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What is the Truth Behind Subhash Chandra Bose's Death?
Popularly known as Netaji (the leader), Subhash Chandra Bose is one of the true legends who battled heroically in Indian independence struggle. Started as a radical wing in Indian National Congress (INC), he founded Indian National Army (INA) and thus played an exceptional role in driving out British forces.
Starting from the disputes between him and Gandhi & Nehru to his death, everything remains a mystery. According to the official explanation, Bose died in an overloaded plane crash during WW 2. Though the West Bengal government declassified the Bose's files, the files are yet to be publicly revealed by the Central government.
There are 3 popular theories encircling Bose's death.
1. The plane crash theory
2. Asylum in USSR
3. Gumnami Baba theory
1. The plane Crash Theory:
On 17th August, 1945, at 2 P.M., Mitsubishi Ki-21 heavy bomber started its flight from Saigon airport. The flight was overcrowded, carrying 13 members including General Tsunamasa Shidei of the Imperial Japanese Army, Col. Habibur Rahman of the Indian National Army, Subhash Chandra Bose and others.
The flight took a halt at Vietnam for an overnight and then flew to Formosa (Taipei) for refueling. On 18th August, after minutes of takeoff, there was a loud 'bang' sound heard by the passengers and within seconds the plane crashed the ground. The ground crew saw the port side engine falling down from the plane (Subhash Chandra Bose was seated near the port wing). The plane lit up instantly, killing pilot and Gen. Tsunamasa Shidei on the spot. Col. Habibur Rahman survived, fell on the ground unconscious. Bose too survived, with small injuries. But, his clothes which were soaked in gasoline ignited, made him look like a human torch. Within minutes, Netaji died.
From years, this theory remained as an official version. However, there are many invalid points in this theory which are needed to be answered.
1. Taipei government declared that no such crash occurred from March to September in 1945.
2. Neither death certificate was issued nor his dead body was found.
3. Col. Habibur Rahman, the only witness said that he aided Bose in his last minutes and he was there when Bose died. If that's true, why didn't the Col. receive any burn marks?
4. When the doctors and nurses were interviewed, their explanations didn't cope up with each other.
5. According to Mukherjee's commission, the ashes in Renkoji temple doesn't belong to Subhash Chandra Bose.
Hence, it is clear that Bose didn't die in the plane crash. So, why did he fake his death?
Reason:
1. Bose saw Japan as an ally which could help India to achieve independence. His dreams were shattered when Japan lost the WW2. So, in search of a new ally, INA needed some time to reorganize themselves. Moreover, if Bose stayed in Japan, he would be arrested as a war criminal. So, he had to move to some country (he moved to Russia)
2. He had disputes with prominent leaders of INC (Indian National Congress) like Gandhi and Nehru. It is strongly believed that an agreement was made with the British to return Bose if he were ever found
2. Asylum in USSR theory
After faking his death, Bose moved to Manchuria in China in the hope that USSR might find him. He believed that he can help India by convincing Russia as there was a tussle of cold war between US and USSR.
When USSR found Bose, they mistook him for a spy and imprisoned him. After some time, after confirming Bose's identity, surely, Stalin might have informed Indian government about it. Here, there arises two possibilities.
(i) Indian government might have responded positively and Bose was saved.
(ii) The government responded negatively and as a result, Bose couldn't make it to escape was hanged in USSR.
Did Bose really get an Asylum in USSR?
After independence, Nehru tried to build foreign affairs more strongly by appointing Mrs. Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit as a foreign affairs minister. Later, she was replaced by Dr.Radhakrishnan. Alleged reports say that Dr.Radhakrishnan and Mrs.Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit had met Subhash Chandra Bose in Moscow. Dr. Goswami, a retired official from anti-corruption department of west Bengal government said that Dr. Radhakrishnan told him that he met Bose at Moscow while attending a philosophical conference as a delegate in 1948. He also said that Dr. Radhakrishnan asked him not to reveal this to anyone until his tenure as a President of India.
From this, we can conclude that if this is true, Bose might not have been imprisoned in Yakutsk by 1948.
BJP's Subramanian Swamy said
Adding more support to this, when Dr. Satyanarayana Sinha, Indian ambassador was presented before Khosla commission (appointed by Mrs. Indira Gandhi), he said that he met a prisoner named "Kuzlov" who was in the neighboring cell of Bose. When he was asked how Kuzlov could identify Bose, he gave an alleged evidence by saying how Kuzlov met Bose in India and how he knew about Bose.
