INA WORTH ONLY A PAGE AND A HALF IN BIPAN CHANDRA'S 538-PAGE BOOK 'INDIA'S STRUGGLE FOR INDEPENDENCE'?

I am appalled to discover that in the 538-page book, 'India's Struggle for Independence 1857-1947' by Bipan Chandra, the INA has received coverage of only a page and a half. Why this apathy, nay, sheer antipathy towards our army of liberation? The entire INA saga has been brushed over, a mere clause or a sentence at times has been deemed sufficient elaboration on a vital episode and the narrative truncated beyond any reasonable recognition of the events that accompanied it. One hazards to construe this sinister obliteration of history as part of a larger conspiracy to erase the memory of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose from the public imagination and one may only rationally attribute this act of perfidy to the Congress Party which has over seven decades since independence stood to benefit the most from the exclusion of Netaji from the public discourse. If history books are written in such a truncated, partial manner, where are we headed as a nation in terms of understanding our roots, our culture and our heritage, be they political or otherwise? The antidote to this must be the right representation of historical facts without bias by right-minded historians who are true to their trade and not self-serving accomplices of political parties in whose hire-purchase they are with the express purpose of perpetrating lies to poison the minds of the masses. It is time now to be a trifle literate about Netaji and his great army of liberation instead of wastefully whiling away time expressing frothy emotion on the hero and his allies while remaining blissfully ignorant about the details of their march through the dense forests of Burma en route to India. Netaji's cause is the national cause and it needs the service of countless dedicated souls determined to unravelling the truth and disseminating such information among the masses. If a Bipan Chandra proves traitorous to the cause of our motherland and propagates historical heresies, then it is our duty to democratically counter him and his book by writing our version of Netaji and the role of the INA in India's struggle for freedom as well. Let such an endeavour consume our best efforts, then let the people of this nation judge for themselves and sift the grain from the chaff. Jai Hind!