IB ‘snooping’ on Bose’s relatives kicks up political slugfest

New Delhi, April 10

A political storm has erupted over archival material suggesting the Intelligence Bureau kept relatives of Subhas Chandra Bose under close surveillance for two decades, most of which was during Jawaharlal Nehru’s tenure as Prime Minister.

The Intelligence Bureau (IB) files declassified recently said Bose’s close relatives, including his two nephews, Sisir Kumar Bose and Amiya Nath Bose, sons of his brother Sarat Chandra Bose, were spied upon for 20 years between 1948 and 1968. Nehru was Prime Minister for 16 of these 20 years.

The files, now with the National Archives, said the Bose family homes at 1, Woodburn Park and 38/2 Elgin Road, were kept under surveillance.

The Intelligence Bureau sleuths intercepted and copied letters written by the Bose family and even trailed them on foreign tours.

Bose’s family reacted to reports with “shock” and said it was a “poor reflection” on the quality of democracy at that time.

“Yes, it is a poor reflection on the quality of India’s democracy in the first two decades that there was such invasion of privacy of freedom fighters. It is not just a family matter.

“The most disgraceful aspect of this surveillance is that private letters between my father and his aunt (Netaji’s wife) were being opened and read and copied. It’s a matter of great disrespect to the freedom struggle and freedom fighters,” Sugata Bose, his grand nephew and TMC MP, who read the files and copied the relevant material, said. — PTI

BJP propaganda: Cong
New Delhi: The Congress on Friday trashed reports of alleged spying of the family of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose saying these were plants by the incumbent BJP government to “defame national icons”. Congress spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi said a propaganda of selective leaks and half truths was being unleashed by the government to malign leaders who reshaped India’s destiny. Congress argument was that during the period (1948 to 1968) in question, Jawaharlal Nehru was the PM up to May 1964, Lal Bahadur Shastri from 1964 to 66, Gulzari Lal Nanda in 1966 and Indira Gandhi 1967 onwards. — TNS