ManMohan Singh was prime minister of India for 10 years. This is a pretty long period in the history of a nation and ManMohan Singh held fort as the "leader" of the Indian people for a decade from 2004-1014. Unfortunately the only legacy he seems to have left behind is articulated as" running dog". This is a phrase from China and refers to a man who has no independence and is entirely subseverient to a family or organization. In case of ManMohan Singh one can say he was 'The running dog of the Nehru Gandhi family". All this can be condoned, but his approach in suppressing information regarding the death of Bose is an unpardonable act, that needs scrutiny.
One will recollect that in 1998, the BJP government headed by AB Vajpayee set up a commission under Justice Mukherjee to inquire into the death of Subhas Chandra Bose. This was based on the general feeling that Bose did not die in the aircrash in Formosa in 1945, but used it as a smokescreen to escape being tried as a war criminal by the Allies. It is worth pointing out that Gandhi, Nehru and Jinnah had given their assent to Great Briton to try Bose in case he was captured.
All sorts of rumors were floating around. Some claimed they had evidence that he escaped to Russia and some claimed that he had turned a sadhu and was a resident of Faizabad.
Justice Mukherjee did a thorough job and concluded that Bose did not die in the aircrash. He cited irrefutable evidence of this. Justice Mukherjee also visited Russia and was startled with the information that was revealed to him there. He was told in Moscow that secret KGB files did mention Bose and these could be made available to India in case the Indian prime minister made a request to his Russian counterpart.
The commission submitted its report in 2004. By this time the BJP led government was history and ManMohan Singh was the prime minister. Justice Mukherjee met ManMohan Singh and requested him to approach the Russian government. However Singh did nothing, but rejected the findings of the Mukherjee commission. He refused to write or make a request to the Russian government. It must be pointed out, that at that time the communist state had collapsed and the new Russian government was keen to help out.
ManMohan Singhs action is in sharp contrast to the approach of Narendra Modi the present prime minister. Not only a request has been made to the Russian government to open the KGB files, but he has also agreeed to de-classify the files of the Central Goverment regarding the death of Bose.
The facts will be out soon and there is every chance that they will reveal that Bose did escape to Russia. Facts will also reveal whether Nehru had a hand in his imprisonment in Siberia. There are reports that Stalin kept him in a prison in Siberia and Nehru was well aware of the facts. This could be one of the reasons that prompted Man Mohan Singh a Nehru- Gandhi loyalist not to open and solve the mystery of the death of Bose. It must be mentioned that Bose was the tallest leader of the Indian freedom movement who in the 1938 session of the Congrss party defeated the nominee of Gandhi to the post of Congress President. Nehru had every reason to fear the return of Bose.
It's sad that ManMohan Singh did something that cannot be condoned. He put the clock back by a decade, but truth will be out and maybe Nehru will stand as a criminal in the dock of Indian histry.