Let the truth be known: What really happened to Netaji?
Like many of you, I have often wondered how India’s present would have looked if Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose had lived (and led) an independent India.
Last week I was alerted to this site dedicated to finding the truth behind Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose’s tragic disappearance from the national freedom struggle in 1945 (Thanks a lot, Mohan). Specifically it deals with the Mukherjee Commission (which was the third official proble into Netaji’s disappearance) and what came out of it.
The site mentions how the government tried hard to stall the work of Justice Mukherjee Commission and avoided cooperating wherever it could. It also mentions some very interesting facts which I felt we should all be aware of:
- The UPA Government was overtly hostile towards the Commission. Justice Mukherjee was “humiliated” by them for his insistence to probe the Taiwanese and the Russian angles to the Netaji mystery.
- The Government was against the Commission visiting Taiwan, but Justice Mukherjee prevailed. Justice Mukherjee’s January 2005 visit to Taiwan and his direct interaction with Taiwan Government yielded the disclosure that there was no evidence of any air crash in or around Taipei around 18 August 1945. The Commission also found out that despite the claims of the previous panels, and so called eyewitnesses, Netaji and other victims of the “crash” were not cremated in Taiwan.
- It was established that the Governments of Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi’s either hushed up or destroyed several records pertaining to the reported death of Subhas Bose.
- The British Government told the Commission that they would not declassify some papers on Netaji until 2021. The Government of India would not help the Commission in accessing these papers.
- With the evidence hinting at no crash, the Commission made attempts to find out what had happened to Netaji after 1945. Starting February 2001, the Commission asked the Government to make arrangements for their visit to Russia so that the evidence could be assessed. The Government kept dilly-dallying. In September 2005, the Commission was (finally) allowed to visit Russia (after much dilly-dallying by the government) , but it never got access to major intelligence and security-related archives of Russia. One major witness did not turn up and others apparently turned hostile. As a result, the Commission’s Russia sojourn failed.
What did the Commission find? Amongst other things, it noted that:
- (Netaji)…did not die in the plane crash, as alleged
- The ashes in the Japanese temple are not that of Netaji
Getting into the details, the Commission didn’t just nix the air crash story; it paved the way for further inquiry, maintaining that Subhas had disappeared while heading towards the Soviet Russia.
A secret plan was contrived to ensure Netaji’s safe passage to which Japanese military authority and Habibur Rahman were parties.
The purpose of his (Netaji’s) flight was to go to the Soviet Union and with the aid of the Soviet Union he was to continue his independence movement.
The departure of Netaji from Saigon on August 17, 1945 along with Habibur Rahman and some Japanese officers for going to Russia via Manchuria is … not in controversy.
It stands established that emplaning at Saigon on August 17, 1945 Netaji succeeded in evading the Allied Forces and escaping out of their reach and as a camouflage thereof the entire make-believe story of the air crash, Netaji’s death therein and his cremation was engineered by the Japanese army authorities including the two doctors and Habibur Rahman and then aired on August 23, 1945 ….
Whether Netaji thereafter landed in Russia or elsewhere cannot be answered for dearth of evidence.
Read the full report here.
What does the government know that it does not want us to know?
Why is it that the Government believes: “disclosure of the nature and contents of these documents would … hurt the sentiments of the people at large and may evoke wide-spread reactions …. Diplomatic relations with friendly countries may also be adversely affected if the said documents are disclosed.”? [link]
As Anuj Dhar asks: “Should not we demand to know what these documents have to say? …Should not we ask our Government to state facts? Don’t we have a right to know what happened to the man who liberated us?
Some of you would of course know the history of tension and disagreements between Gandhi, Nehru (on one side) and Bose…Might that have something to do with the Government’s unusual (and almost hostile) attitude towards this issue?
More on this bit of history in Part II tomorrow…
Related Post: Reassessing Mahatma: Did Gandhi-giri really worked?
