The Netaji Files

Fifty-four years after his mysterious disappearance in an air crash in Taiwan in 1945, controversy continues over the 'death' of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose. Generation after generation of Bengalis have dismissed Bose's death in the said air crash citing lack of corroborative evidence. But for all their emotional attachment to one of the most enduring icons of Indian patriotism, and (let it not be forgotten) Bengali pride, few had ever given thought to righting a historical wrong done to this legendary freedom fighter. This concerns his unclear status as a war criminal for leading the Indian National Army (INA) against the British during World War II.

In March this year, responding to demands made by participants at a convention on Bose that the government act towards getting the British government to remove his name from the roll of war criminals, Indian Home Minister L.K. Advani said that, as per information received from London, Bose had never been declared a war criminal. This prompted Oslo-based Bengali economist and Subhas Chandra Bose researcher, Amalendu Guha, to seek clarification from the chairman of the International Court of Justice on whether charges of war crime brought against Bose by the British government during World War II had later been withdrawn. (The Nuremberg trial documents refer to Bose as an Indian nationalist opposing Gandhi, and as one who had declared sympathy for Germany in World War II and had accepted an invitation to go to Germany. )