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HT This Day: June 29, 1977 -- Time capsule had left out Prasad, Bose and Shastri
With the Congress members visibly embarrassed, the Janata benches shouted “shame’ , “shame”, when the Union Education Minister, Dr Pratap Chandra Chunder, today disclosed in the Lok Sabha that the names of Dr Rajendra Prasad, Mr Lal Bahadur Shastri and Netaji Subash Chandra Bose did not figure in the “time capsule” buried in the Red Fort by the previous Government, according to the document in the possession of the Government, which purports to be the copy of the original document.
With the Congress members visibly embarrassed, the Janata benches shouted “shame’ , “shame”, when the Union Education Minister, Dr Pratap Chandra Chunder, today disclosed in the Lok Sabha that the names of Dr Rajendra Prasad, Mr Lal Bahadur Shastri and Netaji Subash Chandra Bose did not figure in the “time capsule” buried in the Red Fort by the previous Government, according to the document in the possession of the Government, which purports to be the copy of the original document.
Replying to a short notice question by Mr Subramaniam Swamy and four others, the Minister said the 10,000-word account of important aspects of the history of India, both in Hindi and English, from Aug. 15, 1947 to Aug. 15, 1972, contained certain “factual errors”. The government had, accordingly, decided that the said Silver Jubilee Celebration Time Capsule should be taken out and the contents made public.
Mr Chunder could not specify any statutory obligation to keep the so-called history a secret “I can only say it was just kept a secret.” The two other “time capsules” were buried on May 27. 1972 (at Shanti Vana) and Jan 30, 1973 (at Birla House, 30 January Marg). There was a list of 20 entries in the Birla House capsule supposedly containing material relating to Gandhiji. Nothing was known about the Shanti Vana time capsule reportedly containing matters relating to Jawaharlal Nehru.
The Government had decided to dig out the Silver Jubilee and Nehru time capsules, but not the Gandhi time capsule, because it did not contain any writing.
There was a spate of questions by Mr Arjun Singh Bhadoria, Mr Samar Guha, Mr Kanwarlal Gupta. Mr P. G. Mavalankar, Mr Shyam Nandan Mishra, Mr Chandra Shekhar Singh, Mr Shambhu Nath Chaturvedi and Mr Jyotirmoy Bosu.
The Minister was unable to give details as to how the decision was taken, at whose instance, who prepared the guidelines, who edited and who finally approved the draft. On Mr Jyotirmoy Bosu and Mr Subramaniam Swamy repeatedly demanding that the minister should place before the House whatever information he could from the file or to take the House into confidence if the concerned file was missing. Dr Chunder promised to make an inquiry if some file had disappeared. (According to Mr Swamy, the file had been removed on March 22. 1977).
In the meantime, Dr Chunder told the House that the task was entrusted to the Indian Council of Historical Research. One Mr Krishnamurthy prepared the draft Dr Gopal had gone through it and it was submitted to proper authorities. The Minister was asked by several members to identify the “proper authorities” He observed “I presume it must have been delivered to the proper authorities. I have no information at whose whose initiative the project was undertaken.”
On the cost of burial. Dr Chunder said an amount of ₹30,000 was spent. It might involve an expenditure of almost the same amount to take it out. It was 40 ft down below in a concrete base. There was a steel cover within which there was a copper container preserving the document. The Minister requested the Speaker to consult the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha with a view to constituting a joint committee of the two Houses to supervise the digging operation. The Government would provide necessary police arrangement.
Mr Ram Gopal Reddy (Cong.) invited derisive laughter from the Janata benches when he asked if Mr Subramaniam Swamy had access to the Government files, otherwise how was he able to name the persons reportedly not figuring m the time capsule. On a point of personal clarification, Mr Swamy said if the honourable member (Mr Reddy) cared to devote some time to his parliamentary duties and saw the three-year-old record, he would find that it was Mr Era Sezhiyan who had asked a similar question giving certain names. “I was only trying to find out if so names were missing from the said capsule.”
Mr K. L. Gupta, Mr Samar Guha and Mr Vijay Kumar Malhotra asked if the Government was contemplating to take some counter measures for the act of “betrayal” and deliberate attempt to distort history. Mr Gupta said the former Prime Minister herself was responsible for this unbecoming act. Mr Malhotra wanted the cost to be recovered from those who had committed this offence. It was also suggested that the Government might appoint some experts to record the current events without any bias for the benefit of the subsequent generations. Several members wanted that the persons associated with the time capsule should be removed from their positions it they were holding any official status.
Dr Chunder said history was a hard task master. It would throw into the dustbin so many important figures. There need be no worry on that account. The Government did not propose to write any history. ‘’History will take care of itself.” Until the time capsule was dug out, it was not proposed to place the copy the Government had in its possession, for, it might not be the exact copy, he said.
The Minister - Informed the House the, Dr Gopal was on the executive board of the UNESCO and continued to be associated with the Indian Council of Historical Research.
In reply to Mr Subramaniam Swamy’s question Dr Chunder admitted the time capsule contained the names of three foreigners Mr Macnaughton, Mr Dixon and Mr Graham. It was true the time capsule mentioned only seven names while recording important events from 1947 to 1972.
