TRUTH MUST PREVAIL


Does an event that happened sixty years ago have any bearing on the present?

The circus broke out when the Modi government decided to release some of the declassified files relating to Netaji Subash Chander Bose’s death. The news initiated media frenzy when Netaji’s kin came forward with the confession that they were snooped for twenty years after his death. Their admission opened a Pandora box, as the declassified files states that the snooping was done under the direct orders of Pandit Nehru, then prime minister of India.

To further understand the Nehru-Netaji divide let’s look to the past. If we endorse historian Rudrangshu Mukherjee, the two shared a close bond. They together built the youth leagues around the ideas of socialism and complete independence in the late 1920’s. Their relationship started to sour when after the 1939 Tripuri session Netaji defected Mahatma Gandhi’s candidate Pattabhi Sitaramayya for the Presidential post. Gandhi decided to part ways after the defeat citing ideological disagreements. Eventually, Netaji resigned and moved away from the Congress. The final impasse came between them when Netaji approached fascist regimes- German and Japan for help.

After leaving Congress Netaji formed INA, and supported the Japanese in the second Great War against the British. In 1945 when the news broke out of the bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the subsequent surrender of Japan. Netaji decided to escape but died in an air crash in Taiwan. It was then that the enduring legend of Netaji began; which was partly fanned by the belief of his followers and friends that he will return.

What is the truth? No one knows. But with the passage of time the truth got murkier. The fire was ignited by the three commission’s setup to inquire the reason of Netaji’s death. The Shahnawaz Committee (1956) set up by Nehru, the Khosla Committee (1970) setup by Indira Gandhi and the Mukharjee Committee (1999) set up by NDA government. The Shahnawaz Committee (1956) and the Khosla Committee (1970) both came up with the conclusion that on 18th August 1945 Netaji died in the plane crash near Tiahoku in Taiwan. However, the Mukharjee Committee concluded that Netaji did not die in the plane crash. Taiwan government officially informed Mukharjee Committee that ‘No pane accident has happened during the period of 14th August 1945 to 20th September 1945 in the areas near Taihoku.

The elusive truth got pushed to the background, another conspiracy emerged that Netaji crossed into India via Gorakhpur border in 1955 and lived under the disguise of a mysterious holy man ‘Bhagwanji’ till 1988. Arguments and counterarguments still ranges

Why no action has been taken? It is clear that Congress government of the time did nothing to clear the facts; the reason may be that Nehru and the others were afraid of Netaji’s command over the people and thought that his ideology will sway the masses away from the Gandhian core. Some rumors suggested that Gandhi, Nehru, Jinnah and Maulana Azad agreed to surrender Subhash Chander Bose to the British as a war criminal.


Much water has passed under the bridge, an incident that occurred sixty years ago have no bearing on the present. The family of Netaji as well as the nation needs to hear the truth once and for all. It is for the Modi government to decide whether they want to follow the president set by Nehru led government or to make a new beginning, albeit taking a few blemishes along the way.

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