Here is an article which shows that Gandhi, Nehru and Mohammed Ali Jinnah signed an agreement with British to charge Bose if he were found.
It is said that Nehru feared that he would lose his place in Congress if Bose returns to India. The relations between India and USSR were very strong during late 40's and early 50's. So, if this theory is correct, there are high chances that Bose was imprisoned is absolutely correct but whether Bose was released or hanged to death remains a conspiracy.
3. The Gumnami Baba Theory:
It is believed that Bose after escaping from the plane crash and returning from USSR, he became a Sadhu in Faziabad. He became popular as Bhagwanji aka Gumnami Baba. He maintained contact with Dr. Pavitra Mohan Roy, the former top secretive agent of INA. After living there for nearly 35 years, he died on September 16, 1985.
However, when he died, his belongings revealed that there are chances that he might be Netaji. He used to wear a golden spectacles, exactly same that of Bose's, possesses a powerful German binoculars, a color photo of Swami Vivekananda, Bengali books, the original copy issued to Subhash Chandra Bose to attend before Khosla's commission and some photographs of Bose's family members.
Apart from this, there are some facts which supported this theory
1. Handwriting match between Bose and Gumnami Baba (confirmed by B. Lal, the top-most Forensic expert who worked with Mukherjee's commission).
2. Descriptions by the locals who talked to him.
3. The sadhu possessed some intriguing books. Gulliver's travels, P.g. Wodehouse's The inimitable Jeeves, the scarcely available International Military Tribunal for the far East, The last days of Raj, Moscow's shadow over West Bengal and Solzhenisteyn's The Gulag Archipelago. This could never be a bed-time read for a typical sadhu.
4. It is said that the sadhu's DNA matched Bose's.
Conclusion:
Since many years, Congress tried to suppress the facts by hiding the files of Subhash Chandra Bose. But, with the increasing pressure, finally, west Bengal government took an initiative by de-classifying the files. However, government is planning to setup a committee to monitor about this. Why the Central government is fearing that it might damage our relations with Russia? Did Nehru with the help of USSR, planned something harmful to Bose ? Whatever may be, it is the right of every Indian to know about the legend who contributed a lot to the Indian independence struggle.
Starting from the disputes between him and Gandhi & Nehru to his death, everything remains a mystery. According to the official explanation, Bose died in an overloaded plane crash during WW 2. Though the West Bengal government declassified the Bose's files, the files are yet to be publicly revealed by the Central government.
There are 3 popular theories encircling Bose's death.
1. The plane crash theory
2. Asylum in USSR
3. Gumnami Baba theory
1. The plane Crash Theory:
On 17th August, 1945, at 2 P.M., Mitsubishi Ki-21 heavy bomber started its flight from Saigon airport. The flight was overcrowded, carrying 13 members including General Tsunamasa Shidei of the Imperial Japanese Army, Col. Habibur Rahman of the Indian National Army, Subhash Chandra Bose and others.
 |
| Mitsubishi Ki-21 |
The flight took a halt at Vietnam for an overnight and then flew to Formosa (Taipei) for refueling. On 18th August, after minutes of takeoff, there was a loud 'bang' sound heard by the passengers and within seconds the plane crashed the ground. The ground crew saw the port side engine falling down from the plane (Subhash Chandra Bose was seated near the port wing). The plane lit up instantly, killing pilot and Gen. Tsunamasa Shidei on the spot. Col. Habibur Rahman survived, fell on the ground unconscious. Bose too survived, with small injuries. But, his clothes which were soaked in gasoline ignited, made him look like a human torch. Within minutes, Netaji died.
From years, this theory remained as an official version. However, there are many invalid points in this theory which are needed to be answered.
1. Taipei government declared that no such crash occurred from March to September in 1945.
2. Neither death certificate was issued nor his dead body was found.
3. Col. Habibur Rahman, the only witness said that he aided Bose in his last minutes and he was there when Bose died. If that's true, why didn't the Col. receive any burn marks?
4. When the doctors and nurses were interviewed, their explanations didn't cope up with each other.
5. According to Mukherjee's commission, the ashes in Renkoji temple doesn't belong to Subhash Chandra Bose.
Hence, it is clear that Bose didn't die in the plane crash. So, why did he fake his death?
