INA treasure controversy

Last updated

The INA treasure controversy relates to alleged misappropriation by men of Azad Hind of the Azad Hind fortune recovered from belongings of Subhas Chandra Bose in his last known journey. The treasure, a considerable amount of gold ornaments and gems, is said to have been recovered from Bose's belongings following the fatal plane crash in Formosa (present-day Taiwan) that reportedly killed him, and taken to men of Azad Hind then living in Japan. [1] The Indian government was made aware of a number of these individuals allegedly using part of the recovered treasure for personal use. However, despite repeated warnings from Indian diplomats in Tokyo, Nehru is said to have disregarded allegations that men previously associated with Azad Hind misappropriated the funds for personal benefit. Some of these are said to have travelled to Japan repeatedly with the approval of Nehru government and were later given government roles implementing Nehru's political and economic agenda. [1] A very small portion of the alleged treasure was repatriated to India in the 1950s. [1]

Contents

It is estimated that Netaji carried with him approximately 70 kg of treasures in four iron boxes while starting his final journey from Bangkok on 17 August 1945 morning. At Saigon he had to shed around 38 kg of treasures and took the already overloaded onward bound bomber with only two boxes. Next day the bomber crashed at the airfield while taking off from Taihoku, Formosa, at around 2.30pm, killing Netaji and five other Japanese. The Japanese army salvaged around 16 kg of scattered treasures and later sent it to the Indian Independence League headquarters at Tokyo. What came back to India on 10 November 1952 was 11 kg of treasures, which is lying in the National Museum vault at New Delhi.

Documentary

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Indian National Army</span> Army of mostly Indian POWs of Japan in WW2

The Indian National Army was a collaborationist armed unit of Indian collaborators that fought under the command of the Japanese Empire. It was founded by Mohan Singh on September 1942 in Southeast Asia during World War II.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Subhas Chandra Bose</span> Indian nationalist leader and politician (1897–1945)

Subhas Chandra Bose was an Indian nationalist whose defiance of British authority in India made him a hero among many Indians, but his wartime alliances with Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan left a legacy vexed by authoritarianism, anti-Semitism, and military failure. The honorific 'Netaji' was first applied to Bose in Germany in early 1942—by the Indian soldiers of the Indische Legion and by the German and Indian officials in the Special Bureau for India in Berlin. It is now used throughout India.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Azad Hind</span> Indian provisional government in Japanese-occupied Singapore during World War II

The Provisional Government of Free India or, more simply, Azad Hind, was a short-lived Japanese-controlled provisional government in India. It was established in Japanese occupied Singapore during World War II in October 1943 and has been considered a puppet state of the Empire of Japan.

Azad Hind Radio was a radio service that was started under the leadership of Subhas Chandra Bose in 1942 to encourage Indians to fight against the British. Though initially based in Nazi Germany, its headquarters were shifted to Japanese occupied Singapore following the course of the war in Southeast Asia. After Netaji's departure to Southeast Asia, the German operations were continued by A. C. N. Nambiar, the head of the Indian Legion in Nazi Germany and later ambassador of the Arzi Hukumate Azad Hind in Germany.

<i>Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose: The Forgotten Hero</i> 2004 Indian film

Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose: The Forgotten Hero is a 2004 Indian epic biographical war film, written and directed by Shyam Benegal. The film starred an ensemble cast of Sachin Khedekar, Kulbhushan Kharbanda, Rajit Kapur, Arif Zakaria, and Divya Dutta, among others. The film depicts the life of the Indian Independence leader Subhas Chandra Bose in Nazi Germany: 1941–1943, and in Japanese-occupied Asia 1943–1945, and the events leading to the formation of Azad Hind Fauj.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Death of Subhas Chandra Bose</span> 1945 death of Indian nationalist leader

Indian nationalist leader Subhas Chandra Bose died on 18 August 1945 from third-degree burns sustained after the bomber in which he was being transported as a guest of Lieutenant General Tsunamasa Shidei of the Imperial Japanese Kwantung Army crashed upon take off from the airport in Taihoku, Japanese Formosa, now Taipei, Taiwan. The chief pilot, copilot, and General Shidei were instantly killed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shah Nawaz Khan (general)</span> Azad Indian National Army General and MP

Shah Nawaz Khan was an Indian politician who served as an officer in the Indian National Army (INA) during World War II. He was profoundly influenced by Subhas Chandra Bose's speeches asking POWs to join the Indian National Army and to fight for a free India, Khan led the army into North-Eastern India, seizing Kohima and Imphal which were held briefly by the INA under the authority of the Japanese. In December 1944, Shah Nawaz Khan was appointed Commander of the 1st Division at Mandalay. After the war, he was tried, convicted for treason, and sentenced to death in a public court-martial carried out by the British Indian Army. The sentence was commuted by the Commander-in-chief of the Indian Army following unrest and protests in India. After the trial, Khan declared that he would henceforth follow the path of non-violence espoused by Mahatama Gandhi and joined the Congress party. Having successfully contested the first Lok Sabha in 1952 from Meerut, Khan had an illustrious parliamentary career. He was elected four times to the Lok Sabha from Meerut constituency in 1951, 1957, 1962 and 1971. He lost in the 1967 and 1977 Lok Sabha election from Meerut.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Indian National Army trials</span> British Indian trial by courts-martial

The Indian National Army trials was the British Indian trial by court-martial of a number of officers of the Indian National Army (INA) between November 1945 and May 1946, on various charges of treason, torture, murder and abetment to murder, during the Second World War.

