 "Revealing truth about Bose in BJP's interest: Author")
It is in BJP's interest that the truth about Subhas Chandra Bose's disappearance comes out in public domain, journalist-turned-author Anuj Dhar, who has penned a book on Netaji and campaigned for declassifying files, said here.
"On October 14, Prime Minister Narendra Modi spent one- and-a-half hours with Netaji's family and us, which shows that he is taking a keen interest in this case. I do feel that if this case comes out in the open then it will be in the interest of BJP," Dhar said.
The author was discussing the contents of his previously released book titled "India's Biggest Cover Up" at the ongoing Delhi Literature festival, days before the central government starts the process of declassifying files relevant to allegations of snooping done on Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose's family.
The author, who is the chief of the NGO Mission Netaji, says that in 2001, when he started researching about the issue, he knew that no one would be interested in Netaji's disappearance anymore, which is why he turned to researching about the "state secrecy" around the disappearance.
"Rather than talking about harsh truths, we decided that we will talk about the state secrecy regarding Netaji's death. Luckily, the Right to Information Act was enabled in 2005 and we were able to file the first RTI regarding Subhash Bose then," he said.
But since filing RTIs would not give him the public support required to put pressure on the government to release more files, Dhar said he sought to appeal to the emotions of the masses by involving the late leader's family.
"We knew that to bring people into the whole thing and to connect them emotionally with this issue, we had to get Netaji's family into the picture. That is how we were able to take out rallies in favour of the case on the lines of 'justice for Jessica Lal' or 'justice for Aarushi'.
"At my behest, Netaji's family approached PM Modi, then the Gujarat CM. I told them that this is one man who can never co-exist with Congress. We told him this is a big case and they must take it up," Dhar said at the event last evening.
The Prime Minister had announced at the meeting with Bose's extended family in October that government will start unveiling the secret files related to Netaji from January 23, Bose' birth anniversary.
But it was in 2010 under the Manmohan Singh government, that the author was given access to exhibits filed by the Shah Nawaz Committee and then Khosla committee in regard to Netaji's death. While surfing through the pages of these documents, Dhar said he stumbled upon evidence on snooping being done on Netaji's family.
"In the odd 15,000 pages that we got, I stumbled upon pages and pages of snooping being done upon Netaji's family during 1948 to 1968. In fact there is a letter dated 1955 Netaji's wife wrote to her nephew.
"And behind the letter it was clearly stated that she was his wife, and not a widow. They were snooping on Netaji. It was a tell-all tale," the author said.
This is how the author says they uncovered the "scandal". And after this was made public in April 2015, it has been making headlines.
Interestingly, the Netaji researcher presents a conjecture in his book that Subhas Chandra Bose had returned to India and lived in Uttar Pradesh's Faizabad under the guise of 'Bhagwanji' up to his death in 1985.
"The handwritings of Bhagwanji -- both in English and Bengali -- match with that of Bose. A person's handwriting cannot change with time," he claimed.
"There were also DNA tests performed which corroborate this theory. Many powerful people in the government back then were aware about this. They would send emissaries to Bhagwanji," Dhar claimed in his book.
"On October 14, Prime Minister Narendra Modi spent one- and-a-half hours with Netaji's family and us, which shows that he is taking a keen interest in this case. I do feel that if this case comes out in the open then it will be in the interest of BJP," Dhar said.
The author was discussing the contents of his previously released book titled "India's Biggest Cover Up" at the ongoing Delhi Literature festival, days before the central government starts the process of declassifying files relevant to allegations of snooping done on Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose's family.
The author, who is the chief of the NGO Mission Netaji, says that in 2001, when he started researching about the issue, he knew that no one would be interested in Netaji's disappearance anymore, which is why he turned to researching about the "state secrecy" around the disappearance.
"Rather than talking about harsh truths, we decided that we will talk about the state secrecy regarding Netaji's death. Luckily, the Right to Information Act was enabled in 2005 and we were able to file the first RTI regarding Subhash Bose then," he said.
But since filing RTIs would not give him the public support required to put pressure on the government to release more files, Dhar said he sought to appeal to the emotions of the masses by involving the late leader's family.
"We knew that to bring people into the whole thing and to connect them emotionally with this issue, we had to get Netaji's family into the picture. That is how we were able to take out rallies in favour of the case on the lines of 'justice for Jessica Lal' or 'justice for Aarushi'.
"At my behest, Netaji's family approached PM Modi, then the Gujarat CM. I told them that this is one man who can never co-exist with Congress. We told him this is a big case and they must take it up," Dhar said at the event last evening.
The Prime Minister had announced at the meeting with Bose's extended family in October that government will start unveiling the secret files related to Netaji from January 23, Bose' birth anniversary.
But it was in 2010 under the Manmohan Singh government, that the author was given access to exhibits filed by the Shah Nawaz Committee and then Khosla committee in regard to Netaji's death. While surfing through the pages of these documents, Dhar said he stumbled upon evidence on snooping being done on Netaji's family.
"In the odd 15,000 pages that we got, I stumbled upon pages and pages of snooping being done upon Netaji's family during 1948 to 1968. In fact there is a letter dated 1955 Netaji's wife wrote to her nephew.
"And behind the letter it was clearly stated that she was his wife, and not a widow. They were snooping on Netaji. It was a tell-all tale," the author said.
This is how the author says they uncovered the "scandal". And after this was made public in April 2015, it has been making headlines.
Interestingly, the Netaji researcher presents a conjecture in his book that Subhas Chandra Bose had returned to India and lived in Uttar Pradesh's Faizabad under the guise of 'Bhagwanji' up to his death in 1985.
"The handwritings of Bhagwanji -- both in English and Bengali -- match with that of Bose. A person's handwriting cannot change with time," he claimed.
"There were also DNA tests performed which corroborate this theory. Many powerful people in the government back then were aware about this. They would send emissaries to Bhagwanji," Dhar claimed in his book.