Reason:
1. Bose saw Japan as an ally which could help India to achieve independence. His dreams were shattered when Japan lost the WW2. So, in search of a new ally, INA needed some time to reorganize themselves. Moreover, if Bose stayed in Japan, he would be arrested as a war criminal. So, he had to move to some country (he moved to Russia)
2. He had disputes with prominent leaders of INC (Indian National Congress) like Gandhi and Nehru. It is strongly believed that an agreement was made with the British to return Bose if he were ever found
2. Asylum in USSR theory
After faking his death, Bose moved to Manchuria in China in the hope that USSR might find him. He believed that he can help India by convincing Russia as there was a tussle of cold war between US and USSR.
When USSR found Bose, they mistook him for a spy and imprisoned him. After some time, after confirming Bose's identity, surely, Stalin might have informed Indian government about it. Here, there arises two possibilities.
(i) Indian government might have responded positively and Bose was saved.
(ii) The government responded negatively and as a result, Bose couldn't make it to escape was hanged in USSR.
Did Bose really get an Asylum in USSR?
After independence, Nehru tried to build foreign affairs more strongly by appointing Mrs. Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit as a foreign affairs minister. Later, she was replaced by Dr.Radhakrishnan. Alleged reports say that Dr.Radhakrishnan and Mrs.Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit had met Subhash Chandra Bose in Moscow. Dr. Goswami, a retired official from anti-corruption department of west Bengal government said that Dr. Radhakrishnan told him that he met Bose at Moscow while attending a philosophical conference as a delegate in 1948. He also said that Dr. Radhakrishnan asked him not to reveal this to anyone until his tenure as a President of India.
BJP's Subramanian Swamy said
"According to the papers that exist with us, Bose had faked his death and escaped to Manchuria in China which was under Russian occupation, hoping Russia would look after him. But, Stalin put him in a jail in Siberia. Somewhere around 1953, he hanged or suffocated Bose to death."
Here is an article which shows that Gandhi, Nehru and Mohammed Ali Jinnah signed an agreement with British to charge Bose if he were found.
It is said that Nehru feared that he would lose his place in Congress if Bose returns to India. The relations between India and USSR were very strong during late 40's and early 50's. So, if this theory is correct, there are high chances that Bose was imprisoned is absolutely correct but whether Bose was released or hanged to death remains a conspiracy.
3. The Gumnami Baba Theory:
It is believed that Bose after escaping from the plane crash and returning from USSR, he became a Sadhu in Faziabad. He became popular as Bhagwanji aka Gumnami Baba. He maintained contact with Dr. Pavitra Mohan Roy, the former top secretive agent of INA. After living there for nearly 35 years, he died on September 16, 1985.
However, when he died, his belongings revealed that there are chances that he might be Netaji. He used to wear a golden spectacles, exactly same that of Bose's, possesses a powerful German binoculars, a color photo of Swami Vivekananda, Bengali books, the original copy issued to Subhash Chandra Bose to attend before Khosla's commission and some photographs of Bose's family members.
Apart from this, there are some facts which supported this theory
1. Handwriting match between Bose and Gumnami Baba (confirmed by B. Lal, the top-most Forensic expert who worked with Mukherjee's commission).
2. Descriptions by the locals who talked to him.
3. The sadhu possessed some intriguing books. Gulliver's travels, P.g. Wodehouse's The inimitable Jeeves, the scarcely available International Military Tribunal for the far East, The last days of Raj, Moscow's shadow over West Bengal and Solzhenisteyn's The Gulag Archipelago. This could never be a bed-time read for a typical sadhu.
4. It is said that the sadhu's DNA matched Bose's.
Conclusion:
Since many years, Congress tried to suppress the facts by hiding the files of Subhash Chandra Bose. But, with the increasing pressure, finally, west Bengal government took an initiative by de-classifying the files. However, government is planning to setup a committee to monitor about this. Why the Central government is fearing that it might damage our relations with Russia? Did Nehru with the help of USSR, planned something harmful to Bose ? Whatever may be, it is the right of every Indian to know about the legend who contributed a lot to the Indian independence struggle.
That's a well written post. You must visit Drishti... to read the series of posts written on Netaji's death, disappearance and Gumnami Baba :-) Cheers, Archana - www.drishti.co
ReplyDeleteYeah, sure Archana. It's great that you found this post nice :)
DeleteA well written article.
ReplyDeleteThank you Sudhir :)
DeleteHey keep posting such good and meaningful articles.
ReplyDelete