Sir Benegal Rama Rau, the first head of the Indian liaison mission in Tokyo, wrote to the MEA (Ministry of External Affairs), headed by the PM Nehru himself, in India on 4 December 1947 alleging that the INA treasure had been embezzled by Murti. Strangely, the MEA responded it could not be interested in the INA funds! It seems it wasn’t just a case of indifference, it was much, much more than that.
KK Chettur, who headed the Tokyo mission/embassy during 1951-52, took up the matter of misappropriation of the INA treasure vigorously. (Incidentally, Jaya Jaitley is Chettur’s daughter. She has penned an excellent, worth-reading article “#NehruSnooped: Truth behind Netaji files” in the connection in www.dailyo.in.) In response, the government sent SA Aiyer on a secret mission to Tokyo. He advised collection of the retrieved treasury from Murti saying it was in his safe custody. Chettur suspected Aiyer-Murti collusion in returning part amount just to close the matter. He recommended to the government a thorough probe in the matter on 22 June 1951. But, nothing came of it. The Indian embassy collected whatever there was at Murti's residence as the INA treasure in October 1951. The same was secretly brought into India from Japan, and was also inspected by Nehru who reportedly made a snide comment: “poor show”. Nehru quoted from Aiyer's report in the parliament in 1952 affirming Netaji’s death in an air crash in Taipei. Aiyer was later appointed adviser, integrated publicity programme, for the Five Year Plan.
RD Sathe, an undersecretary in the MEA, wrote a two-page secret note on 1 November 1951 titled “INA Treasures and their handling by Messrs Iyer and Ramamurthi” pointing out the circumstances of the mysterious disappearance of the massive INA treasure and the highly suspicious role of Aiyar(Iyer)-Murti duo; and the token return of a paltry portion from it that raised even more questions. Sathe’s note was signed by Jawaharlal Nehru on 5 November 1951 in token of having read it. But, like the earlier notes of Rau and Chettur, Sathe’s note too was just filed away by the Nehru’s government. However, the matter refused to die.
The Indian ambassador in Tokyo, AK Dar, sent a four-page secret note to the MEA in 1955 advocating a public inquiry into the matter of the disappearance of the INA treasure. He opined that even if the government was not able to get the treasure back, at least the culprits or the likely culprits would be known. He further said that the government’s 10-year long indifference in the matter had not only helped the guilty party escape, but had done injustice to the great work and sacrifice of Netaji. Even the Shah Nawaz Committee set up in 1956 to probe Netaji's disappearance had recommended an inquiry into all the assets of Netaji's government-in-exile including the INA treasure.
Yet Nehru did nothing! And, that’s baffling.
It was not a small amount. The total treasure, had it been recovered, would have been worth several hundred crore rupees today. Was Nehru’s government protecting the embezzlers? Why did Nehru’s government accommodate a suspect embezzler SA Aiyar in the government service, and even depute him on a secret mission, as mentioned above? Was Aiyar’s report confirming death of Netaji a quid-pro-quo? Was Nehru afraid Aiyar-Murti duo may spill the beans on the alleged fiction of Netaji’s death in the air-crash if they were hauled up?
Dr Subramanian Swamy has even claimed that part of the INA treasure was misappropriated by Nehru! Dr Swamy had levelled this sensational charge way back on 8 February 1978 in his press conference.
Blunder–76 :
Bharat Ratnas—Ignoring the Deserving
Dr Radhakrishnan was awarded Bharat Ratna in 1954, Rajaji in 1954, Nehru in 1955—when he was himself the PM—GB Pant in1957, BC Roy in 1961, Zakir Hussain in 1963, Indira Gandhi in 1971—when she was herself the PM—VV Giri in 1975, Kamaraj in 1976, Vinoba Bhave in 1983 and MGR in 1988!
But, Sardar Patel, Subhas Chandra Bose, Dr BR Ambedkar and Gopinath Bordoloi (thanks to whom Assam/NE is in India), being not as great as these worthies (!!), got it later! And, that too when the Dynasty was not in the saddle. It has been that personal in our feudal democracy.
When sounded for Bharat Ratna, Maulana Azad declined and told Nehru it was totally improper for those deciding on the awards to pin the medal on themselves! Azad got it posthumously.
