At exhibition on Bose, a tale of how his Bharat Ratna remained on paper

The documents, which were among the Bose files declassified by the Government between 2015 and 2019 on demands from his family, form the core of ‘Subhash Abhinandan’, a digital exhibition held by the National Archives of India as part of its 134th Foundation Day celebrations.

The exhibition, inaugurated on March 11, comprises 16 sections covering the period starting from Bose’s birth and showcases some documents, including his civil service examination results, besides notings from his father Janaki Nath Bose’s diary.

Freedom fighter Subhas Chandra Bose (Archive)

There’s a special section dedicated to Bharat Ratna vis-a-vis Bose which highlights the efforts of the current BJP-led dispensation at the Centre to honour his legacy. It comprises PMO letters, press clippings, a 1992 press communique from the President’s office announcing the award and a 1997 document related to the withdrawal of the communique.\

According to one document dated October 10, 1991 — a PMO communication meant for the then Home Secretary, M D Godbole — President Venkataraman accepted PM Rao’s recommendations of awarding Bharat Ratna posthumously to both Maulana Abul Kalam Azad and Bose. “The President has informed the Prime Minister that he has accepted the recommendations made for conferring the Bharat Ratna on Maulana Abul Kalam Azad and Subhas Chandra Bose posthumously. The President has suggested that the details may be settled by the concerned officers,” reads the letter.

The Bharat Ratna panel on the freedom fighter at the National Archives of India. (Archive)

On January 22, 1992, a day before Bose’s 95th birth anniversary, the Rashtrapati Bhawan issued an official communique announcing the award. “The President is pleased to confer the award of Bharat Ratna posthumously on Subhas Chandra Bose,” the document reads, mentioning it was meant to be embargoed until the next morning.

However, Bose’s family refused to accept the award, since it was being given to him “posthumously”. Bose’s family contested the claims about Bose’s death, which continues to remain a mystery even today, saying, “Accepting the honour would be undermining the memory of Netaji”.

PM Rao was informed about this through an internal note.

As per Government records, Bose died in a plane crash off Taipei in 1945 when he was on his way to Japan. However, the evidence on the circumstances of his death has been considered inconclusive so far.

But there was no provision to take back the Bharat Ratna announcement by the President. In this regard, another declassified note dated 28 July, 1997 read that it was decided with the approval of then President and PM that “no further action was necessary and the matter might be deemed as closed.”