on August 18, 1945. The Justice Mukherjee Commission of Inquiry that probed into this case said in its report that there was no such plane crash and Netaji didn't die on the said date. The Indian government dumped this report, favouring the findings of two former commissions that probed into this case in the second half of the 1900s, headed by Shah Nawaz Khan and then GD Khosla.
Due to these discrepancies in the reports, Mission Netaji decided to launch its information seeking campaign entitled 'RTI Crusade'. The organisation utilises the Right To Information Act to seek evidences from various governmental wings, with pleas submitted to the Central Information Commission of India. This has been an enduring fight between the government and Mission Netaji.
Mission Netaji seeks information from the Prime Minister's Office
(PMO), Ministry of External Affairs
(MEA), Ministry of Home Affairs
(MHA), and the Research and Analysis Wing
(R&AW). Mission Netaji, so far, has been successful in creating importance to this issue, which was long forgotten by the public and the administrators alike. The approach from the part of the government has not been encouraging.
to India, Alessandro Quaroni stated that there was no point in continuing research on whether Bose died in a plane crash or not in August 1945. In a statement issued against this remark, Mission Netaji stated that there was evidence which held that Bose did not die in any plane crash. Mission Netaji cited reference to a note preserved in the Princeton University Library
which quotes the former Italian ambassador Pietro Quaroni, father of Alessandro Quaroni, as saying that he did not think the news of Bose's accidental death was true. The note was written by Mohandas Gandhi's biographer and Pulitzer Award winning American journalist Louis Fischer
. Pietro Quaroni had helped Bose escape to Moscow
in 1941. Fischer had met Pietro Quaroni in Moscow
in November 1946 and quoted him saying it was possible "that Bose is still alive". Quaroni had told Fischer that Bose did not want the British to look for him, so the false rumor of his death was circulated.
) was not Bose as there was no clinching evidence to prove it. However, he inadvertently stated in a documentary shoot that he believed Bhagwanji was none other than Bose. This revelation supports Mission Netaji's stand that Bose had not died in the plane crash in 1945. In light of this revelation, Mission Netaji demanded a thorough enquiry into the mystery.
Delhi
Delhi , officially National Capital Territory of Delhi , is the largest metropolis by area and the second-largest by population in India, next to Mumbai. It is the eighth largest metropolis in the world by population with 16,753,265 inhabitants in the Territory at the 2011 Census...
based India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
n non-profit trust
Trust company
A trust company is a corporation, especially a commercial bank, organized to perform the fiduciary of trusts and agencies. It is normally owned by one of three types of structures: an independent partnership, a bank, or a law firm, each of which specializes in being a trustee of various kinds of...
, conducting research on India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
n freedom fighter Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose. Mission Netaji mainly looks into the circumstances of disappearance of Netaji. Mission Netaji runs the websites www.missionnetaji.org and www.subhaschandrabose.org. Mission Netaji is of the view that Indian governments over the years have been trying to smother the truth.
According to the Indian government, Netaji Bose died in a plane crash in Taihoku (Now, in Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
) on August 18, 1945. His remains are kept at the Renkoji Temple
Renkoji Temple
is a Buddhist temple in Tokyo, Japan. It is assumed to be the purported location of the ashes of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, Indian freedom-fighter, which have been preserved since September 18, 1945....
in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
. But from the documents Mission Netaji could collect, it is clear that Bose had plans to escape to Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
during August 1945 and the plane crash was a cover-up to mislead the British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. This possibility was also hinted by Justice MK Mukherjee Commission of Inquiry
Mukherjee Commission
The Mukherjee Commission refers to the one-man board of Mr. Justice Manoj Mukherjee , a retired judge of the Supreme Court of India which was instituted in 1999 to enquire into the controversy surrounding the reported death of Subhas Chandra Bose in 1945....
that probed into this case.
Anuj Dhar
Anuj Dhar
Anuj Dhar is an Indian author and journalist. He is the founder trustee of the Delhi based national non-profit trust Mission Netaji which conducts research on the Indian freedom fighter Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose.-Career:...
, one of the founders of Mission Netaji, was instrumental in earning valuable information from the Taiwan government that no plane crash involving Netaji Bose had happened in or around Taihoku airport on or around August 18, 1945. The Mukherjee Commission corroborated this finding. But, the Indian government rejected the findings of the commission. Since then, Mission Netaji has been fighting to bring out the truth, utilising the Right to Information Act
Right to Information Act
The Right to Information Act 2005 is an Act of the Parliament of India "to provide for setting out the practical regime of right to information for citizens." The Act applies to all States and Union Territories of India except the State of Jammu and Kashmir. Jammu and Kashmir has its own act...
.
