Re-Markings Vol 18 No 2 September 2019 pp. 9-20
The Truth About Netaji: A Conversation with Purabi Roy
The Truth About Netaji: A Conversation with Purabi Roy
Nibir K. Ghosh
Professor Purabi Roy, a veteran
researcher and historian, taught at the Department of International Relations
under Jadavpur University for more than two decades. A Ph.D. from the Institute of
Oriental Studies, Russian Academy of Science, Moscow, she is an eminent
scholar in Russian language and history. She has been visiting Professor at Moscow
State University and St. Petersburg University, Russian Federation. She is
acknowledged as one of the foremost Netaji Researchers. As a research Professor of the
Asiatic Society, she published volumes on Russo-Indian Relations XIX Century,
Indo-Russian Relations XX Century Part-I and Part-II and Netaji Subhas
Chandra Bose Commemoration Volume of Scottish Church College, Kolkata. She
is the author of many articles on Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose. Her contribution
as member in the Indian Council of
Historical Research has been phenomenal. Prof. Roy happily acknowledges Netaji
to be her guiding light, her only inspiration. She has a promise to keep — to gift the country an authentic Indian version
of Netaji and the INA. In this conversation, Prof. Purabi Roy shares,
uninhibitedly, her continued commitment and passion to unravel the truth about
the legendary Icon of India’s Freedom: Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose.
Ghosh: While
congratulating you on the publication of your epoch-making book, The Search for Netaji: New Findings, I
find it quite natural to ask about the factors that motivated you initially to
undertake the challenging project of unravelling the mystery of Netaji’s
disappearance?
Roy: Throughout
the Soviet History, Soviet scholars were either ignorant or deliberately
remained silent on Subhas Chandra Bose. Glasnost and Perestroika could melt the
seventy-year-old iceberg of the Soviet archives which made accessible many
documents and information related to Bose and Comintern like the reports on
Bose from Soviet Tass agency, Second World War and Bose and many more besides the
Soviet Foreign Intelligence along with the Soviet Military archives and other
related interesting documents that have unfolded a new line of research.
Ghosh: How did
Glasnost contribute?
Roy: It was
only under the influence of Glasnost that we witnessed a shift in interest to
unravel the obliterated truth, principally on the part of Soviet scholars.
Soviet Indologists took it as a challenge to unravel the mystery of Netaji’s
disappearance. Experts like T.F. Devyatkina in her article “Social and
Political views of Subhas Chandra Bose” wrote, “There is reason to doubt the theory
that he died in 1945.” This can be counted as the first post-Stalinist inquiry
into Netaji’s life. A year later, in 1990, Soviet Land, the most widely
circulated journal, published an article by an eminent Indologist A.V.
Raikov, containing an exciting comment written by the then Editor L.V.
Mitrokhin, popularly known as K.G.B. agent amongst the Delhi academic circles.
Mitrokhin wrote, “Glasnost has erased much of USSR’s shame and helped
restructure her relations with other countries. Scholars are trying to take a
re-look at Subhas Chandra Bose.”
Ghosh: Were
there other scholars too who followed this line of thought?
Roy: Yes. In
1992, the journal EKHO PLANETI published an article, “The Life and Death
of Netaji Bose,” by A. Vinogradov that stated, “…the problem of Bose is
extremely delicate and no less complicated than the Wallenberg case … truth
must be told to the people.” Likewise, the famous historian, A Raikov, in his
article, “The Secret of Subhas Chandra Bose’s Death,” mentioned that various
reports and publications indicate that Bose was in Russia. When the author
enquired about this from the USSR Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MID), the answer
was in the negative. He proposed: “In our country besides MID there are many
archives which may have the have the key to solve this puzzle.” When the
academics seemed to be sceptical and the socio-political journalists were
depending on hypothesis and inferences, the cloud of doubts gradually settled
and started providing various primary sources of information and documents. Many
materials were unravelled from different Russian archives. And that is how V.
