OPEN LETTER To,
Hon’bles
The Prime Minister
and The C.M. W.B. Govt.
The Hon’bles have already been apprised of the details leading to confirm that the founder of Shaulmari Ashram Sardanand Ji was Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose. But even after a period of about two months no cognizance of the submission has been taken. And hence this open matter.
On Dec. 02, 1951 Neta Ji Subhash Bose, under the cover name of Sardanand Brahmchari happened to meet my father Shri Krishna Kant Pandey of village Kaithi, Varanasi, U.P. Sri Pandey remained in active association with Sardanand Ji till April 17, 1977, when he breathed his lost. He had stayed at Kaithi for about 2 months and half. After meeting him intellectuals of Kaithi and of adjoining areas belived him to be Neta Ji Bose. When this appeared in local news papers Aaj and Gandiv he abruptly left Kaithi on Feb. 17, 1952 for Punjab. My uncle Sri Radhakant Pandey accompanied him. In compliance of his wish my father resigned from the job of the State P.W.D. in the year 1954 and dedicated himself in the service of Sardanand Ji.
On the strength of 26 years long father’s active association with Sardanand Ji, my personal meetings and talks with him, diary entries of father, letters of Sardanand Ji and experiences of some surviving individuals of Kaithi during their association with Sardanand Ji I do subscribe to the stand that Sardanand Ji of Shaulmari Ashram was actually Neta Ji Bose.
The following personal characteristics and anecdotes go well to speak the real person of Neta Ji Bose camouflaged as Sardanand.
(1) In the year 1951-52 while staying in Kaithi the intellectuals found him to be Neta Ji and that was widely covered in local Hindi dailies Aaj and Gandiv.
(2) In father’s diary of the year 1953 it is written ‘Shri S.C. Bose left India in 1941 for freedom of India—– पूर्ण 12 वर्ष वनवास 1953’
(3) Capstan brand cigarette was addiction with Sardanad Ji and his favourite English daily was Amrit Bazar Patrika, so was the case with Neta Ji Bose also.
(4) In the year 1952 Oct- Nov. he had stayed at Trikuti Pahar in Bihar. One day while going through news papers of several days he suddenly smilingly said to father ’’कृष्णकान्त देखो मेरा दोस्त अमेरिका का प्रेसीडेन्ट बन गया।’’ In Nov. 1952 elections Dwight D. Eisenhower had been elected U.S. President. In the 2nd Word war Neta Ji was Supreme Commander of the INA on the Axis side and Eisenhower was Chief of U.S. Army on allied side. Shri Ram Shankar Singh (91 years) was sitting that time along with father in front of Sardanand Ji and it’s he who has disclosed this to me recently. Shri Singh also recollected that Sardanand Ji always travelled in 1st class in trains but before entering the compartment he used to ensure that no ‘Khaddardhari’ was already therein. Once he had broke his journey when he knew that a Khaddardhari was already in the compartment. Mr. Singh affirms that Sardanand Ji was Neta Ji Bose.
(5) In his diary of the year 1952-53 under the head ‘Mahatma’s Updesh’ father has recorded ‘Treat Bengalis as enemies, Punjabis and friends and Madrasis as slaves…… Read from ICS course in England’. Here Sardanand Ji has revealed his past of his coming from ICS cadre and of what the mental frame the British rulers developed in the cader to to control India.
(6) Father’s diary dated 13-10-1952—–, Varanasi, Sardanand Ji wrote a letter to L. Gurudatta Sikka, Distt & session Judge, Gurudaspur (East Punjab). This letter was copied down in fathers writing and then dispatched.
(7) Father’s diary 1952-53, Sardanand Ji is quoted as saying ‘statesman’s lips always differ from his heart’ and about Rajarshi Tandan he once said ‘Tandon was a bit communal otherwise he was alright ‘ and about relations between Gandhi Ji and Tandan, Gandhi Ji had once said to him ‘it is high time that we should part with.’
(8) In his letter dated 24-10-1952 from Trikuti Pahad Sardanand Ji has expressed the possibility of coming out in public life after the coming Sharad Navratra. But in later days letters dated 25-04-1954 and dated 10-09-1975 he was indecisive of his joining external world affairs as the divine permission was not coming forth.