Mission Netaji approached the Central Information Commission
Right to Information Act
The Right to Information Act 2005 is an Act of the Parliament of India "to provide for setting out the practical regime of right to information for citizens." The Act applies to all States and Union Territories of India except the State of Jammu and Kashmir. Jammu and Kashmir has its own act...
of India, under the Right to Information Act, protesting against the Indian government's indifference in this matter. This has been a legal battle, covering almost all clauses in the RTI Act. Mission Netaji calls this fight by the name 'Right To Information Crusade' (RTI Crusade).
Objectives
The objectives of Mission Netaji are:- To collect and preserve all relevant intelligence, de-classified documents and manuscripts, photographs and films, records and other objects and materials - relating to the mystery surrounding the disappearance of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose.
- To establish a world wide network of committed individuals, groups and organisations, sharing a common vision.
- To publish materials dealing with the mystery surrounding the sudden disappearance of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose.
- To provide medical relief to the weaker section of the society.
- To take steps to eradicate illiteracy.
- To encourage and support the efforts aimed at eradicating discrimination based on caste, religion and gender.
- To take appropriate measures for providing aid and assistance to the people affected by natural calamities or devastating accidents.
- To organize and conduct such appropriate schemes, activities and ventures for the welfare of the people in general, and for charitable purposes as decided by the members from time to time.
RTI Crusade
Mission Netaji is of the view that Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose escaped to the Soviet UnionSoviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
towards the end of the second world war
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. But the Indian government has been holding on to its claim that Netaji died in the air plane crash on August 18, 1945. The Justice Mukherjee Commission of Inquiry that probed into this case said in its report that there was no such plane crash and Netaji didn't die on the said date. The Indian government dumped this report, favouring the findings of two former commissions that probed into this case in the second half of the 1900s, headed by Shah Nawaz Khan and then GD Khosla.
Due to these discrepancies in the reports, Mission Netaji decided to launch its information seeking campaign entitled 'RTI Crusade'. The organisation utilises the Right To Information Act to seek evidences from various governmental wings, with pleas submitted to the Central Information Commission of India. This has been an enduring fight between the government and Mission Netaji.
Mission Netaji seeks information from the Prime Minister's Office
Prime Minister's Office
The Prime Minister's Office is a small department which provides advice to a Prime Minister in some countries:* Office of the Prime Minister * Office of the Prime Minister * British Prime Minister's Office...
(PMO), Ministry of External Affairs
Indian Foreign Minister
The External Affairs Minister or the Indian Foreign Minister is a position of office at cabinet level within the Government of India. The chief responsibility of the External Affairs Minister is to represent India and its government in the international community...
(MEA), Ministry of Home Affairs
Ministry of Home Affairs
Ministry of Home Affairs is a name for an interior ministry. It may refer to:*Ministry of Home Affairs *Ministry of Home Affairs...
(MHA), and the Research and Analysis Wing
Research and Analysis Wing
The Research and Analysis Wing is India's external intelligence agency. It was formed in September 1968 after the poor performance of the Intelligence Bureau in the Sino-Indian war of 1962 and the India-Pakistani war of 1965 convinced the then government of India that a specialized, independent...
(R&AW). Mission Netaji, so far, has been successful in creating importance to this issue, which was long forgotten by the public and the administrators alike. The approach from the part of the government has not been encouraging.
Documents sought from the Prime Minister's Office (PMO)
- Information whether the PMO and R&AW, which reports to the Prime Minister, hold several classified records on Subhas Chandra Bose. If yes, a descriptive list of such records/materials thereof.
- Status: PMO has said that the disclosure would harm India's relations with foreign countries. PMO has also sought dismissal of RTI appeal on the destroyed files regarding Bose.
- Release information on Nehru's file enquiring into the death of Subhas Chandra Bose.
- Current status: PMO informed that the file was destroyed as part of a routine housekeeping process. However it was not informed who ordered the destruction of the file and why.
Documents sought from the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA)
- Certified copies of the complete correspondence the MEA has had with the Governments of the USSR and the Russian Federation over the disappearance of Netaji.
- Status: CIC rejects government's stance on Russia correspondence papers. Commission tells government to take up the matter with Russians if it feared that the disclosure would harm relations between the two nations.
- Release correspondence with Russia regarding the investigation done into the disappearance of Subhas Chandra Bose
- Current status: MEA informed the Central Information Commission that the Russian government is not in favour of the disclosure of facts.
Documents sought from the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA)
- Authenticated copies of the all documents exhibited before the Shah Nawaz Committee (1956) and GD Khosla Commission (1970–74).
- Status: CIC demanded MHA to disclose information on Netaji mystery within three months. This order came on July 5, 2007. CIC later scolded Home Ministry for not parting with the information. The full CIC bench heard MHA-Netaji secret papers case.
- Release documents related to the death of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose.
