The mystery about the death of the supreme commander of the Indian National Army(INA) seems to be a never ending one.I had been hearing many stories on this subject since my childhood.Now the decision of Mamata Benerjee, the CM of West Bengal,to declassify 64 files pertaining to Netaji ,has resurrected,the seven decade old controversy.An announcement by Japanese news agency,dt 24th Aug 1945 stated that " Mr Bose, the Head of the provincial Govt,of Azad Hind " left Singapore on Aug16th by Air, for talks with Japanese Govt,. He was seriously injured when his plane crashed at Taihoku Airfield,at2pm on August 18th.He was given treatment in hospital in Japan,where he died at midnight. Col.HabiburRahman,a Bose's associate had also given his personal statement about the said Air crash and Netaji's hospitalisation and demise and all of us must have heard many anecdotes over time.Some have said that he was sighted in Russia,while for others he returned to India,as SADHU,etc.and like this many such rumors are in vogue without any compelling evidence.In fact we have heard even conspiracy theories also.Recently I have read in the press,that Netaji's grand nephew wrote in his book, that even during Mr Nehru's life time"some rumour mongers hinted at foul play by Nehru himself"which acquires political undercurrents.It is a fact that even today we have been hearing that their families have been snooped even after independence and here some saw Nehru's " fear" of their family and I feel,it may not be wise to pass judgments,unless and until,the remaining files also are declassified by Govt of India.Sometime ago I happened to read that there has been a belief,that Bose was " wronged"by Mahatma Gandhi and his supporters in 1939 and when Ganghiji refused to work with Bose as congress president citing ideological differences,the latter had to resign and fact remains that Nehru did try to broker peace between GANDHI ji and Bose.
It is a fact that history will record that Mr Bose was a man of an indescribable mystique--- a nationalist who sought absolute freedom from British,who first uttered inspirational words " JaiHind",a liberal who wanted women to empowered and yet supported the naked racism of Hitler's Germany,and expansionism of inspirational Japan,a freedom fighter who waged war against,his own country,in his attempt,to get rid of its occupier,a congress loyalist,who fought with Mahatmaji,for unqualified " Swaraj" and a characteristic leader who built Azad Movement.
The news that he was leading the life of a mystique in the last days had been prevalent even before his final mysterious disappearance.This Infact gives credence to the theory that Netaji was alive even after 1945 and therefore ,few questions also arose as to why he didn't come out,from underground after independence ? Did such a dare devil become so timid,as to roam incognito,and die unsung and unhonoured?Now it appears that earlier enough was not done to trace him.But if one recalls,the ForwardBloc,founded by Netaji,was also a partner in the Govts more than once.Why did it too fail to impress upon,the Govts to declassify the papers/ files.? Anyhow now Miss MamtaBenerjee has shown the way as Netaji' was a Bengali icon,the same way that SardarPatel--who the NDA dispensation is trying to use to displace Nehru,- was a Gujarati icon.It is now everybody's right to know about the last days of Bose,whose memories we hold in high esteem and therefore, to this extent what Mamtaji did , is good,whether or not she did it for political motives. The hint by central ministers that the issue involves" our relations with other countries" makes it more serious and all the more essential to let the cat out of the bag, sooner than later,as suppression of facts shall not be among our words of display,and it is not too late for others to grab a portion of credit.The master stroke of Mamtaji has put the BJP under pressure and may therefore try to emulate her before the state goes to polls in 2016