Turadzhev, the then Associate Editor of the journal, Asia and Africa Today, was
able to access, in the former KGB and at present FSB archives, a few documents
on Bose and original letters signed by Bose.
Ghosh: What was
the outcome?
Roy: The
Government of India as well as the Indian Diplomatic Mission in Moscow
evidently became apprehensive about the consequences of the publication of the
Russian article by Turadzhev and it was immediately brought to the notice of
Mr. Ranen Sen, the then Ambassador of India in Moscow, who allegedly tried to
use diplomatic pressure on the Institute of Oriental Studies to prevent it from
bringing out the article. As known from reliable sources, there was pressure on
Turadzhev to desist from such attempts in future. Turadzhev finally lost his
job, his association with the Indian Embassy was waning but on the other side
academics, socio-political analysts, journalists and others followed his
footsteps to shed new light on Netaji’s disappearance and did end up giving
solid leads that the KGB archives may yet have the truth within. So, with their
encouragement, help and guidelines I got involved and started searching the
truth.
Ghosh: Chinua
Achebe, the African iconic writer, had once remarked, “Until the lions have
their own historians, the history of the hunt will always glorify the hunter.” Do
you find this remark relevant?
Roy: Yes.
Every account of history has to be clinical and unbiased. Every academic
orthodoxy creates a counter-orthodoxy. Today we are looking for new
interpretations which can help shed light on the mysteries of the past. If we
consider a legitimate way to write history, studies based largely on official
documents preserved in various archives of the world need to be addressed with
much discretion.
Ghosh: What is
your view of the neglect and indifference accorded to Netaji Subhas Chandra
Bose by official/court historians?
Roy: Subhas
Chandra Bose is a unique example in this context. His mysterious disappearance
remains an enigma till today. What really happened to Netaji Subhas Chandra
Bose? The belief established by Nehru to serve his personal gains along with
his court historians who remained silent and ignorant, and with his followers
of both Congress and their parasites including the Left, that he died in a
plane crash on August 18, 1945, is no longer tenable, especially after
cross-checking and scrutinising the details of various primary sources obtained
from various archives of the world. Archives are the store-keeper of records.
With the help of those records in most cases the researcher can establish the
revised truth and it is the task of the revisionists to unearth and establish
the new interpretation which can help and shed light on the mysteries of the
past.
Ghosh: Has the
Government attempt in recent years to declassify the files led to shedding some
light on the mysteries of disappearance of Netaji?
Roy: One may argue
that in recent years about 950 files on the INA have been de-classified by the
Ministry of Defence (MOD), Government of India and are available at the
National Archives of India, New Delhi. But, unfortunately, if anyone goes
through the documents it becomes evident that they mainly reflect the
questionable views of the British Intelligence records on Provisional
Government of India and INA, which are eminently questionable.
Ghosh: What is
your response to the findings of the Mukherjee Commission?
Roy: Justice
Manoj Kumar Mukherjee Commission of Inquiry would have remained unchallenged if
Lord Peter Archer, a Labour Party member of the British Parliament had not
persisted in making the British Government de-classify a few office Records of
MI-2 related to Subhas Chandra Bose, the Indian freedom struggle and the role
of the Indian National Army, as well as Bose’s relations with the USSR and
Germany, preserved at the Public Record Office in London, UK. In recent years
there was a great demand for declassification of records and files on Subhas
Chandra Bose. This became possible after the implementation of the Right to
Information Act. Very recently many files on Netaji have been declassified
especially those under the custody of Government of India and Government of
West Bengal. These files will definitely be of great use for the researchers in
order to fill in the missing links as well as any lacuna thereof or may have
new information that requires to be corroborated. This is an endless process. A
great many facts are yet to be unravelled as there are many original records
that remain classified.
Ghosh: What
aspects of Netaji’s life and work evinced your interest in the legend of
India’s freedom?
