Times of India: Kolkata: Saturday,
May 28, 2016.
The final set
of classified PMO files on Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose was released by the
National Archives of India on Friday. One of the files released in the set
clearly mentions that there is no record of Netaji having been branded a war
criminal ever. The PMO had earlier refused to divulge information on the
subject.
In response
to an RTI application from Bengaluru-based freelance journalist Choodamani
Nagendra, the ministry of external affairs (MEA) had cited a clause in the RTI
Act 2005 to deny information on Netaji.
In the RTI
application, Nagendra had asked some questions related to the 'war criminal'
tag on Netaji. She wanted to know:
· What efforts the Indian government had taken to remove
Bose's name as war criminal from United Nations Organization records.
· How many records from the UN were with the MEA that
related to Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose as a war criminal.
· Whether India's representative to the UN had taken up the
matter of removing Bose's war criminal status from UNO records.
· The number of times such petitions were mooted.
· The UNO's response to them.
The questions
are significant as many members in the Bose family as well as followers of
Netaji and researchers believe he had faked his death in the so-called plane
crash in 1945 to avoid being captured as a war criminal by Allied Forces.
"I am convinced Netaji didn't die in 1945 but he couldn't come out in the
open because of the 'war criminal' tag," said Surajit Dasgupta, whose RTI
applications on Netaji have also been variously stonewalled.
.JPG)
.JPG)