(9) Sardanand Ji established Shaulmari Ashram at Falakata, Dist- Cooch Behar, (W.B.) in 1959 and remained there till 02-04-1966. Prominent among those, who visited Ashram and came out openly with the conviction that the founder of the Ashram was non else but Neta Ji Bose, are Uttam Chand Malhotra, who had housed Neta Ji in Kabul during his great escape in 1941, Major Satya Gupta of the INA and Haripad Bose who associated with Sardanand Ji during his Trikuti stay in Oct- Nov. 1952. Uttam Chand remained in touch with him till his last days in Dehradoon. Dr. Suresh Chand Padhye of Amrawati, Maharashtra was a regular visitor to the Ashram and held one to one talk with the founder. He had passed about 9 months with Sardanand Ji in U.P. Hills. He has conducted a research on Sardanand Ji and declared him none else but Neta Ji Bose.
(10) Shri Niharendu Dutt Majumdar, Bar at Law and former Law Minister of W.B. Govt. was a close associate of Neta Ji in days of his active open public life. Shri Majumdar used to hold one to one talks with Sardanand Ji. Once Sardanand Ji had dictated a note on the ‘darker side of Pt. Nehru’. In Oct. 1965 I had also visited the Ashram. On return journey I had met and dined with Shri Majumdar at his Calcutta abode. Once during a general discussion Majumdar Ji wanted to know from Baba (In the Ashram all addressed Sardanand Ji as Baba meaning thereby in Bengali father) that if Neta Ji was alive what prevents him from coming in active open life. Baba said to it that Nehru’s black heart had shown its blackness. When Shri Majumdar solicited his opinion on the alleged death of Neta Ji he smilled and said that he has not died yet, and hereafter he stopped him from asking anymore question about Neta Ji. Shri Vishram Singh (81 years) of Kaithi had stayed in the Ashram for about 3 yrs. He is convinced that Baba was Neta Ji Bose. He says that Pt. Nehru was knowing everything about Baba through Majumdar Saheb. During Mr. Singh’s stay at Ashram Uttam Chand and Major Satyagupt had visited Ashram and met Baba. During Chinese attack of 1962 Mr. Singh was there and says that Baba had held Pt. Nehru responsible for that.
(11) Neta Ji’s elder brother Suresh Bose had visited Ashram in 1965 Oct. Baba reluctantly agreed to meet him but behind the curtain and not face to face. When Suresh Babu talked a few sentences about Neta Ji Baba intervened to say that he was not Subhash Bose and better, being a member of a respected family, he should not talk to him about Subhash Bose. When upon this Suresh Babu hit back that if he was not Subhash Bose then why he was maintaining so much secrecy. Baba simply said ‘There are some matters’. And the meeting ended between the two brothers.
(12) My father had met the U.P. Governor Shri Vishwanath Das on 29-04-1963 and U.P. C.M. Smt. Sucheta Kripalani on 10-06-1964. Behind these meetings the only background was Sardanand Ji great personality and not any background of my father.
(13) Dr. Suresh Chandra Padhye had accompanied Baba from Shaulmari Ashram to U.P. Hills in 1966 and stayed there with him for about 9 months. Sardanand Ji was always distrustful of Pt. Nehru. In the Ashram Baba had once said ‘usg: us ‘ks[k vcnqYyk dk fopkj ugha djk lds fdUrq izÑfr us le;kuqlkj dj gh fn;kA’ In U.P. Hills he had told to Paddhye Ji ‘if Sheikh Abdullah was a traitor he should have been short dead first and then enquiry be made.’ Sardanand Ji had also expressed to him that Nehru had treated INA soldiers bad and he had once said that if Bose came to India he would be first to fight with him. In U.P. Hills once Sardanand Ji had revealed to Dr. Padhey that in the 2nd World war Subhash Bose had made an agreement with Gen. Tojo of Japan that after Burmese border no single Japanese soldier would enter Indian territory, but except Tojo the rest were uncooperative with Subhash.