Also read Part – II: Mahatma and Netaji – A little bit of history
Image courtesy:Â Kamat.com
Dear Shantanu,
Netaji Amar Rahe. Thank you for highlighting the painstaking effort of Hon. Justice Mukherjee’s commission, which reported truth, and nothing but truth.
And truth is one-liner : Netaji did not perish in Taiwan-Taihoku crash and the ashes at Renkoji Temple in Japan are not his. This was not accepted by the union govt.
Let us see how long they’ll continue to be stuck like an ostrich burying its head in the sand.
How long will the powers-that-be deny Netaji his rightful place in the space he dominated all his life ?
Jai Hind.
Nice post !!! Socio-politically and even sheer national character-wise, this is the most important topic confronting India. India’s persona as well as glory would be restored to its prime state, once the true heroes and brought forth and the imposters and relegated. The new generation should know that there were honorable, all-sacrificing souls, on whose contribution we stand and life is not all about deals and compromises.
Regards
Amit Chakravarty
Oh good! Our own, indigenous, great conspiracy theory keeps on rolling …… very soon, it will be able to rival that other great conspiracy theory “Who killed JFK?” !!
Also, in the interests of truth, could we apply the RTI to the website “Mission Netaji” …. who owns it, how much money they make from it through google ads, a full P&L, etc?
Cheers
Dear Sir,
Today we have methods of performing a DNA analysis on even ashes. I think that if such an analysis is made of the Ashes kept in Japan, will forever put the controversy to rest.
Continuing with this saga is important as we continue with the Saga of Godse vs Gandhi, and also Gandhi phobisim.
It is unlikely that only Gandhi Phobism exists here. May be there are Netaji Phobism also!
What is good for Gandhi should also be true for Netaji also.
Regards,
vck
Reg: Patriot’s views
Dear Patriot, you are shooting the messenger. Let us not worry about the site and the Ad revenue. Mukherjee commission report, no matter which site would report, is the same.
Regards.
@ Patriot:
1. Its apt you use the ID Unpatriot or Fakepatriot, instead patriot word. As Sonia Maino alias fake Gandhi’s puting a Red Tilak on forhead (during election campaign to fool the hindus) don’t make her a Hindu (she is a declared catholic christian), so using patriot word don’t make one patriot.
2. I am afraid, you have ever seen and read anything from the site Mission Netaji (http://www.missionnetaji.org/index_new.php#)
Your words reminds me, when some fellow hindus say, whats in Ved(a) that we have to read that book? These poor Atman (souls) even don’t know the meaning of the word Veda (which means pure knowledge). They acquired Vidya, but don’t know the meaning of the word Vidya (Veda, Vidya all derived from root ‘Vid’ means to know).
3. SC Bose was patriot of patriots, like Swami Vivekanada. That great man was neglected and sidelined by the ruling Congress Juntas, as we ignorant Juntas. Workers of Mission Netaji site, at least brought out the issue and enormous amount of information about the life and work of Netaji Bose. Atleast, browsing them, reading them, we remember him and learn something of that great man.
4. May we ask you, what did you do, except leg-pulling? Why not start a blog or website and write what rubbish you wish to, and see how many people read your rubbish. You can earn money too; why jelous of others. A donkey wearing the skin of a lion don’t turned into a lion.
Bharat
=====
Mr VC Krishnan, the DNA check should conclusively prove it, as you mentioned.
However, it needs high-level permission from govts as well as the kin of NSCB. It is said that the so-called kin of NSCB are airheads and greedy folks who have been bought by the govt into ‘accepting’ that the ashes are of NSCB.
The story of greatest freedom fighter of united India is destined to be incomplete. This suspense will only increase his image and fame to dizzying heights.
Dear Shantanu,
A great information this should enlighten the so called freedom fighter of India.
People must under stand that the freedom we has was not due to AHIMSA.
At least understand that they should not get carried away by so called G family’s sacrifice.
Jai Hind
Both Mohandas and Nehru disliked Netaji.Nehru a “Muslim by culture and hindu by accident” and “the last Englishman to rule India” declared Basu a “war Criminal”.Anuj Dhar’s book , “Back from dead” is a fascinating book on Netaji.