Non-dynasty greats can wait, may even die, there is no hurry. Posthumously, Ambedkar got it in 1990, Sardar Patel in 1991, Netaji Subhas Bose in 1992 and Bordoloi in 1999, when all the four of them should have been the first to get it in 1954.
But, dynasty-scions, great or otherwise, can’t be made to wait: two allowed themselves to be awarded Bharat Ratna when they were themselves in power—Nehru in 1955 and Indira Gandhi in 1971—while Rajiv Gandhi was awarded the same soon after his death in 1991!!
Reveals much about Nehru and his dynasty! Of course, the only unjust thing that the Dynasty did was to have left out poor Sanjay Gandhi!
There ought to be a provision to withdraw the awards given if it is later found that those awarded did not really deserve it.
Blunder–77 :
Ill-Treatment of INA
The Indian National Army (INA) or the Azad Hind Fauj was an armed force formed by Indian nationalists under the leadership of Netaji Subhas Bose in Southeast Asia during World War II to secure Indian independence. “Jai Hind” was coined by Netaji and later adopted by the Government of India and the Indian Armed Forces.
There are reasonable grounds to believe that the Subhas Bose INA’s military onslaught on the British and the INA Red Fort trials of 1945-46 and its consequences (mutinies in the armed forces) were a major factor in the British decision to quit India, and not the Quit India movement (which had petered off in 1942 in a few months) of Congress.
Congress had all through opposed Subhas and INA, but a lot is made of Nehru donning his lawyer’s robes to fight for INA soldiers in their trial by the British in 1945. The reality was that elections were imminent, and INA and Bose being the people’s favourites, Congress and Nehru wanted to get cheap popularity by projecting themselves as pro-INA.
Says Anuj Dhar in ‘India’s Biggest Cover-up’: “…Captain Badhwar reported that the Congress leaders’ turnaround had little to do with any love for their ousted former president [Bose] or the people who fought under his command...He [Asaf Ali—CWC member] travelled across India and discovered that people were overwhelmingly in support of the INA. ‘This inflamed feeling forced Congress to take the line it did,’ Badhwar said...Ali was positive that as and when Congress came to power, they ‘would have no hesitation in removing all INA from the Services and even in putting some of them to trial.’...The top Congress leadership’s duplicitous disapproval of Bose and INA was exposed by numerous pre-1947 statements made by its leaders, especially Nehru.”
Strangely, but expectedly, while Nehru made a big show (pl. see above) of being a part of the Defence Committee to defend the INA veterans Colonel Prem Sahgal, Colonel Gurubaksh Singh Dhillon, and Major General Shah Nawaz Khan (for the sake of votes in the ensuing elections) in the Red Fort Trials of 1945–46, after independence Nehru as PM refused to reinstate them in the army—hypocrisy and selfishness unabashed and unlimited!
As expected from Nehru and the Congress, rather that honouring and rewarding them, the INA-veterans were debarred from the Indian Army by the Government of independent India! Why? Because, that was the way the British and Mountbatten wanted, as INA soldiers had fought against them. As per certain sources, this was a British precondition for independence. And, Nehru being an anglophile and a chela of his guru Mountbatten, faithfully carried out the British bidding. Reportedly, Mountbatten (as Supreme Allied Commander, South East Asia then) even went to the extent of dynamiting the INA Memorial in Singapore in 1945.
The above was in sharp contrast to Jinnah who had inducted Muslim INA soldiers into the Pakistani army. The INA personnel remained ineligible for the Freedom Fighters Pension till 1972.
Captain Ram Singh Thakur (1914–2002) was an INA soldier of Nepali origin. He was also a musician and a composer. His famous patriotic compositions include "Kadam Kadam Badhaye Ja, khushi kē g
eet gāē jā, yē zīndagi hai qâum kī, tū qâum pē lūtāē jā..." and "Subh Sukh Chain". His final years were difficult. He was also initially denied the status of a freedom fighter by the government.
Blunder–78 :
Ill-Treatment of Netaji Bose
Apart from dragging its feet in instituting an enquiry into Netaji’s death, manipulating the enquiry report, being hostile to INA, and not recognising Netaji for Bharat Ratna, Nehru’s Government had been so hostile that in 1947 it refused to put up his portrait in the Parliament House.
Nehru and the Congress of independent India under him showed unpardonable ingratitude to the real man behind India’s freedom.