(14) Sardanand Ji had stayed in Varanasi from Sep. 1972 to March 1973. Former Cabinet Minister of U.P. Govt. Late Prabhu Narayan Singh had met him. Dr. Bhagwan Das Arora, Chief editor of Local Hindi daily Gandiv had also met him on Sept. 29, 1972. In his daily’s next day editions he confirmed him to be Neta Ji Bose. During that period I was posted in Gorakhpur district. I had been once asked to report to the DCIO of I.B. Varanasi. I met the DCIO Shri Yajunandan Singh in his office he had enquired a lot about my father’s association with Shaulmari Ashram and its founder Sardanand Ji and whether he was Neta Ji Bose. I had provided all the information I had with me. In those days I had also met Sardanand Ji twice in Varanasi. In one meeting I mustered courage to know his opinion on the death of Neta Ji in the alleged aircrash. He said ‘IysuØS’k esa mldh e`R;q ugha gqbZ gS] ckn esa Hkys gh gks x;h gks’
(15) In the year 1963 in almost all English dailies of India Shaulmari Ashram had invited interview letters from retired ICS/IAS and retired head of any department of state or Central Govt. for the post of administrator of the Ashram, and also for various post for Swami Ramtirth Institute of the Ashram. To tide over the financial position of Ashram Baba had floated loan bonds in the year 1963, which is reminiscent of the loan bonds floated by the Provisional Govt. of India under the leadership of Neta Ji Bose in the 2nd World War. When Baba smelt his correspondences being censored he started using code name ‘Gatimaya’
(16) Sardanand Ji breathed his last on April 17, 1977 at 194, Rajpur road, Dehradoon. The Central Govt. decided to honour Neta Ji with posthumous BHARAT RATNA on his coming Birthday Jan. 23. It does indicate that the Govt. was tracking everything of Sardanand Ji and waiting for this ominous day. When this decision was made a subject of judicial scrutiny on the ground that as to how without declaring the death of Neta Ji any posthumous award could be given. The Govt. hurriedly withdrew the decision.
(17) During the period of 1951-1977 Sardanand Ji was very much in the glare of media and the Govt. and public. And during this period of 26 years two enquiry committees on Neta Ji’s alleged death and disappearance had been constituted. None of the committees least bothered to make him a subject of their enquiry. They undertook foreign trips but not to a place and person residing verymuch in India and believed to be Neta Ji Bose. Both committees concluded the death of Neta Ji in the alleged plane crash.
Shah Nawaj enquiry committee, formed in 1956, confirmed the happening of the plane crash and death Neta Ji. In his capacity of union Dy. Minister in his letter no. 83 DMA/65 dated 13-01-1965 addressed to Shri P.K. Malaviya, the editor in chief of ‘THE ABHYUDAY’, Allahabad he had stated the plane crash as ‘alleged plane crash’ and he further adds that what Col. Habibur Rehman had told him exactly the same has been stated by him eversince. It does unravel the truth between the lines that Mr. Shah Nawaj was neither certain of the plane crash nor the death of Neta Ji and his enquiry report was on the line of some predetermined agenda.
(18) Former INA Officers were observed in touch with Sardanand Ji. Prominent among them were Col. Preetam Singh, Lt. Col. Damodar Bhatta and Major Satyagupt. On 04-04-1974 Shri Bhatta alongwith his wife Smt. Jeevanti Devi had met Sardanand Ji at 18, Lal Kothi, Dehradoon and while leaving he gave Rs. 2000/- to him. An INA Brigadier, who had once visited Ashram, discolsed that he was a member of the core group which had planed the safe escape of Neta Ji out of Japan in a submarine and the question of his death in a plane crash did not arise. Dr. Padhey’s research claims that Neta Ji reached Tibet crossing China border and from there onward he stayed in U.P. hills. For about 5 years he engaged himself in meditation and then descended in plains.
(19) Letters written by Sardanand Ji and diary notes about him by the father are well preserved. They can extensively help revealing a lot and substentiate the truth that he was realy Neta Ji Bose.
Appeal
The Govt. of India is appealed:-
(1) An enquiry be setup to go into the stay of Neta Ji Bose in India after his escape in 1945 and his death on April 17, 1977 at Dehradoon.
(2) April 17 be declared the passing away day of Neta Ji Bose.
(3) His Birthday Jan 23 be declared a National Day.
(4) Neta Ji Bose be declared as Rashtra Purush
Date: 06-02-2016
(Shyama Charan Pandey)
(Retd. I.B. Officer)
Village & Post- Kaithi
Distt- Varanasi (U.P.)
Pin-221116
Mob. No 9453914917
