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History

Japanese PM meets controversial Indian judge’s son

By: Santosh :+: Under: History, Politics
On: ⋅ August 23, 2007 ⋅  Email this post ⋅  Print this post ⋅ Post a comment
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Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe during his recent visit to India met with Pransanta Pal, the son of controversial judge Radhabinod Pal.

Radhabinod Pal - the controversial Indian judge

The meeting was controversial because Radhabinod Pal was the lone dissenting judges on a war crimes tribunal on Japanese war crimes (1,2,3). Pal was of the opinion that the war crimes tribunal by the victors

As for Shinzo Abe, the leader of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party of Japan, his comments on sex slaves held by the imperial Japanese Army in World War 2 was the recent focus of a huge controversy in East Asia.

Abe also has some personal ties with the Pal family.

The proposed visit would also give the Japanese leader an opportunity to share old memories and show his personal gratitude to the family of Radhabinod Pal, whose arguments led to the acquittal of Abe’s grandfather Kishi Nobuske.

Nobuske later went on to become Japan’s Prime Minister in 1957.

Pal’s name, apparently, is quite popular among’s Japan’s nationalists.

From Reuters:

“I can show you a picture where he was just walking on the street, several students in Japan, while returning or going to school — they recognised my father and shook hands with him. Every body had access to him and that’s why he was loved, but I don’t know why?” 81-year-old Prashanto Pal, who accompanied his father on his last visit to Japan in 1966 recalled.

A monument dedicated to him even stands on the grounds of Yasukuni Shrine, seen by many in Asia as a symbol of Japan’s wartime militarism. Pal died in 1968.

Even the Prime Minister of India, Manmohan Singh, is on record praising Radhabinod Pal for his judgment.

It is a noteworthy fact that though we have gone through various phases in our relationship, in times of difficulty, we have stood by each other. It is important to recall that India refused to attend the San Francisco Peace Conference in 1951 and signed a separate Peace Treaty with Japan in 1952. This Pandit Nehru felt, gave to Japan a proper position of honour and equality among the community of free nations. In that Peace Treaty, India waived all reparation claims against Japan.

The dissenting judgement of Justice Radha Binod Pal is well-known to the Japanese people and will always symbolize the affection and regard our people have for your country.

So given this background on Radhabindo Pal’s judgement essentially stating Japan’s wartime criminals were not be prosecuted and given the numerous documented cases of wartime crimes commited by the Japanese army, what do our readers think about this entire issue? Was Shinzo Abe’s visit with Pal’s son inappropriate or is this political correctness run amuck? Do any of our readers have more light to shed on any of these topics or have strong opinions on either side of this argument?

Other posts by UberDesi on Japan and World War 2.

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