Read this in Hindi:

MEERUT: The country’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru had a role in getting Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose “executed”, BJP leader Subramanian Swamy claimed here on Friday at a function to observe Bose’s birth anniversary. He said the INA leader had not died in a plane crash in 1945 but staged his death to escape being caught as a war criminal.Swamy claimed Netaji had escaped to the Soviet Union, where he was imprisoned by Joseph Stalin. The Russian dictator wrote to Nehru asking what he should he do with Bose, Swamy said. Nehru wrote to the British, who got Bose executed, he alleged.The stenographer of Nehru who typed out the letter the PM wrote was a man from Meerut, said Swamy, author of several conspiracy theories. Narrating the trail of events, Swamy said he had conducted his “own research” in the matter.“After the Second World War was over, Bose was looking for a haven as Allies had pronounced him a ‘war criminal’. Because of his cordial relations with the Soviet Union, he seemed to have full faith that the Russians would provide him asylum. From there, he planned to renew his efforts to free his nation. With this intention, Bose reached Manchuria which was at that time under the control of Soviet Union. From there, he moved to Soviet Union and met Stalin, who took him prisoner.”Swamy was addressing a gathering at a function organized to commemorate Bose on his birth anniversary. Various city schools participated in it, performing patriotic songs and skits.Swamy said, “Stalin wrote a letter to Nehru in December 1945 that Bose was in his custody and asked Nehru what he should he do with Bose. Nehru, after receiving the letter, immediately summoned his stenographer Shyam Lal Jain on December 26, 1945 and dictated a letter meant for the then British PM. Jain had stated these facts before the Khosla Commission, set up in 1970 to investigate the mystery behind Bose’s death.”Swamy said as per Jain’s version, Nehru had told the British PM that he had received information that Bose was in a jail in Soviet Union. “In my opinion, soon after that, British officials reached the Soviet Union and ensured Bose was put to death,” said Swamy.When TOI contacted Subhash Chandra Bose’s grandnephew, Chandra Kumar Bose, he said, “It was unlikely that the Soviet Union could have assassinated him, because that country was one of 11 that recognized the provisional government of Azad Hind set up by Bose in Singapore on October 21, 1943. That is way Bose enjoyed a good rapport with the Soviet Union. Yet, conflicting theories have been doing the rounds about the death of Subhash Chandra Bose. Some say he died in a plane crash, others claim he was seen as a sadhu in various parts of the country. But there is no clinching evidence that substantiates these theories except the fact that the Justice Mukherjee Commission established in 2005 that Subhash did not die in the Taiwan crash. And, the same thing I say about Dr Swamy’s claim as well.He has said earlier also that as law minister he had seen relevant files, but they are all classified documents now. The nation needs evidence. Currently, there are more than 100 files in the category of classified with the government of India. Out of these, 39 are with the PMO. Out of these 39 files, 20 are specifically on the disappearance of Subhash Bose. First these files need to be declassified. And then a high powered SIT must be formed comprising home ministry, external affairs ministry, IB, CBI, historians and a few family members. This team must then investigate into the matter.”Dr KD Sharma, former professor, history, Meerut College, who has done extensive research on the freedom struggle, said, “There is no doubt that Bose died in mysterious circumstances, through he did not die in a plane crash. Secondly, I do not believe in the theory that he was alive and seen later in different areas. A man of his stature would not remain hidden for long.”