Roy: Netaji
has been an ardent patriot and a revolutionary leader ever born. His fearless
courage, his reckless abandon, his suffering and sacrifice have become a part
of the legendary story of India’s freedom. Mahatma Gandhi, assessing Netaji’s
unique achievement, wrote, “The greatest lesson we can draw from Netaji’s life
is the way in which he infused the spirit of unity amongst his men so that they
could rise above all religious and provincial barriers and shed together their
blood for the common cause of India’s freedom. His unique achievement will
surely immortalise him in the pages of history. Everyone of Netaji’s followers
who saw me on their return to India had said to me without exception that
Netaji’s influence acted like a charm on them and they had acted under him with
the single aim of achieving Indian freedom. The question of religious and
provincial or any such difference had never cropped in their minds at all.… The
greatest and the lasting act of Netaji was that he abolished all distinctions
of caste and class. He was not a mere Bengali. He never thought himself to be a
Caste Hindu. He was Indian first and last. What more, he fired all under him
with the same zeal so that they forgot in his presence all distinctions and
acted as one man.”
Ghosh: In the contemporary
context, what lessons can we learn from Netaji’s spirit of unity?
Roy: The men
and women of the INA who were eating their food in a common dining hall,
prepared in a common kitchen, realised they were breaking the shackles of
caste, untouchability, religious bigotry and other barriers. This exceptional
unity was possible to achieve because the INA was engaged in a life and death
struggle for freedom under the leadership of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose. He was
able to kindle in his army profound love and loyalty. This revolutionary spirit
and thinking would have led the social revolution had the uncompromising
struggle continued until India won her independence. I recall Tagore’s
addressing him as ‘Desh Nayak’ and stating, “I feel that you have come with an
errand to usher a new light of hope in your motherland.”
Ghosh: Your committed
engagement to discovering the truth behind Netaji’s disappearance must have
been fraught with numerous dangers, perhaps even a threat to your life. Could
you kindly share some such experiences you may have undergone, here in India as
well as elsewhere?
Roy: In a
struggle for any noble cause one has to encounter unlimited, unwarranted
hindrances with adverse criticisms; all these will come in your way but one has
to learn how to forego. The critics’ guilt will revert with their own answers.
Their realisation and awareness will come as a blessing. Life is a challenge,
accept it. Life is a duty, one has to perform it without hesitation. One should
have full knowledge and awareness to retaliate when and how. One thing I must
admit that being a woman, living alone, if one has to combat too many adverse
retaliations, it is unbelievable what I experienced.
Ghosh: Where
did you draw inspiration from in your struggle against such adversities?
Roy: I was
always inspired by Tagore’s line: “Bhalo mondo jahai aashuk/ Shotyer lau
shohoje” (Good, bad whatever comes/ Accept truth with ease). And, finally, as
is said in the Upanishad, charaiveti (move on) … life is a journey,
complete it. I am optimistic that my unending suffering and untiring endeavour will
help me in achieving the completion of my dream. Let the dark days remain dark.
Ghosh: What is
your impression of the collection entitled Bose:
Immortal Legend of India’s Freedom published as a special number by Re-Markings?
Roy: Today,
we are looking for a part of obliterated history that remained untouched for 75
years. The Re-Markings’ Special Number reveals a special new approach. The
collection where memoirs and remini-scences, academic researches, episodes,
events, experiences and many other interesting information about Netaji Subhas
Chandra Bose is truly remarkable. The articles rightly depict Bose as an
outstanding visionary, as an International leader and finally a legendary icon.
The readers will enjoy the dimension of scholarly approach from various
disciplines with clarity, novelty and authenticity. It is good to see the
representation of the armed forces through the essay by Group Captain Jaipal
Singh Chauhan but I wish there were also write-ups by people from the Indian army.
The ICHR gives chance to academics as well as to the armed forces to
contribute, exchange and share their thoughts and knowledge to enrich the
untouched part of history. The number one enemy of the British, Subhas Chandra
Bose, who shouldered the responsibility
of Indian National Army and became the
head of Arzi-Hukumate-Azad-Hind, has often been estimated by the British only
as a “political leader of the movement” or “The exiled Bengali Nationalist” but
never as an astute military personnel. Considering this aspect, a few more
articles on Netaji and Indian National Army would have further enriched the
scholarly collection.