It is Netaji’s activitivities which caused British to leave India, nothing to do with so-called Mahatma.
*** COMMENT COMBINED ***
Netaji deserves Salute from all of us. I salute him for his patroitsm and sacrifices for our country.
Nehru family then was insecured, very very insecured such that they have to play all these games with everyone who came in to their way of fulfilling their desire to become PM of India. One can also take the case of Sardar Patel.
My heart always goes out for Netaji and I always remeber him with great respect. Same for Bhagat singh and Mangal Pandey. They deserve highest respect from all Indians.
Jai Hind
***
I am not forgetting Mohandas Gandhi. He too was a brave man, great leader and freedom fighter. He deserves salute too!
Its not that great to speak ill about any freedom fighter who have put all his/her life in it. Specially not Bapu, its easy to blame and claim. So please friends take care.
Jai Hind
Looks like I am one of the few who actually did go through the transcript of the Mukherji report on the Netajimission website –
The JMCI report clearly mentions that it contacted various DNA experts, including forensic DNA scientists, and the unanimous response was that it would not be possible to test the DNA from the ashes, as the burning process had destroyed all the DNA.
The above testing does not require any permission from the kin of Bose and the correspondence in the JNCI report substantiates this. It did however require permission from the Runkaoji (?) temple at Japan, and the JNCI report says it did not get unequivocal permission from the latter.
RE: Palaniappan – I am not shooting the messenger – but I was curious about the people behind the NetajiMission website, as I found most of the articles written by an “Anuj” who was busy publicising his book on Netaji.
RE: Bharat – whatever floats your boat, dude, no skin off my back.
If you do not question, you can not learn. And, I am willing to question everything under the sun (and above it, too!).
cheers
Thanks Patriot for the clarification.
In this debate, I am going to be the Devil’s advocate. In my view, had Netaji collobration with Japan succeeded in defeating the British, and by collarary, succeded in ensuring Japan/Germany win in the world war, we would be in a huge mess today! At the very least, we would be under Japanese occupation, which I have no doubt would have been far worse than the worst of Bristish occupation. Any takers?
Patriot..
RE: Palaniappan – I am not shooting the messenger – but I was curious about the people behind the NetajiMission website, as I found most of the articles written by an “Anuj” who was busy publicising his book on Netaji.
Pray, enlighten us as to how Mukherjee Commission published on any website on earth and beyond is
bound to be different ? So, your curiousity and doubt is out of place with the crux of the issue.
And thanks about the note on the permission formality. In some form or the other it’s an issue –
as you listed Renkoji cooperation was not there. And why would it not be there when India and JPN have good relations ?
The matter now is that every idiot and a half has got a memorial in Delhi, and dignitaries around the world are led to Gandhi samadhi, but there is none for the man who gave us our first army, and who was our FIRST leader, and who captured Andamans & Nicobar and changed their names to Swaraj and Shaheed.
*** COMMENT COMBINED ***
FYI.
Do we need armed forces?
…Indians have assiduously cultivated a myth that it was non-violent Gandhian struggle ALONE that got us freedom. No one can deny the role Gandhi played in mobilising the masses but it is too simplistic to attribute our freedom to that factor alone. Last year the Indian ‘Jhollawalas’ and sundry intellectuals of Delhi, were shocked when a British diplomat ( speaking on the occasion of Diamond jubilee of Indian independence) mentioned the Naval mutiny and Azad Hind Fauj of Subhas Chandra Bose, as the main reasons for British granting independence to India.
Indians have also forgotten that within two months of becoming independent, ie October 1947, the country had to use violence and its armed forces to save Kashmir from a tribal invasion masterminded by Pakistan. …
Read online: http://sify.com/news/fullstory.php?id=14682661
Bharat
***
Contd. from previous message.
Hitler’s secret Indian army
By Mike Thomson, BBC News http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3684288.stm
…Bose, who had been arrested 11 times by the British in India, had fled the Raj with one mission in mind. That was to seek Hitler’s help in pushing the British out of India.
