The answers to the above questions probably lie in the classified files being held by the various arms of Central Government - External Affairs Ministry, Prime Minister's office and Intelligence bureau. With the West Bengal government having declassified files in their possession, the Centre is now feeling the heat to unwrap the contents of the documents in its possession.
It is now open season for leaks in cyber space with documents of dubious authenticity, often airburshed with Photoshop, making rounds in social media and being widely being ‘liked’ and shared.
While studying History in school Netaji and other action heroes of freedom struggle like Chandrashekar Azad and Bhagat Singh always held great fascination for us, unlike moderates such as Mahatma Gandhi and his ilk. The picture of Bose in his military uniform, Azad perpetually twirling his moustache and Bhagat Singh, both with turban and clean shaven, had a pride of place in our text books. Though they mentioned how Azad and Bhagat Singh met their ends, the mystery of Bose lived on. And it goes without saying that all these years strong vested interests have been at work to keep the lid over the mystery tightly shut.
It was first believed that Netaji died on August 18 in 1945, after his plane crashed in Japanese-occupied Formosa (Taiwan). This theory was endorsed first by Shah Nawaz Committee in 1956 and later by G D Khosla Commission in 1970. But later in 2006, Justice Mukherjee Commission report suggested that Netaji had not died in the plane crash and that "the ashes at Renkoji temple are not his". After studying these reports for seven months, the Government rejected it. In fact the Mukherjee Commission had a rough ride and was forced to submit its unfinished work to the then Home Minister Shivraj Patil. The main reason for this is the non-cooperation shown by the home ministry.
The Mukherjee Commission had suggested that Netaji was in Soviet Russia and had spent time in a Siberian gulag. Though the commission went to Russia, but failed to secure any clinching papers to substantiate it. This theory acquired maximum currency with many Bose supporters believing that Congress leaders colluded with the British to keep Netaji out of the country. Since Netaji had reportedly met Hitler and Japanese leaders and sought their help to overthrow British rule, Stalin was more than willing to play ball.
There is also one theory of Gumnami baba, a sadhu who lived in Faizabad and died on September 16, 1985, was actually Netaji. It was floated by a Hindi daily Naye Log and that too after the death of the godman. It had its moments of fame and some takers, until it was categorically dismissed by the Justice Mukherjee Commission.
Now all eyes are on the Centre, whether it would help in closure of the Bose death mystery. So far it has more or less toed the line adopted by the previous Congress-led UPA government and rejected an RTI petition seeking records from the Prime Minister's office related to Netaji. But it remains to be seen how far it is going to hold on to this position.
Moreover it remains to be seen if the classified papers that is in possession of Centre have answers to the above crucial questions. Or is it in the secret archives in some foreign country.
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