As per an article on the web, in a confidential memo dated 11 February 1949 under the signature of Major General PN Khandoori the government recommended: “The photos of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose be not displayed at prominent places, Unit Lines, Canteens, Quarter Guards or Recreation rooms.”
This is from the foreword of S Nijalingappa to the book, ‘Inside Story of Sardar Patel—The Diary of Maniben Patel: 1936-50’:
“Strangely, however, while the collected works of many other leaders [notably, Nehru and Gandhi] have been published by the government since Independence, the collected or selected works of two foremost leaders, namely Sardar Patel and Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, were never taken up by any official agency. It is for this reason that we constituted the Sardar Patel Society, had it registered, collected funds and published the Collected works of Sardar Patel in fifteen volumes...”
Blunder–79 :
Ill-Treatment of Sardar Patel
When Sardar died in Mumbai, Nehru, who himself attended the funeral, advised the then President, Dr Rajendra Prasad, to not attend the funeral—the reason given by him was that as per the protocol, President need not attend funerals of ministers!
So he treated Sardar Patel as a mere minister! Was there such a protocol? Cooking up things! And, who was Nehru to advise and direct the President? What hubris! Dr Rajendra Prasad, of course, attended Sardar’s funeral. But, Nehru was not happy about it! What can one say about such a person?
IAS officer MKK Nair writes in his memoir ‘With No Ill Feeling to Anybody’: “Immediately after he got the news about Sardar Patel’s death, Nehru sent two notes to the Ministry of States [which was headed by Sardar Patel]. The notes reached VP Menon, the then Secretary to the Ministry. In one of the notes, Nehru had asked Menon to send the official Cadillac car used by Sardar Patel to the former’s office. The second note was shocking. Nehru wanted government secretaries desirous of attending Sardar Patel’s last rites to do so at their own personal expenses.”
The above was confirmed when KM Munshi wrote: “When Sardar died in Bombay, Jawaharlal issued a direction to the Ministers and Secretaries not to go to Bombay to attend the funeral. Among the Ministers, I was in Matheran (Bombay) at the time. Sri NV Gadgil, Sri Satyanarayan Sinha and Sri VP Menon disregarded the direction and attended the funeral. Jawaharlal also requested [President Dr] Rajendra Prasad not to go to Bombay; it was a strange request, to which Rajendra Prasad did not accede.”
It is hard to believe the supposedly cultured person Nehru could be so ungracious and could go to such lengths upon death of a colleague, who happened to be also a Deputy Prime Minister, a great national leader, and a freedom fighter!
In the capital, in the prime area, you have Rajghat for Gandhiji, Shanti Van for Nehru, Shakti Sthal for Indira Gandhi, Veer Bhumi for Rajiv Gandhi, Vijay Ghat for Shastri, Kishan Ghat for Charan Singh, besides many museums or memorials for the Nehru-Gandhis, but no memorial to either Subhas Bose or to Sardar Patel in the capital, when next to, or equally with, Gandhiji the latter two deserve the highest respect!
Incidentally, there is no samadhi of Sardar Patel in Delhi, or elsewhere in India, although people like Sanjay Gandhi have their samadhi at a prime location in Delhi!
The residence in Delhi where Sardar lived when he was the Deputy Prime Minister of the country has been razed and there is no sign that he had ever lived there. Nehru’s house, on the other hand, has been turned into a museum.
Nehru’s meanness and small-mindedness can be gauged from the fact that he made NO arrangements to have a portrait of Sardar Patel put up in the Central Hall of Parliament, like it was done for other prominent leaders. Apparently, he saw to it that such a portrait was not put up, like he had done in case of Netaji Subhas Bose.
It was Maharaja Jivaji Rao Scindia of Gwalior, who had since become the first Rajpramukh of Madhya Bharat, who felt much irked by that glaring (and, apparently, deliberate) omission, and presented a Sardar Patel’s portrait to be put up in the Central Hall of Parliament in 1954.
Blunder–80 :
Ill-Treatment of Sardar’s Daughter Maniben
Maniben Patel, the only daughter of Sardar Patel, switched to khadi at a tender age of 16, and started working regularly at the Gandhi Ashram in Ahmedabad. Most of the garments that Sardar Patel wore after 1921 were woven out of the yarn made by Maniben. When just 17, she put all her gold bangles, earrings and other ornaments, gold wrist-watch, and jewels in a bundle of cloth and, after obtaining her father’s nod, deposited them in the cause of freedom at the Gandhi Ashram.