Dear Suresh,
You brought out what is called a strawman argument.
Netaji was not a puny or small thinking personality.
He always made sure that he bargained the best possible and did not hesitate to stand firm when
negotiating with Germans and Japanese. FYI, Netaji was already the Premier of India, in exile and recognized by 7 countries. He was not part of any empire and did not compromise on freeing his Motherland. He had a force of 40,000 INA members at a time, and add to it the freed country’s armed forces which would have made JPN’s misstep very unlikely. At the maximum, he would have handsomely compensated JPN for the help. Knowing Netaji’s intent and methods, JPN would have been satisfied to have a friend during those times.
By making speculation, we are doing injustice to Netaji’s persona and discrediting him.
Regards.
“In this debate, I am going to be the Devil’s advocate. In my view, had Netaji collobration with Japan succeeded in defeating the British, and by collarary, succeded in ensuring Japan/Germany win in the world war, we would be in a huge mess today! At the very least, we would be under Japanese occupation, which I have no doubt would have been far worse than the worst of Bristish occupation. Any takers?”
RE: Palaniappan –
“Pray, enlighten us as to how Mukherjee Commission published on any website on earth and beyond is
bound to be different ? So, your curiousity and doubt is out of place with the crux of the issue.”
Pray, tell me how do you know that the JMCI report on the website is a true copy? Have you got a certified hard copy? And, have you verified this hard copy with the scans on the website? Have you heard of imaging software and its ability to change digital images? Do you know of morphing?
If you want to take as gospel truth anything that appears on the internet – that is your business. I am more circumspect and I am entitled to question sources and will continue to do so.
Too bad if that is not agreeable to you.
Cheers
Many thanks Mohan. I nevertheless have my doubts.
Going by their past record, I would place little faith in Hitler or the Japanese honouring any agreement reached with Netaji. At the cruicial time. They would have used him and eventually taken over the final assault on India. They aspired for nothing less than complete control over the world affairs. I have not the slightest doubt about Netaji’s good intensions, and even some positive out of his efforts, but I am nevertheless grateful that his efforts to defeat the allied forces did not succeed. In any event, out of the two sides, the Axix were without doubt the greater evil, and it would be evil to side with the greater evil for whatever purpose. Thankfully we live in a relatively free world today. This would not be the case had the Germans/Japanese collabration succeded.
Suresh,
You have said “going by past record”. From where did you get these “past records”? Remember, history is always written by the victors. Memoirs written by Allied historians do not necessarily paint a true picture. The Axis were certainly evil, but the Allies were no saints either. People talk of Axis concentration camps – but how was the Jallianwallah Bagh massacre any better? How do you compare the rape of Nanking with the forced famine in Bengal? Netaji was not a gullible simpleton to be unaware of the Axis atrocities. He was only acting as per the adage “an enemy’s enemy is your friend”. Tell me, why did the Japanese hand over the Andaman & Nicobar Island to him? They had conquered the islands before Netaji joined hands with them – then why did they hand them over? After the war, Japan has been trying to forget her imperial past. But in case of Netaji, so entranced were the Japanese by him that even as late as last year, the Japanese PM paid a visit to Netaji’s house. There is no question of the Japanese reneging on their pacts with Netaji. Netaji knew what he was doing – it is only that he unfortunately did not succeed.
Patriot said :
>>If you want to take as gospel truth anything that appears on the internet – that is your business. I am more circumspect and I am entitled to question sources and will continue to do so.
Patriot, your doubts are baffling.
Mukherjee is not a run-of-the-mill law personality.
He’s a retired judge of the Supreme Court. At the time when he brought up his commission, the entire national media splashed the excerpts and findings of the commission. So this is not about internet and
some ABC or XYZ in some internet kiosk in some corner of the world. Here is but one link I can give you –
http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/2006/05/18/stories/2006051806341400.htm
>>Too bad if that is not agreeable to you.