Ram Singh Thakuri was an Indian freedom fighter, musician and composer. He composed a number of patriotic songs including Qadam Qadam Badhaye Ja and Shubh Sukh Chain whilst serving in the Indian National Army.

John Thivy (1904–1959) was a Malayan Indian politician and former lawyer who was the founding president of the Malayan Indian Congress.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tokyo Boys</span> Group of youth recruits of the Indian National Army

The Tokyo Cadets or the Tokyo Boys, was the name given to the group of forty five youth recruits of the Indian National Army who were sent to the Imperial Japanese Army Academy or Imperial Japanese Army Air Force Academy to train as fighter pilots in 1944 by Subhas Chandra Bose. The cadets were captured as prisoners of war after Japan surrendered, but were released in 1946 after the end of the INA trials. The cadets became officers in the Indian forces, Burma Navy, Pakistan forces, and private pilots. Some of them became general officers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mohammed Zaman Kiani</span> Azad Hind Patriot Army Commander against British India

Mohammed Zaman Kiani was an officer of the British Indian Army who later joined the Indian National Army (INA), led by Subhas Chandra Bose, and commanded its 1st Division.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">S. A. Ayer</span>

Subbier Appadurai Ayer was the Minister for Publicity and Propaganda in Subhas Chandra Bose's Azad Hind Government between 1943 and 1945, and later a key defence witness during the first of the INA trials. Ayer had travelled to Bangkok in November 1940 as a Special correspondent for Reuters before joining the Indian Independence League. In October 1943, Ayer was appointed the Minister of publicity and propaganda in the nascent Azad Hind Government.

The Nehru Brigade or 4th Guerrilla Regiment was a unit of the Indian National Army, that formed a part of the First INA and later part of the 1st Division after the INA's revival under Subhas Chandra Bose. Subhas Bose named the regiment after Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, the 1st Prime Minister of India.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jaganath Rao Bhonsle</span> Indian Army general and politician (1906–1963)

Major General Jaganath Rao Bhonsle, also known as Jagannathrao Krishnarao Bhonsle was an Indian military officer, independence activist, and politician. As a member of the Indian National Army, Bhonsle served as the Azad Hind's minister for armed forces in the Azad Hind. After the war, he was a minister and MP in India after independence.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Habib ur Rahman (Indian National Army officer)</span> Indian National Army officer

Habib ur Rahman (1913–1978) was an army officer in the Indian National Army (INA) who was charged with "waging war against His Majesty the King Emperor". He served as Subhas Chandra Bose's chief of staff in Singapore, and accompanied Bose on his alleged last fatal flight from Taipei to Tokyo, sharing the last moments of his life. Rahman also played an important role in the First Kashmir War. Convinced that Maharaja Hari Singh was out to exterminate the Muslims of Jammu and Kashmir, he joined Major General Zaman Kiani, in launching a rebellion against the Maharaja from Gujrat in Pakistani Punjab. Rehman and his volunteer force launched an attack on the Bhimber town. But, the records of the 11th Cavalry of the Pakistan Army indicate that their efforts did not succeed, and eventually the Cavalry was responsible for conquering Bhimber.

Azad Hind Fouz Smriti Mahavidyalaya is an undergraduate liberal arts college in Domjur, West Bengal, India. It is in Howrah district. It is affiliated with the University of Calcutta.

The Indian National Army (INA) and its leader Subhash Chandra Bose are popular and emotive topics within India. From the time it came into public perception in India around the time of the Red Fort Trials, it found its way into the works of military historians around the world. It has been the subject of a number of projects, of academic, historical and of popular nature. Some of these are critical of the army, some — especially of the ex-INA men — are biographical or autobiographical, while still others historical and political works, that tell the story of the INA. A large number of these provide analyses of Subhas Chandra Bose and his work with the INA.

<i>Gumnaami</i> 2019 film directed by Srijit Mukherji

Gumnaami is a 2019 Indian Bengali-language mystery film based on the true events directed by Srijit Mukherji, which deals with the mystery of Netaji's death, based on the Mukherjee Commission hearings and the book Conundrum written by Anuj Dhar and Chandrachur Ghose. It has been produced by Shrikant Mohta, Pranay Ranjan, and Mahendra Soni under the banner of Shree Venkatesh Films. Prosenjit Chatterjee plays the roles of Subhas Chandra Bose and Gumnaami Baba.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Netaji Jayanti</span> Birth anniversary of the prominent Indian freedom fighter Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose

Netaji Jayanti or Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Jayanti, officially known as Parakram Diwas or Parakram Divas, is a national event celebrated in India to mark the birthday of the prominent Indian freedom fighter Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose. It is celebrated annually on 23 January. He played a pivotal role in Indian independence movement. He was the head of Indian National Army. He was the founder-head of the Azad Hind Government.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Kavitha Muralidharan (14 May 2015). "Who shrunk Netaji's fortune?". India Today. Retrieved 19 September 2015.
  2. "'Netaji Bose - The Lost Treasure'". HISTORY TV18. Archived from the original on 25 September 2020. Retrieved 23 January 2020.

The Wire: The Tale of Netaji's Missing Treasures and the Nehru Govt's Refusal to Recover Them