Save Subhas Chandra Bose's legacy. Restore Netaji Bhawan
With its distinctive filigree iron lace railings, old Calcutta-style green shuttered windows, and chocolate-brown pillars in sharp relief against a light creamy exterior, the beautiful old house at 38/2 Elgin Road (now Lala Lajpat Rai Sarani) at one time dominated its surroundings. It is now hemmed in by neighbouring shops and the high-rise buildings of modern day Kolkata, a memento of bygone days. The traffic and passers-by seem oblivious to the presence of the old house in the centre of the bustling city, and unknowing of its history.
This colonial era jewel was once the home in Calcutta of Janakinath and Prabhavati Bose, built for them and their large family in 1909 when they established a base in Calcutta from their home at Cuttack in Orissa. The eight boys and six girls born to them, included the iconic Bose brothers of Bengal and India, Sarat Chandra and Subhas Chandra Bose. With the passing away of Janakinath in 1934 and Prabhavati in 1943, the Elgin Road house was inherited by three of their other sons and Subhas.
Sarat returned to Calcutta in September 1945 from his isolated, four-year detention by the British in faraway Coonoor in South India, to an ecstatic and tumultuous welcome from the people of Calcutta and India. At the same time, he was greatly troubled by reports from the previous month of the death in an alleged air crash on Formosa, of his beloved younger brother Subhas.
Sarat was never convinced of the air crash story, but the fact remained that his brother had disappeared. He moved quickly to ensure that Subhas and all that he stood for, would remain the centrestage and an enduring inspiration for his countrymen and women. The parental home at 38/2 Elgin Road became part of Sarat's vision. Subhas had spent his last days there before leaving under the cover of darkness one early wintry morning in January 1941, eventually re-surfacing in war-time Germany, before heading off in early 1943 for Japan and the Far East chapter of the Second World War.
Thus in 1946, Sarat moved to acquire the Elgin Road house from three of his brothers, and to establish within its precincts a centre to commemorate the life of Subhas and propagate his vision of free India. A core research facility built around a museum and archive would be readily available to the public, and this would be complemented by the provision of social and charitable services for the people of Calcutta.
That same year, Sarat inaugurated the "Netaji Bhawan" at 38/2 Elgin Road. Sarat's daughter Gita Biswas acted as her father's secretary around this time, and was to recall many years later her vivid memories of the inauguration when Sarat declared: "I dedicate this house 'Netaji Bhawan' to the nation."
The foundation work concentrated on the collection and organisation of a range of written and audio materials, memorabilia and photographs, and the museum and archive began to take shape. The Azad Hind Ambulance Corps began to provide a much-needed medical service out of Netaji Bhawan, for refugees and victims of the communal riots of the time.
All of this evolved against the background of a frenetic political life for Sarat himself. At the specific request of Gandhi, he had re-joined Congress upon his release, in September 1945, from detention, and had joined Gandhi in a last and desperate effort to prevent partition, both of India and then Bengal itself. After his resignation from the Congress on August 1, 1947 (after 40 years!) just prior to independence, he strove for the following several years to provide leadership and guidance to the Leftist forces in the new India. In doing so, he invoked the spirit of Subhas and the socialist principles shared by the brothers for the future of India.
Sadly, the rigours of jail and a life lived at a hectic pace, proved too much for Sarat. After two earlier heart attacks in May and August, 1949, he passed away suddenly on February 20, 1950. He was barely 60 years old, and the trauma of his untimely death reached beyond the family to the people of Bengal and India, and even beyond.
With both of the iconic Bose brothers now gone from the scene as active players, Sarat's vision and the flame of Subhas would have to be carried forward by others. They immediately stepped forward to do so. The second son of Sarat, Amiya Nath Bose, with the active support of a group of eminent persons, friends and family (including Sarat's youngest daughter Chitra and son Subrata), was the driving force behind the establishment at Netaji Bhawan in 1952, of "The Sarat Bose Academy - An Institute of National and International Affairs".
Henceforth, the Academy became the principal functional arm of Netaji Bhawan, with a mission to develop a research centre for the study and analysis of the history of India as well as of contemporary national and international questions; promote the art, music and culture of India; and publish the works of eminent Indians.