Ghosh: Could you share your views as Chief Guest at
the ICHR National Seminar on “Subhas Chandra Bose: Life, Work and Legacy”
organized by Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar University, Agra in collaboration with Re-Markings?
Roy: I am
glad Re-Markings collaborated with Dr. B.R. Ambedkar University, Agra to
organize with great success the National Seminar on “Bose: Life, Work and
Legacy.” Thank you for the invitation. I was highly impressed. For the last
twenty years I have been lecturing, presenting my findings in various academic
institutions both in India and abroad. Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar University, Agra
and Re-Markings responded in a unique and different way as if you were with a
family. Active participation of teachers from various faculties and departments
and participation of research scholars and students added life and vigour to
the deliberations. I appreciate the warmth shown to me by all including the
non-teaching staff. It was very encouraging to note some kind of family
bonding.
Ghosh: What was
your impression about the academic presentations on Netaji?
Roy:
Regarding the presentations, I found the panellists from various walks of life
tried their best to give maximum inputs, which is really very new to me.
Unfortunately, on account of some communication gap, I missed a few
presentations of one particular session. On the whole the event was a grand
success. I wish that in the near future you will organize on a greater scale
such events on Netaji Bose involving many more panellists and scholars.
Ghosh: On the
basis of the evidences you have offered in your book pertaining to Netaji’s
presence in Russia after 18 August 1945, can you surmise the role of the Russian government in
keeping Bose’s presence in Russia a guarded secret?
Roy: A large
number of Left-wing nationalists all over the world thought that the October
Revolution heralded an era of unprecedented social and economic reconstruction.
The progress and development of the October Revolution in Russia had a
significant influence on the East. This was the time when India was a special
problem for the consideration of the Communist International for carrying on
intensive propaganda and organisational work in the subcontinent. In March
1922, just after the sitting of the Enlarged Executive Committee of the
Communist International (ICCI), the Indian revolutionary Abani Mukherjee was
requested by Brandler, the then member of the Presidium of Comintern and LOSOVSKY
of the Profintern, to go to India and study the situation there personally.
Ghosh: What did
Abani Mukherjee observe?
Roy: Abani
Mukherjee came to India and met Chittaranjan Das in Calcutta and virtually
spent eleven months there. C.R. Das requested his “young soldier” Subhas Bose
to arrange a safe place for Abani Mukherjee to live in. The interaction between
them during the time brought Subhas and Abani Mukherjee closer. After his
return to the USSR, Abani Mukherjee stated in his report to Comrade Petrov, the
Secretary of the Eastern Section, Comintern in Moscow: “The right-hand man of
C.R. Das, Mr. S. Bose, being pro-Communist and a friend of ours, we have a good
influence over the Swaraja Party.”
Ghosh: What
impressions do you have about Subhas Chandra Bose during the period in
question?
Roy:
Throughout the 1920s, like a dedicated revolutionary Subhas Chandra Bose spent
his time among the people, the youth, various social and political platforms
and in prison.
Ghosh: Was
Subhas Chandra Bose influenced by the October Revolution?
Roy: The October
Revolution evidently had a strong impact on Bose. His writings and speech
reveal that he had carefully studied the history of successful revolutions in
the world. From the very beginning he valued the Soviet socialist ideas not as
an ardent admirer but as a neutral observer because his approach was a
combination of different ideologies. He wrote in 1925: “Last April while I was
reading a Russian novel in the prison, I heard an echo of my ideas.” There were
many occasions when Subhas Chandra Bose did not hesitate to share his thoughts
on the Soviet experiment, but in his own way. In 1929 in his presidential
address in Rangpur he was not hesitant to remark: “We must not forget the
Russians, the main disciples of Karl Marx, have not blindly followed his ideas …
finding it difficult to apply his theory, they have adopted a new economic
policy (NEP) consistent with possession of private property and ownership of
business factories.” For all these years Subhas Chandra Bose figured and
occupied an important place in the various Soviet reports.
