Finally the report by the one man commission on Subhash Chandra Bose’s disappearance has been tabled in the Lok Sabha. The folklore that was told to us was that Bose died in plane crash in Taipei in 1945. One of the commission discoveries is that no such plane crash happened and this has upset some of Netaji’s family members.
“They say that the crash did not happen. On what basis have they said that? There is overwhelming proof that the crash happened,” said Krishna Bose, Netaji’s close relative. [Govt rejects Mukherjee Commission report]
Recently even Pakistan Cricket Board Chief Shaharyar Khan wrote about an eyewitness account of Bose’s death based on the statement of Brigadier Habib-ur-Rehman. The only problem with the story was that according to the Taiwanese there was no air crash in Taipei between August 14 and September 20, 1945. This has been corroborated by the Americans as well.
The second discovery by the commission was that the ashes kept in Renkoji Temple near Tokyo were not that of Subhash Bose.
They found no ashes. There were parts of a human skull, portion of a jaw, some teeth (no gold filling in any of them) and some bone fragments. If, as the Shah Nawaz Khan Committee and GD Khosla Commission claimed, “Netaji’s body” had been “cremated ” for an entire night, no medico-legal expert would adduce that such soft bones would survive. [Subhash Bose: Nehru’s Role]
Also, according to the commission, there is no clinching evidence that Bose went to live in Russia. The way the commission investigated this is funny. He went to Russia and asked if there is any information in the archives and they said no. He happily came back. According to some experts, Mitrokhin (of The Mitrokihn Archive fame) knew something about Bose’s Russia connection, but the Commission found none.
At the end, the Commission has no clue on what happened to Bose. The Congress Party and the Govt. both have rejected the findings for they still believe that the plane crash happened and the ashes in Tokyo are those of Bose. What are they trying to protect?
I saw this news earlier today and I knew you would blog about this 🙂
It seems pretty clear now that Netaji did not die in the plane crash – that he must have gone to Russia via Manchuria which was then under Japanese control.
Two mysteries that still remain are:
1) What happenned to him in Russia?
2) If he returned back to India and lived the rest of his life as Gumnami Baba (Bhagwanji), why the secrecy?
I see BJP leaders frothing at their mouths that the UPA govt rejected the report. Why didn’t the BJP govt open up all records that exist on the Indian govt’s side related to this case? They had power for a good 5 years, didn’t they?
Anyways, it makes for good political theatre – the mysteries remain …
–Das
Das, you make a valid point about the BJP. See the last paragraph of this post
http://www.varnam.org/blog/archives/2005/09/subhash_bose_th_1.php
Hi,
I am Sreejith Kumar, cofounder of ‘Mission Netaji’ (http://www.missionnetaji.org/index_new.php), an independent organisation probing into the disappearance of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose.
I would disagree to the last portions of your post. The commission did not come back happily. For an Indian commission to access the archives in the KGB or FSB, the Indian External Ministry or the GoI (say, the PM) should request the Russians formally. The commission asked for this to the GoI. But how can one expect a governmnet that tries to subvert the report request the Russians for the same? The commission had asked for this. But the GoI didnot try to ensure that the commission would get free access to the classified documents. So, the commission had to sit in the reading halls of the Soviet KGB archives and read the documents that are already declassified and available to all. The commission expressed its strong dissent in the govt’s opprobrious stand in this regard when it came back after the inquiry.
So your above usages of words like ‘funny’ and ‘happy’ do not hold and fit into the scenario. For details and some of the classified documents, please come and visit our website.
All the Subhas’s followers have only one mission, to find out how/when/whether he died.
I think Subhas would be least bothered by that. He was a fiery soul with an indomitable will to make India a developed country.
I am Netaji’s worshipper in a different way, a better way. I intend to finish the work that Netaji wanted to do and was unable to due to unfortunate circumstances.
While you investigate those circumstances, I will finish the job.
Declaration of Independence? Anyone?
http://letsbuildanation.blogspot.com/2006/07/declaration-of-independence-anyone.html
Am I A traitor?
http://letsbuildanation.blogspot.com/2006/07/am-i-traitor.html
Warmest Regards,
JP.
Hi ,
I am writing regarding the plight of the INA men in Burma, These people fought for our freedom sacrificed everything in their lifes for us.Where are they now, Well in Burma living a nonexistent life.I know this was covered by a TV channel long time back.But cant something be done about this.Dont you think it is time we get them home.Please let me know if something can be done I am very much intrested to help them at all costs.Please lets not forget these people before its too late and act NOW!!!!!