The Justice Mukherjee Commission categorically dismissed the air-crash theory leading to Netaji's death. Justice Mukherjee has gone on air saying that the plane-crash had never happened. There is virtually no circumstantial evidence to support the crash theory. So, where did Netaji simply vanish? Was he assassinated by British agents en route to Russia after the capitulation of Japan post-Hiroshima-Nagasaki? Or did he successfully reach Russia and was at the behest of Nehru and the British interned by Stalin in a Siberian gulag for years before being eliminated? Or, in a final twist to the story, did he become a monk and live incognito in Ayodhya after a rather eventful sojourn through Russia and China? Did Netaji ever marry as is claimed by the largest section of his family and is ratified by no less a personality than Sarat Chandra Bose which should more or less settle the issue or was he forever a bachelor as some of his most ardent and extreme devotees seem to believe? Everything is so shrouded in mystery about this most enigmatic of leaders that even after seven decades of his disappearance the mist will just not clear.
As the classified files on Netaji are being serially declassified by the Government of India, there seems to be a remote chance of the unveiling of facts but Netaji scholars while excitedly anticipating fresh discoveries are often quite sceptical about the possibility of anything substantial emerging from the disclosures for they fear that former Congress governments may have systematically destroyed the crucial files related to his disappearance and have only stored the less significant ones that may not reveal much. It is pertinent to note here that Indira Gandhi's government had destroyed two very crucial files on Netaji. Of course, Nehru had everything to lose politically from Netaji's return to India and subsequently that became the legacy of successive Congress governments who had literally to toe the Nehruvian line on Netaji to avoid being wiped out from the political map of India. Now after so many years to resolve the disappearance issue will be an onerous task and will need the active participation of the Government of India which by exerting its influence over foreign governments may get their files on Netaji declassified for significant leads to his disappearance.
Will the Modi government seriously consider reconstruction of the history of the freedom movement of India in its last tumultuous phase by pressing on with this agenda? It owes it to the people of India to set the records straight and one only hopes that sustained public pressure will eventually force the government to undo the injustices of the past and restore the valorous daughters and sons of the I.N.A. to their rightful place in history. Netaji is no more the forgotten hero the Congress chose to make him and his shadow once again looms large over the hearts and minds of the people of India as she struggles to find her feet among the comity of nations in the 21st century.
A word of thankfulness to those tireless seekers of truth who over decades have kept up the lamp of research on Netaji's disappearance alive by burning out the fuel of their own lives. So much mystery, so much betrayal, so many lies, so much alienation! One wonders in awe and amazement at the mettle of this man we call Netaji. Who was he? Whither did he vanish? I breathlessly await your response. What is your take on the entire issue my sisters, my brothers, my countrymen at home and abroad?
As the classified files on Netaji are being serially declassified by the Government of India, there seems to be a remote chance of the unveiling of facts but Netaji scholars while excitedly anticipating fresh discoveries are often quite sceptical about the possibility of anything substantial emerging from the disclosures for they fear that former Congress governments may have systematically destroyed the crucial files related to his disappearance and have only stored the less significant ones that may not reveal much. It is pertinent to note here that Indira Gandhi's government had destroyed two very crucial files on Netaji. Of course, Nehru had everything to lose politically from Netaji's return to India and subsequently that became the legacy of successive Congress governments who had literally to toe the Nehruvian line on Netaji to avoid being wiped out from the political map of India. Now after so many years to resolve the disappearance issue will be an onerous task and will need the active participation of the Government of India which by exerting its influence over foreign governments may get their files on Netaji declassified for significant leads to his disappearance.
Will the Modi government seriously consider reconstruction of the history of the freedom movement of India in its last tumultuous phase by pressing on with this agenda? It owes it to the people of India to set the records straight and one only hopes that sustained public pressure will eventually force the government to undo the injustices of the past and restore the valorous daughters and sons of the I.N.A. to their rightful place in history. Netaji is no more the forgotten hero the Congress chose to make him and his shadow once again looms large over the hearts and minds of the people of India as she struggles to find her feet among the comity of nations in the 21st century.
A word of thankfulness to those tireless seekers of truth who over decades have kept up the lamp of research on Netaji's disappearance alive by burning out the fuel of their own lives. So much mystery, so much betrayal, so many lies, so much alienation! One wonders in awe and amazement at the mettle of this man we call Netaji. Who was he? Whither did he vanish? I breathlessly await your response. What is your take on the entire issue my sisters, my brothers, my countrymen at home and abroad?
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