Ghosh: Can you
please share your views about Subhas Chandra Bose’s great escape?
Roy: We
gather from various Soviet reports that Bose tried to enter Soviet Union but
couldn’t succeed. Bose explained to and asked Achar Singh Cheena, a famous
revolutionary who was earlier in the Ghadar Party to approach Stalin for
seeking armed help for India’s struggle against British Imperialism. Achar Singh
Cheena was a well-known Communist leader from Punjab and in Soviet Union he was
better known by the name Larkin. In order to receive help from USSR Bose tried
various options to reach that country: one was via Japan and China, the other
was to reach Afghanistan through the North East Frontier where he could
establish contact with the Comintern. Bose’s first venture was ruled out. As a
result, he had to choose the longest and most dangerous route via Afghanistan.
The members of the Ghadar Party or the Kirti Communist group took advantage of
this route and helped Subhas Bose in his great escape. So, finally, Bose’s
great escape from strong British Surveillance was successful. With this
background one does not need any other explanation why Netaji was seeking help
from the Soviet Government and was able to send his letter with the request
through Soviet Ambassador, Jacob Malik, in Tokyo.
Ghosh: On what
basis can we presume about Subhas Bose’s intention to go to Russia in August
1945?
Roy: After
the Second World war was over, in a line of action it was decided that the INA
would also surrender and on August 16, 1945 Netaji expressed his desire by
stating, “I wish to go to Russia.” One has good reason to speculate why it took
almost eight years after independence for the Prime Minister to make his first
voyage to the USSR and that too after the death of Generalissimo Stalin. Albeit
Joseph Vissarionovich (Stalin) was discordant about Vijayalakshmi Pandit. In 1950
a delegation from CPI went to Moscow. Among the delegates were Ajay Ghosh,
Rajeswar Rao, Basavapunnaia and S. Dange. S. Dange spoke about Subhas Chandra
Bose as an ardent anti-Imperialist and a great patriot. When the CPI delegation
visited Kremlin and met the leader and discussed about Bose, the Indian Prime
Minister was busy establishing the fact with evidences that Netaji Subhas
Chandra Bose died in an air crash in Formosa. What an irony!
Ghosh: Any
comments on the attitude and approach of the CPI in relation to seek the return
of Bose?
Roy: Stalin
wanted to hand over Bose to the Indian Communists (CPI) but he could not succeed.
From this one can well judge the role and attitude of CPI. Stalin died in 1953,
Nehru visited the Soviet Union in 1955. Let me refer to one of the press
releases of TASS (Soviet Information Service): “In the first years of India’s
independence the Soviet leadership with Joseph Stalin at its head distrusted
the Indian National bourgeois because of its allegedly conciliatory stand.”
Ghosh: You
state in your findings, “One feels curious to know about the message which
Nehru had conveyed through his secret letter delivered to Stalin by
Sayadiyants.” Any guesses as to the content of the letter? Prime Minister Nehru
may have had his own good reasons for feeling threatened by the prospects of
Netaji’s return to India but what reason could Stalin have in being a part of
the conspiracy?
Roy: The
Soviet publicity agent V.G. Sayadiyants had regular contact with the members
and activists of the Communist Party of India. By the end of August 1946 when
Sayadiyants was leaving for Moscow, Jawaharlal Nehru came to Bombay to meet him
and gave him a letter for Stalin requesting him to deliver the letter
personally to Stalin. Sayadiyants on his way to Moscow via Teheran left a note
of his political observation about India to Sadchkov, the then Soviet
Ambassador to Iran.
Ghosh:
Could you throw some light on the contents of the said note?