- Status: Government released 91 documents related to the death of Bose. Records include Intelligence Bureau reports, Ministry of External Affairs' telegrams & prime ministerial correspondence. One note by Prime Minister Jawaharlal NehruJawaharlal NehruJawaharlal Nehru , often referred to with the epithet of Panditji, was an Indian statesman who became the first Prime Minister of independent India and became noted for his “neutralist” policies in foreign affairs. He was also one of the principal leaders of India’s independence movement in the...
remains classified.
Documents sought from PMO and MEA
- Release the truth regarding M. O. MathaiM. O. MathaiM.O. Mathai was assistant to India's first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru. Mathai worked with the United States Army in India before becoming an assistant to Nehru in 1946. He resigned in 1959 following Communist allegations of misuse of power...
's note about receiving the remains of Bose in India.
- Status: After hearing the views of MEA and Mission Netaji, the Central Information Commission stated that one can only hope that some serious researcher will look into one of the greatest mysteries of modern India and arrive at a definite conclusion.
Documents sought from the Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW)
- Are there any records/materials on and relating to Subhas Chandra Bose in RAW?
- Status: Cannot intervene in Netaji-R&AW case, says CIC.
Fischer's note and criticism of Italian ambassador's views
In January 2009, on the occasion of the 112th birth anniversary of Subhas Bose, Italian ambassadorAmbassador
An ambassador is the highest ranking diplomat who represents a nation and is usually accredited to a foreign sovereign or government, or to an international organization....
to India, Alessandro Quaroni stated that there was no point in continuing research on whether Bose died in a plane crash or not in August 1945. In a statement issued against this remark, Mission Netaji stated that there was evidence which held that Bose did not die in any plane crash. Mission Netaji cited reference to a note preserved in the Princeton University Library
Princeton University Library
Princeton University Library is the main library system of Princeton University. With holdings of more than 7 million books, 6 million microforms, and 37,000 linear feet of manuscripts, it is headquartered in the Harvey S...
which quotes the former Italian ambassador Pietro Quaroni, father of Alessandro Quaroni, as saying that he did not think the news of Bose's accidental death was true. The note was written by Mohandas Gandhi's biographer and Pulitzer Award winning American journalist Louis Fischer
Louis Fischer
Louis Fischer was a Jewish-American journalist. Among his works were a contribution to the ex-Communist treatise The God that Failed, The Life of Lenin, which won a 1965 National Book Award, as well as a biography of Mahatma Gandhi entitled The Life of Mahatma Gandhi...
. Pietro Quaroni had helped Bose escape to Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
in 1941. Fischer had met Pietro Quaroni in Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
in November 1946 and quoted him saying it was possible "that Bose is still alive". Quaroni had told Fischer that Bose did not want the British to look for him, so the false rumor of his death was circulated.
Justice Mukherjee's revelation and Mission Netaji's response
Justice Manoj Kumar Mukherjee who probed into the disappearance of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose stated in his report that the sanyasi of Faizabad (BhagwanjiBhagwanji
Bhagwanji, also known as Gumnami Baba, was a mysterious Indian monk who in 1985 lived at Ram Bhawan in Faizabad, near Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh. Till date, his real identity and activities remain obscure. A great number of people maintain that he was the Indian freedom fighter Netaji Subhas Chandra...
) was not Bose as there was no clinching evidence to prove it. However, he inadvertently stated in a documentary shoot that he believed Bhagwanji was none other than Bose. This revelation supports Mission Netaji's stand that Bose had not died in the plane crash in 1945. In light of this revelation, Mission Netaji demanded a thorough enquiry into the mystery.
See also
- Subhas Chandra Bose
- Death of Subhas Chandra Bose
- Anuj DharAnuj DharAnuj Dhar is an Indian author and journalist. He is the founder trustee of the Delhi based national non-profit trust Mission Netaji which conducts research on the Indian freedom fighter Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose.-Career:...
- Right to Information ActRight to Information ActThe Right to Information Act 2005 is an Act of the Parliament of India "to provide for setting out the practical regime of right to information for citizens." The Act applies to all States and Union Territories of India except the State of Jammu and Kashmir. Jammu and Kashmir has its own act...
- Mukherjee CommissionMukherjee CommissionThe Mukherjee Commission refers to the one-man board of Mr. Justice Manoj Mukherjee , a retired judge of the Supreme Court of India which was instituted in 1999 to enquire into the controversy surrounding the reported death of Subhas Chandra Bose in 1945....
- BhagwanjiBhagwanjiBhagwanji, also known as Gumnami Baba, was a mysterious Indian monk who in 1985 lived at Ram Bhawan in Faizabad, near Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh. Till date, his real identity and activities remain obscure. A great number of people maintain that he was the Indian freedom fighter Netaji Subhas Chandra...