The Joint Petition to the Prime Minister

Dear fellow Indian

You are requested to show your solidarity with an effort to aid the inquiry into the fate of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose. Kindly consider the following with an open mind:

It has been 60 years since Netaji was reported killed following an air crash in Taipei, Taiwan. Since then, a torturous debate has been gnawing at the conscience of grateful Indians. Intelligence records show that under the ruse of a faked air crash, Netaji may have escaped to the then Soviet Union. And that this may have been known to top Indian leaders of that era. You would have heard many fanciful as well as dreadful stories. It has been alleged that Netaji died in a hideous Siberian camp in the 1950s. God forbid that should be true. The truth, whatever it is, must be found out.

Now it has come to the crunch. In a few months from now, the report of the Honourable Justice MK Mukherjee Commission of Inquiry will be out. Set up after a Court order, this Commission has, against all odds, found out from the Taiwan Government that there is no evidence of the alleged air crash in Taipei, Netaji's death and the cremation of either his body or of those who are said to have died following the said crash on August 18, 1945.

On the basis of further evidence they have unearthed, the Commission has asked the Government of India to arrange for their visit to Russia from 20th July 2005. However, the Commission cannot conduct proper inquires in Russia without the full backing of the Indian Government, which for unknown reasons, has been hostile towards all attempts to ascertain facts about Netaji's fate. The Commission intends to examine some Russian witnesses and also sift through intelligence and security related records concerning Netaji. Full access to such records cannot be given to the Commission unless a formal request to that effect is made by the Government of India to their Russian counterpart. The key to resolving the Netaji mystery lies with our own Government.

Considering the fact that the mystery is 60 years old and many contemporaries and witnesses have since passed away, this could well be the last chance to get to the bottom of the matter. History will not forgive our generation if we squander this golden opportunity to investigate the fate of a sterling patriot, who crisscrossed the globe like a colossus during the Second World War, so that we can breathe the air of a free India today.

It is therefore most urgent that Dr Manmohan Singh, the Honourable Prime Minister of India, publicly requests His Excellency Vladimir Putin, the Honourable President of Russia, to make known his Government's knowledge whether or not Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose was alive after 18 August 1945.

If you support the demand that our Prime Minister should take this step in national interest, then please forward this mail to as many people as possible. You may also want to sign an online petition.

Jai Hind
(Issued in public interest by journalist and author Anuj Dhar in association with other members of the Yahoo group on Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose.)