There is a viral post/ image of a letter purported to have been written by Jawaharlal Nehru to Clement Attlee , the then Prime Minister of UK that Netaji was a War criminal.Here is the image.
The contents of the letter, as far as I could remember, were as follows.“Clement Attlee“Prime Minister of Britain“10, Downing Street, London“Dated: 26 December 1945“Dear Mr Attlee,“I understand from most reliable source that Stalin has allowed Subhas Chandra Bose, your war criminal, to enter Russian territory. This is clear treachery and betrayal of faith by the Russians as Russia has been an ally of the British-Americans, which she should not have done. Please take care of it and do what you consider proper and fit. “Yours Sincerely“Jawaharlal Nehru” – By freedom fighter’s Netaji) great-grand-niece, Rajyashree Chaudhuri.https://www.sundayguardianlive.com/news/2313-70-years-netaji-still-war-criminal-un-records
A careful analysis of the claim proves that never was Netaji declared as a War Criminal’ by UK or any other nation or UN. Therefore The letter purported to have been written by Nehru to Attlee calling Netaji as War Criminal is a fake / forgery.No doubt there are various activities carried out by Nehru which was not in India’s National interest. This particular issue was not one among them . By circulating this type of fake information makes the credibility of genuine information on the nefarious activities of Nehru , lose authenticity and credibility. One should double check before sharing sensitive information.
See the letter by The Ministry as Featured Image.
Verification..’
No, Nehru never called Bose ‘a war criminal’.
The letter apparently appears in an essay by Netaji’s nephew Pradip Bose in 1998 to the then PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee. The letter can also be found in Pradip’s book ‘Subhas Bose and India Today: A New Tryst with Destiny?’
According to Shyamlal Jain, who was Nehru’s stenographer, contents of the letter are his recollection of what Nehru had supposedly dictated to him in December 1945. Reportedly, Jain was deposed before the GD Khosla commission which was set up in 1970 to look into Bose’s mysterious disappearance. However, the one-man commission did not accept Jain’s testimony.
In Jain’s testimony, he claimed that Nehru dictated the contents of the letter on either December 26, 1945, or December 27, 1945, at Congress leader Asaf Ali’s residence in Delhi. However, historical records suggest that Nehru was in Patna and Allahabad from December 25 to December 29,1945, and Asaf Ali was in Bombay on December 25 and December 26, 1945, reported fact-checking website Alt News. https://www-freepressjournal-in.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/www.freepressjournal.in/amp/india/did-nehru-really-call-netaji-bose-a-war-criminal-heres-the-full-story?amp_js_v=a6&_gsa=1&usqp=mq331AQKKAFQArABIIACAw%3D%3D#aoh=16371290106119&referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&_tf=From%20%251%24s&share=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.freepressjournal.in%2Findia%2Fdid-nehru-really-call-netaji-bose-a-war-criminal-heres-the-full-story
‘According to a report published in the ‘Times of India’, the MEA, while replying to an RTI application filed by activist Choodamani Nagendra, has maintained that there is no written proof to suggest that Netaji’s name figures in the war criminal list.
However, the newspaper report says that MEA’s UNP division doesn’t clear the air on the existence of a war criminal list.
Ramanisblog 