Unlike Nehru’s daughter, Indira Gandhi, Maniben was a freedom fighter, who actively participated in the non-cooperation movements. During the Bardoli Satyagraha in 1928, she along with many other ladies helped out in the camps. For her active role in the Salt Satyagraha of 1930 and thereafter she was arrested and imprisoned on several occasions. In January 1932, she was arrested along with Kasturba Gandhi for defying a ban on meetings in Bardoli. She was released in May 1932, but was re-arrested in July 1932 for defying a ban in Kheda, and was sentenced to 15 months imprisonment, which she spent in Belgaum jail. For her role in arousing people in the villages in Rajkot she was arrested December 1938. Gandhi was much impressed with her work, and had remarked that Maniben was showing her mettle; and that he had not seen another daughter like her.
Under Gandhi’s “Selective Disobedience”, Maniben was arrested in December 1940 and sent to Belgaum jail. Released in May 1941, she again wished to court arrest, but Gandhi stopped her, looking to her frail health.
Later, Maniben underwent prolonged imprisonment during the Quit India Movement of 1942. She was arrested along with Kasturba Gandhi in August 1942, and was in detention at the Aga Khan's Palace in Pune, where Gandhi was lodged. Maniben was released in March 1944. But, she was rearrested in May 1944 in Bardoli in Gujarat, and was sent to Surat jail. From Surat she was sent to Yerwada jail.
She didn’t get married, and served her father till his death in 1950. Here is a shocking episode relating to Maniben based on various sources, mainly ‘I too had a dream’, an autobiography of Dr Verghese Kurien of Anand Dairy fame, as told to Gouri Salvi, the author.
Sardar Patel did not have any bank balances or property. Even though he was earning substantially as a very successful lawyer, once he got into the Freedom Movement, he gave up everything. Sardar was the very example of Gandhian simplicity. He used to say that, “Bapu has told that those in politics should not hold property, and I hold none.”
When Sardar Patel expired, he had left nothing for his daughter. With Sardar no more, she had to vacate the house. She was left all alone to fend for herself, with no money and no house. Sardar had instructed her to give a bag and a book to Nehru upon his death.
After Sardar’s death—which happened in Mumbai—Maniben dutifully went to Delhi, took an appointment with Nehru and met him. She handed over to him the bag and the book. It seems the book was an account book, and the bag contained rupees 35 lacs. After having done so, she waited for Nehru to express sympathy, enquire as to what she intended doing, where would she stay, her monetary position, whether she wanted anything, and what he could do for her. But, Nehru showed no interest and said nothing. After some time, she left disappointed.
She returned to Ahmedabad to stay with a cousin. Neither Nehru, nor the Congr
ess Party bothered about her well-being. Such was the fate of the lady who gave her all to the nation and of the daughter of a person who made India what it is today! Contrast this with the Nehru Dynasty.
Blunder–81 :
Ill-Treatment of Dr Rajendra Prasad
Among the freedom fighters, Dr Rajendra Prasad had about the best academic record, and had a roaring law practice which he gave it all up in the cause of freedom. Keeping his legal competence and suitability in mind, he was unanimously elected as the president of the Constituent Assembly. But, he was not a Nehru-camp follower. Nehru therefore tried his level best to scuttle his appointment, but failed.
To scuttle Dr Rajendra Prasad’s chance to become the first president of India, Nehru had even bluffed! As per the book “Nehru: A Troubled Legacy” by a former intelligence officer RNP Singh, Nehru wrote to Rajendra Prasad on 10 September 1949 that he (Nehru) and Sardar Patel had decided that “the safest and best course” would be to have C Rajagopalachari as the first president of India, even though Nehru had never discussed the matter with Sardar Patel or obtained his concurrence.
The bluff was exposed when Rajendra Prasad referred the issue to Patel. RNP Singh says: “Nehru had resorted to desperate measures to prevent Prasad from occupying the position of president and these measures included blatant lying.”
Nehru didn’t want Dr Rajendra Prasad to get elected for the second term as the President of India in 1957. Towards that end he carried out a campaign, even alleging in his speeches that people in high positions have a tendency to cling to their posts—not realising the irony of that comment on himself! However, despite Nehru’s manoeuvrings, Dr Rajendra Prasad got re-elected.
Nehru's 97 Major Blunders Page 18