[The issue that arises in the mind of any sensible person is that why these selected leaks ***now*** while steadfastly refusing to declassify the files pertaining to Subhas Bose in continuation of the policy of all the previous government? The plausible answer is that it is strongly linked to the seemingly jinxed Land Bill in the parliament. It's a last ditch desperate attempt to rescue it. That only explains the barrage of propaganda, often conflating Bose himself with his kin.
Coming to the issue proper, Bose had either died on account of a plane accident on August 18 1945, as reported, or he he simply disappeared, for some whatever reasons, or he was apprehended and put behind the bars or just executed. Of all these possibilities, given the character of Bose, the "disappearance" theory looks the most implausible. The vigorous reactions of the Indian public gives us a fair degree of idea what would have had been the response to Bose having been put on trial as a war criminal. Bose, an extremely gutsy person - as testified by his career, and a very seasoned politician, a mass leader, could have had not been oblivious of that, if at all alive and free. Snooping on his relatives by the government of India makes sense only in case of it being not too sure about his whereabouts. The following write-up offers an apparently well-informed, refreshingly different and rather straightforward explanation for the snooping on his relatives in Independent India - continuation of an old habit inherited directly from the immediate colonial past and thereby pretty much out of tune with the ambient reality. It's worth taking note of.] http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/IB-played-junior-partner-to-MI5-well-after-1947/articleshow/46893291.cms IB played junior partner to MI5 well after 1947 V Balachandran | Apr 12, 2015, 03.33 AM IST We often think security and intelligence services are bestowed with greater intelligence than bureaucracy. ***Lawrence J Peter of "Peter Principle" said "Bureaucracy defends ... status quo long past when quo has lost its status". Security and intelligence establishments often follow this policy resulting in hilarious situations.*** [Emphasis added.] Before 1947 IB was controlled by MI5, Britain's domestic intelligence service and a department called "Indian Political Intelligence" (IPI), run by India Office, Scotland Yard and India government. IPI, started by a lone Indian police officer in 1909 to keep vigil on revolutionaries, grew into a massive organization by World War II. By 1935, arrangements were made in all colonies integrating intelligence, police and security organizations to face freedom struggles. From 1919, Britain considered the "Red Menace" as their top challenge. Our bureaucracy and IB continued that policy till 1975 when Indira Gandhi admonished them during the annual IB conference, which I attended. After 1947 this MI5-IB liaison continued. An unwritten agreement during the transfer of power in 1947 was the secret positioning of a security liaison officer (SLO) in New Delhi as MI5's representative. This was obtained by Guy Liddel, then deputy DG, MI5, declassified archives say. Normally, any intelligence liaison with an independent country should've been maintained by Britain's foreign intelligence service -- MI6. But MI5 resisted such attempts till 1971. British archives quoted then IB director SP Verma writing to the MI5 chief that he didn't know "how he'd manage without a British SLO", when told about his withdrawal. IB followed Britain's intelligence priorities. British archives reproduced a letter from the late TG Sanjeevi Pillai, IB's fi rst director, on the need for liaison with MI5. Sanjeevi didn't like VK Krishna Menon, a Nehru con-fi dante. The dislike was shared by Liddel who assured his government: "We're doing what we could to get rid of Krishna Menon". They didn't succeed. BN Mullik, second director, continued this policy. According to British archives he "encouraged" Walter Bell, then SLO, to visit IB's headquarters to see its work on preventing communist subversion. Declassified British archives speak of disconnect between Nehru's policies and IB's priorities. This was evident during the exchange visits of Soviet leaders Bulganin and Khrushchev to India and Nehru's USSR visit heralding closer India-Soviet ties in 1955. One year later there was a chill in India-UK ties when Nehru condemned the Anglo-American invasion on the Suez. This "had little impact" on the IBMI5 collaboration. IB allowed MI5 to study its records on Moscow's subsidies to Indian communists. In 1957, Mullik wrote to Roger Hollis, MI5 chief: "... I never felt I was dealing with any organization which was not my own." Christopher Andrew, official MI5 historian, concludes: "Nehru either never discovered how close the relationship was or -- less probably -- did discover and took no action." This needs to be kept in mind before concluding Nehru ordered IB snooping on Netaji's family. Declassified IPI records indicate Bose was under watch since April 1924. In 1922 revolutionary Abani Mukherjee was sent by Comintern to India. Purabi Roy, Netaji's biographer says he spent 11 months in Calcutta. British intelligence must've started watch over Subhas and his family after this. A full picture will be available only if we declassify all our Bose records. The writer, former special secretary, Cabinet secretariat, is writing a biography of ACN Nambiar, Netaji's deputy in Berlin during WWII. Abridged version. -- Peace Is Doable -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Green Youth Movement" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send an email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/greenyouth. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
