NEW DELHI: In a shocking revelation, the Government of India has said it has no information in its records about the contribution of Netaji Subash Chandra Bose to India's freedom struggle.
This admission has come from a senior government officer in response to an application by Delhi-based Dev Ashish Bhattacharya under the Right to Information Act. Bhattacharya approached the Union home ministry with five questions in which he had sought information on what role Bose had in the freedom movement.
The applicant had also sought information whether India maintains any protocol with regard to Bose and whether he fits somewhere in that protocol. "The information on points in your letter is not available in the records," S K Malhotra, Deputy Secretary in the Home Ministry said in reply to Bhattacharya's petition.
"It was shocking for me to have this response," Bhattacharya said. Netaji Subash Chandra Bose may have contributed immensely towards India and made people aware about their strength to fight British man-to-man but the government says it has no documents to substantiate this, said Bhattacharya. "It is a common knowledge about formation of Indian National Army and that it came within the striking distance of Indian mainland before being pushed back from Moreh in Manipur," he said. But the government was reluctant to put this historical fact on record in response to my application, Bhattacharya added.
Compelling reasons The applicant had also sought to know as to how much had the government spent to spread the message of Netaji on his birth anniversary on January 23. "If government has decided to forget Netaji and his importance and contributions towards our nation then there must be some compelling reasons. What are those reasons," Bhattacharya asked in his application. The Union home ministry when contacted said it did not have any records to supply to him. "Now this is something shocking.
How are we going to make our future generation aware of the great freedom fighters of the country who were instrumental in freeing us from the shackles of the British," Bhattarcharya said. "If the government wants to forget Netaji Subash Chandra Bose then let the message be loud and clear that all Indians should forget great hero of our freedom struggle," the petitioner said. He said he had decided to file an RTI after not seeing even a small advertisement in the daily newspapers or television or radio on his birthday
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