The earth is round. One day you shall be back wondering what it is that you are having problem with – internet or the Mukherjee Commission or your imagination about your agreeability to others.
Good luck.
Palaniappan –
A simple question for you – do you have a hard copy of the JMCI report, which is a certified copy.
Yes or no?
If yes, would you be able to courier a copy of that to me, at my cost?
Yes or no?
1. The Govt of India has rejected the findings of the JM Commission, saying that it did not agree with the findings. But, why Govt didn’t specified reasons of rejection?
2. Why Govt of India holding the report as Secret Document and not releasing to the public, if there are no truths? Ministry of Home Affairs site provide a link to the JMC Inquiry, but they removed all info (or never put anything over there)
http://mha.nic.in/jmci
3. If info on JMCR is available to Missionnetaji people and site, why it is not available in other public domain?
4. The Hindustan Times have an archieve, but without the JMCR.
http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/specials/Netaji/netaji.htm
5. Truth will come out, sooner or later. It is just a matter of time. But the point is that the nation must give due recognition and place in the history to this legendary son of Bharat.
Bharat
=====
Patriot: A simple question for you : Will a hard copy alter the finding of Mukherjee Commission that was highlighted, splashed in ALL Indian media on day 1 of its release ?
FYI, national newspapers like The Hindu had placed the entire report on-line during the release time. It may or may not be available any more and its posession is not relevant to the discussion here.
This is not the office of Supreme Court and we are not in front of a jury. If that’s how you see it, you are welcome to battle it out in the courts and spend your time worrying about authenticity.
Best wishes.
Yes, I think it was publicly available at the time of release even in the The Hindustan Times website. I feel I downloaded it, but could not traced out.
I agree with Palaniappan, it does not matter from which site it is available now. What matters is the content. Most govt reports withdraw from sites after soemtime, perhaps archieval problem or management. Sometime back, I downloaded 1962 Chinese invasion and war report, which I lost. I could not traced out it anymore.
Anyhow, you can watch:
Bose: the Forgotten Hero – The Film at Youtube
http://www.tamilnation.org/ideology/bose.htm
About the film
http://specials.rediff.com/movies/bose.htm
The HT investigation mentioned by Bharat (at #21) has apparently concluded and has this web page as the main landing page:
http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/specials/Netaji/netajihomepage.shtml
PL. have a look.
Just in: Thanks to thinkerspad: All in ONE pack: Secret About Netaji’s Death: http://scr.bi/eoEhhT http://scr.bi/esPqpi http://scr.bi/eDIS6T http://scr.bi/gPjpzJ Pls Share.
Published Netaji Bose Captured Pg on Scribd http://www.scribd.com/doc/51372919
Published Netaji Bose Captured Pg.139 on Scribd http://www.scribd.com/doc/51372904
Published Netaji Bose Captured Pg.138 on Scribd http://www.scribd.com/doc/51372886
Published Netaji Bose Captured Pg.137 on Scribd http://www.scribd.com/doc/51372860
And nobody needs to doubt the authenticity of this letter as it is published by Foreign and Commonwealth Office itself
“And nobody needs to doubt the authenticity of this letter as it is published by Foreign and Commonwealth Office itself”
What is the name of that publication?
Some excerpt from What role did IB play in the Netaji mystery? by Vicky Nanjappa, July 12, 2012:
..Anuj Dhar, the author of the just published book India’s Biggest Cover-up, says that the agency (IB) doctored a British-era document to support the Nehru government’s stance on the freedom fighter’s reported death, reports Vicky Nanjappa.
..
Dhar utilises a set of secret and declassified records, including those obtained under the Right to Information Act, to make a case against the IB.
Click here to read the documents
In 1955, B N Mullik, then IB director and the father figure of the Indian intelligence community, dispatched a dossier to the Shah Nawaz committee, established in 1956 to investigate Bose’s death. This committee had been set up under public pressure by an unwilling Jawaharlal Nehru to go into the question of Bose’s reported death following an air crash in Taiwan.
