- Mission Netaji
-
Mission Netaji 
Founded 2005, New Delhi, India Key people Anuj Dhar, Founder Trustee Area served India Focus Subhas Chandra Bose, Death of Subhas Chandra Bose Method Research, Right to Information Act Website www.missionnetaji.org, www.subhaschandrabose.org, www.netaji.org Mission Netaji is a Delhi based Indian non-profit trust, conducting research on Indian 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.[1]
According to the Indian government, Netaji Bose died in a plane crash in Taihoku (Now, in Taiwan) on August 18, 1945.[2] 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.[3]
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.[4] The Mukherjee Commission corroborated this finding.[5] But, the Indian government rejected the findings of the commission.[6] Since then, Mission Netaji has been fighting to bring out the truth, utilising the Right to Information Act.[2][7][8]
Mission Netaji approached the Central Information Commission of India, under the Right to Information Act,[2] 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).[8]
Contents
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 Union 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'.[9] 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.
Documents sought by Mission Netaji from various departments, with statuses
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.[10] PMO has also sought dismissal of RTI appeal on the destroyed files regarding Bose.[11][12]
- 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.[13]
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.[14]
- 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.[15]
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.[16] CIC later scolded Home Ministry for not parting with the information.[17] The full CIC bench heard MHA-Netaji secret papers case.[18][19]
- 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 Nehru remains classified.[20]
Documents sought from PMO and MEA
- Release the truth regarding M. O. Mathai'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.[21]
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.[22]
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 ambassador 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.[23] 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.[24] 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.[25]
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 (Bhagwanji) 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.[26] 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.[27]
See also
- Subhas Chandra Bose
- Death of Subhas Chandra Bose
- Anuj Dhar
- Right to Information Act
- Mukherjee Commission
- Bhagwanji
References
- ^ No information on Netaji, says RAW - Worldnews.com
- ^ a b c Netaji did not die in aircrash: web site
- ^ No information on Netaji, says RAW-India-The Times of India
- ^ outlookindia.com | wired
- ^ The Tribune, Chandigarh, India - Main News
- ^ The Hindu : National : Members demand full debate on panel report
- ^ http://www.ibnlive.com/news/india/05_2007/govt-opposes-on-rti-on-netaji-file-41779.html
- ^ a b Some Netaji files may be declassified
- ^ RTI makes Netaji rise from 'ashes'
- ^ :::MISSION NETAJI::: Appellate Authority\'s answer
- ^ PMO seeks dismissal of RTI appeal on Netaji file-India-The Times of India
- ^ PMO seeks dismissal of RTI appeal on destroyed file on Netaji- Hindustan Times
- ^ http://missionnetaji.org/article/rti-makes-pmo-release-info-about-panditjis-file-netaji
- ^ outlookindia.com | wired
- ^ http://missionnetaji.org/article/central-information-commission-decision
- ^ CIC asks MHA to reveal Netaji death secrets
- ^ http://www.ibnlive.com/news/govt-in-a-spot-over-netaji-info/42295-3.html
- ^ The Hindu News Update Service
- ^ Zee News - Full panel of CIC to decide on documents on Netaji
- ^ http://www.missionnetaji.org/newsite/MHArelease.htm
- ^ http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/StoryPage.aspx?id=b65a81cb-f692-4bf9-960f-c43f25548ec0
- ^ :::MISSION NETAJI::: Cannot intervene in Netaji-R&AW case, says CIC
- ^ http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Cities/No_point_researching_Bose_death_Envoy/rssarticleshow/4024353.cms
- ^ http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/001200903172111.htm
- ^ http://ibnlive.in.com/news/us-record-contests-italian-envoys-views-on-netajis-death/88123-3.html
- ^ Now, the judge has told filmmaker Amlankushum Ghosh he "strongly believes" Gumnami Baba, the mysterious monk who lived in Faizabad, Uttar Pradesh, was Bose in disguise. 'UP monk was Bose in hiding' India Today : January 29, 2010
- ^ IN a recent documentary film on Subhas Chandra Bose, Justice Manoj Kumar Mukherjee, who for six years investigated Netaji’s mysterious disappearance, has been shown to make an admission “off the record”. He is absolutely sure that Dasnami Sanyasi, popularly known as Bhagwanji or Gumnami Baba, who is last known to have lived at Ram Bhawan in Faizabad of Uttar Pradesh in 1985, was none other than Bose. Resemblance & Reality Netaji And The Godman Of Faizabad]
External links
Categories:- Non-profit organisations based in India
- Organisations based in India
- Subhas Chandra Bose
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