Amiya as the first general secretary of the Academy, immediately launched an active and far-reaching campaign for the search and collection of relevant documents, both from within India and abroad. The years following found him not just in the archives in Delhi, but far afield in London, Bonn, Rome and Tokyo. He wrote assiduously, to the Government of India and its overseas diplomatic missions, and to foreign diplomatic missions based in India. Amiya also had in his custody a collection of original documents entrusted to him by Subhas, including the hand-written manuscript of "An Indian Pilgrim", and materials written during periods of detention.
A wealth of documentary and archival materials came to be housed in Netaji Bhawan as a direct result, under the umbrella of the Sarat Bose Academy. Many key documents including the writings, speeches and statements of both Sarat and Subhas, as well as their political and personal correspondence, were published by the Academy. Photographic exhibitions featuring the brothers and their activities were organised in Calcutta and in Delhi.
In the late 1950s, a proposal for the creation of a separate entity in Netaji Bhawan "to undertake a systematic study of Netaji's life and mission", began to take shape. The Netaji Research Bureau (NRB) thus came into being, and was formally registered in mid-1961. The inaugural chairman of the NRB was an old friend and colleague of the brothers, Satya Ranjan Bakshi. The first council included eminent citizens of Calcutta as well as members of the Bose family. Chitra Ghosh (nee Bose) became a life member. Sisir Bose, a younger brother of Amiya was appointed the general secretary.
At around the same time, on July 13, 1961, the Netaji Hall Society was created on the initiative of Amiya Nath, to act in effect both as a catalyst and facilitator for the physical expansion of Netaji Bhawan, as well as an umbrella for the four organisational entities housed on the premises, namely: the Museum and Archives; the Sarat Bose Academy; the Netaji Research Bureau; and, the Azad Hind Ambulance Corps. All of the foregoing constituted Netaji Bhawan by the end of 1961.
Fast forward to June 2015, and we find a very different situation to that which prevailed in the heady days of the 1950s and 1960's. The Azad Hind Ambulance Corps, together with an attached paediatric centre, is long gone. The pivotal Sarat Bose Academy was effectively expelled from the Netaji Bhawan premises by Sisir Bose as NRB general secretary and executive director, as long ago as the late 1960's. The staff and volunteers who ran the Academy, relate that they arrived one morning at 38/2 Elgin Road, to find padlocks on the doors to their offices and a message that they were no longer welcome on the premises.
What therefore remains today in Netaji Bhawan are the museum and archives which date from 1946, and the Netaji Research Bureau from 1961. The successor to Sisir Bose as NRB director is his son Sugata Bose, while his widow Krishna Bose holds the position of chairperson of NRB. A bookshop on the premises boasts publications of Krishna Bose, while the shop itself is named after one of her undistinguished relatives. A meeting room on the premises is dedicated to Sisir Bose, side-by-side with a hall dedicated to his illustrious father Sarat Bose.
The management of both the NRB and the Netaji Hall Society, (if the latter still exists), is opaque at best. Evidence that either or both entities meet their reporting responsibilities under the Societies Act, is difficult to find. Nor is there transparency of any sort on financial matters, neither income nor expenditure. There is a pressing need for both the Bureau and the Society to be clear and transparent, particularly where funds from governmental sources and the public-at-large are concerned. Sarat and Subhas would have expected no less.
There have been persistent complaints about lack of access to the records at Netaji Bhawan, materials which were originally placed there for the ready usage and appreciation of the interested public. It seems that only a select few are granted access to the archives by the current management. Again this is very contrary to the vision of the brothers.
A caption on the NRB website which promises that access to the archives is "coming soon", has been there for several years, indicating that the NRB has practical capacity issues. It also highlights an urgent need for a more professional approach to the overall management of the NRB and Netaji Bhawan, as would befit an iconic site of national historical importance.
If Netaji Bhawan is to survive and prosper in the longer term, in accordance with the purposes for which it was first established, then a combination of professional management and governmental financial support is critical. The Bose family can and should take an interest, but should be the first to acknowledge that Sarat and Subhas belong first and foremost to the nation. It is the nation which should safeguard their memory and their legacy.