The IB dossier for Shah Nawaz Khan, a Congress MP and former Indian National Army officer, contained a selection of reports by various investigating officers. The first report was from Phillip Finney, an assistant director with the IB who had been sent to South East Asia alongwith other officers to ascertain the facts.
The copy of Finney’s report dated November 1945 supplied by the IB to the committee appeared to confirm the Japanese announcement of their ally’s death in August 1945, just at a time when the British were preparing to arrest him.
…
A scrutiny of the document by Dhar however revealed that Finney’s report in the IB dossier (accessed under RTI in 2007) had been censored to expunge its last three and the most crucial paragraphs.
Dhar located a complete copy of the same report in a declassified ministry of defence file at the National Archives in New Delhi [ Images ]. A plain reading of the portion removed from the report given to Shah Nawaz committee showed that Finney was actually not sure of Bose’s death.
The diary of the World War Two Prime Minister of Imperial Japan, General Hideki Tojo, was made public by his wife, as per his wishes, many years after he was hanged in 1948 for war crimes. There were reports in some Japanese newspapers that in his diary, General Tojo had written that India was to be conquered by Japan with the assistance of Subhash Chandra Bose and the Indian National Army, and after that was accomplished, Bose was to be exterminated by the Japanese. This item of news did not speak well for Bose, and was therefore suppressed by the Government of India as well as the Indian media. The sum of it all was that Bose joined the wrong forces, and had to pay dearly for his folly. The British gave India independence in 1947. Had India been a colony of Germany or Japan, God only knows if and when it would have ever got its freedom.
For the sake of completeness (and seeing different perspectives!) please also read for yourself, Capt Ajit Vadakayil’s well researched account
MISSING SOLDIERS OF INDIAN NATIONAL ARMY IN PAPAU NEW GUINEA — AZAD HIND FAUJ FOOLED INTO TUNNEL DIGGING — INA SOLDIERS FOR JAP FOOD-
http://ajitvadakayil.blogspot.com/2011/08/netaji-subhash-chandra-bose-untold.html
Japan agreed to eliminate Netaji;
In WW-I, Japan was an ally of British. Before WW-II, Japan-US trade war and political war started, this led to actual war between US and Japan. So British became an enemy to Japan by diplomatic manipulation as US – British alliance was there. After WW-II, Japan revived their old connection with British via spies. Japanese and British spies were enough linked before WW-II. Japanese spies agreed to eliminate Netaji. Motive was to appease the British and purchase security for Japan royal family. Thus, Japan sold Netaji to British and British eliminated him. The false news of air crash was Japan’s fabrication. In any controversial case, liar is to be suspected first.
Netaji’s plan to start second independence war with the help of USSR was known to Japan. There was enough scope for British and Japanese spies to develop a common minimum program against pro-communist agenda of Netaji. Why should Japanese imperialism agree to patronize emergence of independent India as a permanent communist ally? Is it not more logical to fulfill British condition and purchase favor? Why Japan royal family was not tried as a war criminal? What is the mystery behind this favor? Japan agreed to eliminate Netaji;
In WW-I, Japan was an ally of British. Before WW-II, Japan-US trade war and political war started, this led to actual war between US and Japan. So British became an enemy to Japan by diplomatic manipulation as US – British alliance was there. After WW-II, Japan revived their old connection with British via spies. Japanese and British spies were enough linked before WW-II. Japanese spies agreed to eliminate Netaji. Motive was to appease the British and purchase security for Japan royal family. Thus, Japan sold Netaji to British and British eliminated him. The false news of air crash was Japan’s fabrication. In any controversial case, liar is to be suspected first.
Netaji’s plan to start second independence war with the help of USSR was known to Japan. There was enough scope for British and Japanese spies to develop a common minimum program against pro-communist agenda of Netaji. Why should Japanese imperialism agree to patronize emergence of independent India as a permanent communist ally? Is it not more logical to fulfill British condition and purchase favor? Why Japan royal family was not tried as a war criminal? What is the mystery behind this favor?