Roy: The
reported note dated 1 September, 1946 was a brief survey of the political
situation in India entitled Britain Capitulates where he made a detailed
analytical study and suggested which party or organisation would be suitable
and appropriate to take over the charge after India’s independence. The
Congress, according to him, had the strongest mass base. The public in general
worshipped Gandhi as a religious figure and had a near-fanatic love for him and
faith in Nehru. The party had a very solid financial support from the big
industrial houses such as the Tatas, Birlas, the Bajaj family and other
capitalists. His next review was on the Communist Party of India. Comrade
Somnath Lahiri, a member of the Central Committee, CPI, made a short trip to
USSR from July 23 to August 3, 1946. Lahiri felt that both the Congress and the
League had a defeatist attitude by joining hands with the British
“Imperialists.” His third investigation report was about the Forward Bloc. He provided
a long appreciative detailed account of the formation, developments and
activities of the Forward Bloc.
Ghosh: You
mean the Forward Bloc as a party?
Roy:
According to Sayadiyants the Forward Bloc was not a party but a platform
founded by Subhas Chandra Bose that attracted thousands and thousands of
followers apart from the one hundred thousand registered members at that time.
Ghosh: What
message was there in Nehru’s secret letter to Stalin?
Roy: Difficult to speculate. But what led the
Soviet agent to indicate in his political note that the Forward Bloc could be
considered as the only alternative organisation after India’s independence
gives a clear indication that Subhas Chandra Bose could now shoulder the
responsibility. Indirectly, he asserted the presence of Bose in Soviet Union.
Of course, one can defy it.
Ghosh: Do you think the
declassification of Netaji files in the present times could, in any way,
reaffirm your own findings?
Ghosh: In the Foreword to The
Search for Netaji, Sobhanlal Dutta Gupta states: “This is a very level
scholarly work the main strength of which lies in its use of records and data,
which have been neither used nor known previously. As a result, she has
refrained from answering questions: about the whereabouts of Bose, when and
under what circumstances Bose actually died, and other such oft repeated
questions.” As a sequel to your work, would you like to answer some of these
intriguing questions some day?
Roy: Prof. Sobhanlal Dutta Gupta is
one of the compilers and Editors of the two-volume publication of Indo-Russian
Relations 1917-1947, published by the Asiatic Society, Calcutta. As a
Comintern specialist with this project he worked in the Comintern Archive,
Moscow. I can understand that a Professor like him, who has gone through the
pages of Comintern Archival documents and is such an eminent political thinker,
he has every right to point out my inability to arrive at a conclusive answer.
It would not be out of place to mention that the mystery of the Swedish
Diplomat Raoul Wallenberg was unravelled after fifty-six years, despite much resistance
from the Government of Russia, despite the fact that their assertion and their
archives contained no relevant information. But it would be encouraging to note
that, ultimately, Russia has admitted its responsibility. The same reaction on
the Russian side prevails today while unravelling the mystery of Netaji. Enigma
remains but let’s hope that the mystery will surely be unveiled very soon.
Ghosh: You have made persistent efforts
to introduce the writings of Netaji in school curriculums in Bengal. Did you or
do you encounter any road blocks in achieving your goal in this direction?
Ghosh: Thanks, so much for sharing with Re-Markings your
precious time and insightful views.
Roy: It has been a pleasure talking to you.
· Dr. Nibir K. Ghosh, former Head, Department of English Studies
& Research, Agra College, Agra, is UGC Professor Emeritus. He has been a
Senior Fulbright Fellow at the University of Washington, Seattle, USA during
2003-04. An eminent scholar and critic of American,
British and Postcolonial literatures, he is Author/Editor of 14 widely acclaimed books and has published over 170 articles and scholarly essays
on various political, socio-cultural and feminist issues in prestigious
national and international journals.
Copyright © Nibir K. Ghosh 2019.
For print copy of the issue contact ghoshnk@hotmail.com
For print copy of the issue contact ghoshnk@hotmail.com
Disclaimer: The views of Dr. Purabi Roy are exclusively her own.
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