THE POLITICS BEHIND BOSE’S DEATH

May 16, 2020

THE POLITICS BEHIND BOSE’S DEATH

‘’When you go back to the country, tell the people that up to the last I have been fighting for the liberation of my country; they should continue to struggle, and I am sure India will be free before long. Nobody can keep India in bondage now.’’ were Netaji’s last words to Rahman at the Nanmon Military hospital.

On the 18th morning of August 1942, Bose, in his now trademark-INA cap, khaki bush shirt, and trousers with Rahman got into a Mitsubishi Ki-20 bomber and resumed the journey to Tokyo. At 2 pm they had landed at Matsuyama aerodrome in Taihoku, Formosa- today’s Taipei, the capital of Taiwan. Matsuyama seemed abandoned with bombed-out buildings and no hangars nearby except a colorful tent, where a light lunch was being served. The nose wheel lifted off the ground and the Mitsubishi Ki-21 bomber took off at 2.30 pm. Just as the plane completed its climb, the propeller, and the port engine fell off it. Within a few seconds, the plane plunged 300 feet and impacted the ground at nearly 300 kmph. As a result, it swerved violently and screeched to a halt after hitting a heap of rubble. The front portion of the crashed plane was now shattered and enflamed with the end being blocked by tumbling packages. Bose staggered to the front to find the entrance door blocked by fire. According to Rahman, Netaji got a splash of petrol all over his cotton Khaki which caught fire when he was trying to deplane. And then what he witnessed from a distance of about 10 yards was rolling ball of fire.

But the world was not ready to give such an easy adieu to one of India’s bravest son who has been the crux of the matter for Allies. This news was then released to the world through the Japanese news agency Domei on 23rd August 1945. In India, the news first appeared in the late editions of some papers on August 24. It felt like a hammer blow in Kolkata. The Amrita Bazar Patrika on 25th gave an overview of all India reaction: In Amritsar, all major markets did not open the previous day, a shutdown was to be observed in Ahmedabad on the 25th; in Karachi people were called upon to observe 26th as ‘’Subhas Bose Day’’. Amid Nehru’s mixed reactions, reports of Bose being spotted, Gandhi’s belief in Bose being alive. This created a fuss in various Intelligence agencies across the world with the Intelligence Assault Unit of SEATIC setting the ball roll. Rahman and others, when returned to India, were interrogated by officials fed with regular inputs. All this information summed up to three possibilities: Bose was on his way to Tokyo to discuss final arrangements for an attempt to get permission to Manchuria so as to get some help from Russians. Another piece of information said that Bose had been trying to go to Tokyo to discuss surrender and then was to return to Singapore. But an inconsistency with this theory is the four iron boxes of gold that they took with them in their journey to Tokyo which raises quite a few brows on Bose’s intention to return back. The much-awaited pictures taken by the Japanese at the crash-site arrived in New Delhi in the second half of November although none of the five pictures showed Bose’s body. Similarly, the hospital records did not yield any fruitful results with the State department confirming the lack of evidence for Subhas Chandra Bose’s plane accident. Although many of Netaji’s confidants remained consistent in their statements, few others broke the ranks to talk freely and laid bare Bose’s intentions to make a getaway to Russia. As the 1940s closed, the controversy about Bose’s coming back from the dead remained alive as a strong undercurrent. In November 1950, a highly-placed agent in India reported that Bose is in Siberia and was waiting for a chance to come back.

After the Figgess Report which conformed to Bose’s death, India established two more committees, Shah Nawaz Commission (1956) and Khosla Commission (1970) that yielded almost the same results. One of the highlights of Shah Nawaz Commission which also consisted of his elder brother, Suresh, was the testimony of a nurse who corroborated the evidence recorded by Figgess. However, this committee was criticized for not visiting Taihoku and the appearance of a Saradananda sadhu in North Bengal during the 60s. Thus, in 1970 GOI formed the Khosla Commission under retd. Justice G.D.Khosla but nothing new came out in this report except some new ‘sightings’ of Bose. But retd. Justice Khosla concluded that these discrepancies did not falsify the crash. These direct inquiries at home and abroad were not accepted by many Indians and therefore, the Vajpayee government appointed a third commission, Mukherjee commission in 1999, led by retired Justice Manoj Mukherjee. After a decade and a half long investigation, it concluded that there was no plane crash at Taihoku on 18th August 1945 with a secret plan to ensure Bose's safe corridor to the USSR with the knowledge of Japanese authorities and Habibur Rahman. The report also stated that the ashes at the Renkoji temple were not of Netaji but it didn’t answer the questions of where and when Netaji died. It also determined that Gumnaami Baba as different from Subhas Chandra Bose in light of the DNA-profiling test. But this report has been criticized in lieu of certain glaring accuracies when tabled in the Indian Parliament in May 2006.

As a result, the freedom fighter’s fate continued to be dragged down in the mud of India’s unresolved political mysteries. Three inquiries have failed to put the issue to rest and every prime minister from Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru to Manmohan Singh with the classified 'Netaji Files' being held back by the Prime Minister's Office due to reasons dating back to India's independence. As promised by our present PM, On January 23, 2016, he pressed a button at the National Archives in New Delhi to release 100 classified Netaji files with over 15,000 pages in them in continuation of the government of West Bengal releasing all the “secret files” from its state archives. Finally, on 2nd March 2016, the government declared in the Parliament that all the ‘Netaji files’ had been declassified. The efforts made by the current regime were commendable although Congress is of the opinion that actions of BJP are attempts to show the Old Grand Party in poor light than paying homage to Bose. Then, in a response to an RTI query filed by Sayak Sen, Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has reportedly commented: “After considering the reports of Shahnawaz Committee, Justice GD Khosla Commission and Justice Mukherjee Commission of Enquiry, the Government has come to the conclusion that Netaji has died in a plane crash in 1945.’’ Sayak Sen had also questioned the government about Gumnaami baba or Bhagwanji who was rumored to be Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose. Relying on this MHA said: “Some information regarding Gumnami Baba and Bhagwanji are available in the Mukherjee Commission report on page 114-122.

”Mukherjee Commission had come to the conclusion that Gumnami Baba/Bhagwanji was not Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose. Ministry of Home Affairs has declassified all available files (37) relating to Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose,’ it said. Netaji's family lashed out at the Narendra Modi government for the RTI reply. "This is highly irresponsible... How can the Centre give such a reply at a time when the matter is still pending," replied Chandra Kumar Bose, Netaji's grandnephew, and a BJP leader.

Even after half a century and more, there’s no rest among the Indians regarding Netaji’s sudden disappearance till today mostly because of his sacrifices for our country and how we were unable to pay the last homage to the man who defied Gandhi and still over the nation and the one whom the world listened to and the politics on his death still goes on.