What Did Jawaharlal Nehru Fear When He Continued IB Snooping_ - ET Blogs

4/11/2015 WhatdidJawaharlalNehrufearwhenhecontinuedIBsnooping?ETBlogs

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What did Jawaharlal Nehru fear when he continued IB snooping?April 11, 2015, 5:57 AM IST MJ Akbar in The Siege Within | India | ET

Subhash Chandra Bose and Jawaharlal Nehru were too similar to cooperate beyond a point, for there was only one place at thetop and Gandhi had reserved it for Nehru.

Both came from privileged families. Both harvested an excellent education into intellectually stimulating public discourse andbooks: While Nehru was descriptive, perceptive and sometimes lyrical, Bose was analytical and strategic. Both could have beenglamorous pillars of the Raj but chose a lifetime of sacrifice and struggle in the cause of freedom. Both leaned to the Leftwithout toppling into communism. Both were heroes, whose private lives were also a testimony to their extraordinarycharisma. Both were nationalists as well as internationalists.

It is not widely known that when Bose chose to enter the World War-II as an ally of the Axis powers, he told Japan that he hadno desire to replace the British empire with a Japanese one. Both were fiercely independent.

Gandhi took an early, and still unexplained, dislike to Bose. Perhaps the Mahatma saw in Bose the one national hero who couldinterfere with his plans for Nehru. When Bose once welcomed Gandhi in Bengal with a parade by volunteers, Gandhi mockedBose with uncharacteristic venom.

Gandhi handed over leadership of the mass campaign for the crucial 1937 general elections to Nehru. But within a year Boseproved that he was not only more popular than Nehru but even Gandhi in the Congress when he was elected party president atHaripura in 1938, against Gandhis expressed wish. He could not of course function without Gandhis cooperation; the rift wascomplete. Bose started his own party.

The conventional view was that Bose had marginalised himself out of national space by leaving Gandhi, Congress and then thecountry by 1941. Two events in 1946 proved that this view was utterly wrong. The revolt in the Indian Navy in February wasevidence that Boses influence in the armed forces was beyond the control of the British. And the trial of Bose INA veterans atthe Red Fort for treason led to such mass rage that British rule was no longer tenable. Indias young had spoken. And they hadspoken in the voice of Bose.

British fear of Bose and his family was well-founded. But what did Nehru fear when he continued the Intelligence Bureausurveillance for as long as he was Prime Minister? Bose death in an air crash was always a mystery trapped in fog. What swirlsthe most in any mist? Rumour. But rumour apart there was uncertainty at the highest levels about whether Bose had actuallydied or not. One way to establish facts would be to check whether Bose kept any form of contact with Calcutta and his family.So letters were intercepted, and watch kept on visitors.

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But surely the more substantive reason was political. Nehru knew, better than anyone else, that Bose was the only nationalleader who could challenge Congress dominance over India and Nehrus dominance over Congress. I certainly believe that ifBose had been on the political scene, Congress would have been badly dented in the 1957 general elections and certainlydefeated in 1962. Bose was also the only leader who could have patched together a non-Congress coalition. What happened in1977 could so easily have occurred in 1962. It is interesting to speculate on what impact this might have had on Chinas warplans against India, or for that matter Pakistans aggression in 1965.

There are still 87 files about Bose that the Government of India will not disclose. The official excuse is that this will have anadverse impact on Indias relations with one or more foreign countries. How? Why? If Bose actually died in the air crash whywould there be any reason for any adverse impact with any third nation? Does this substantiate a rumour that Bose survivedthe crash, and managed to reach an unnamed country where he was incarcerated for the rest of his life? Was this imprisonmentbehind some curtain that was made of such iron that news simply could not filter through? Did Nehru know about this and donothing for fear of consequences back home? In the absences of answers we can only raise questions.

Let me leave you with a thought. The head of IB during Nehrus prime ministership, and indeed beyond, was BN Mullik. All IBchiefs have limited terms. Mullik was never removed from his chair. Why? Did Mullik know something that gave him what canonly be described as blackmail powers over the Congress government? Was he Indias version of FBI chief J Edgar Hoover?Once again, we do not know. But we can safely assume that there is some fire smouldering within this smoke, and that if thatfire touches the oxygen of revelation, there will be conflagration.

DISCLAIMER : Views expressed above are the author's own.

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MJ AkbarMJ Akbar is one of India's most distinguished editors and authors. He has written several bestselling books on life and politics in modernIndia. He is the. . .

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What Did Jawaharlal Nehru Fear When He Continued IB Snooping_ - ET Blogs