KOLKATA: The copy of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose’s resignation letter from the Indian Civil Services on April 22, 1921, displayed in an exhibition at the Victoria Memorial Hall (VMH), is fake, the icon’s family has claimed.
Netaji’s grandnephew and chairman of Netaji Research Bureau, historian Sugato Bose, has written to VMH curator Jayanta Sengupta asking that the letter be immediately taken off display. The high- profile exhibition was inaugurated by PM Narendra Modi on January 23, the 125th birth anniversary of Netaji.
Sugato Bose has said in his letter to Victoria Memorial Hall curator Jayanta Sengupta that the original letter lies preserved in the India Office, London and the one displayed at the exhibition does not match Netaji’s handwriting. Besides, there are mistakes in the salutation and the spelling of the word, “servant”.
“My parents, discovered the letter for the first time and brought with them copies of it. My mother, Krishna Bose included it in her book, Itihaser Sandhane,” said Bose, who is extremely upset that a fake letter could be used in an exhibition planned as a tribute to the patriot.
“The worst is that the Netaji Research Bureau has been named as the source of the fake letter. I want Victoria Memorial to immediately remove the fake letter with an apology and clarification for all those who have seen it since the exhibition was inaugurated. The Bureau is an authentic reserve of documents related to Netaji, by ascribing the fake letter to it, quite a lot of damage has been done,” Bose said.
“Since a copy of the original letter is available in public domain, it should not be a problem for VMH to replace it immediately. Though I have written to them, I am yet to hear from VMH about what they are doing to replace the letter,” he added.
Several calls made by TOI to VMH curator Sengupta went unanswered.