Sourse: – Sanjeev Sanyal / Twitter.
A major structural problem with Indian intellectual life is that it was taken over mostly by those who had collaborated rather than opposed colonial occupation. See attached letter from 1946 on how Hindi writer Yashpal was "handed over" as an informer 1/n pic.twitter.com/f9y6ILYhYq
— Sanjeev Sanyal (@sanjeevsanyal) April 17, 2019
Yashpal was very likely the source of information that led to death of Chandra Shekhar Azad. Some revolutionaries began to hunt him. He was put in jail to protect him. British looked after him well & he was allowed to get married in jail (unusual to say the least) 2/n
— Sanjeev Sanyal (@sanjeevsanyal) April 17, 2019
As the letter states, Yashpal was then used to infiltrate the Communists. As the end of British rule approached in 1946, the British made arrangements for their friends and then destroyed the records. However, this "hand over" letter somehow survived 3/n
— Sanjeev Sanyal (@sanjeevsanyal) April 17, 2019
It was discovered by chance in late 1960s in CID records in Lucknow by an officer Dharmendra Gaur (who published it). By this time, Yashpal had become one of India's most celebrated writers (including Padma Bhushan) – based on his supposed contributions as a revolutionary 4/n
— Sanjeev Sanyal (@sanjeevsanyal) April 17, 2019
Read the letter carefully – it mentions two other collaborators – one in Muslim League from Saharanpur and one in AICC in Allahabad. One wonder who they were 5/n
— Sanjeev Sanyal (@sanjeevsanyal) April 17, 2019
Another letter between British CID officers on Yashpal on withdrawal of surveillance in 1941. Read post script carefully. Clearly Y was now an informant embedded in Communist network and CID did not want to draw attention to him. pic.twitter.com/aRqBzycwIT
— Sanjeev Sanyal (@sanjeevsanyal) April 18, 2019
