The disappearance mystery seeks a resolution that must for sure one day see the light of day for there are countless comrades working at it and their conjoined efforts cannot but bring about its successful closure. As of now there are three principal theories regarding the disappearance which is but common knowledge. They are as follows :
1. The Air-crash Theory ;
2. The Russian Angle ;
3. The Monk incognito living in Uttar Pradesh.
Of these the Air-crash Theory has been categorically rejected by The Justice Mukherjee Commission Enquiry Report on the basis of a complete absence of credible evidence to substantiate the said crash.
The Russian angle could not be much explored by the JMCI because the principal proposed deponent Alexander Koleshnikov failed to depose before the Commission owing to prior placement in Ankara (Turkey) on a diplomatic assignment just days before the Commission reached Russia. As such the exploration of the Russian angle to the mystery had to be aborted and that has left a significant loophole in the JMCI's investigation.
That left the Commission with the third theory which it went into in some detail as the investigations could be conducted at home and witnesses were many and some claimed to have even been close to the monk living incognito in various places in Uttar Pradesh. This remarkable renunciate was a registered Dashanami sannyasi (a monk belonging to the Order of ten sects founded by Adi Shanakaracharya) but divulged no formal name of his. As such he was referred to by common people variously. Some called him Pardewala Baba owing to his remaining ever behind a drawn curtain from where he gave his interviews (darshan) to associates, Bhagavanji on account of his exalted spiritual status to which many have testified, Gumnami Baba which the Press gave him on account of his having lived a life of total seclusion and secrecy without any contact, so to say, with the outer world which made him inaccessible to the general mass of people who were, thus, almost oblivious of his existence.
The JMCI interviewed many witnesses but could not come to a definitive conclusion as to what had transpired post 17 August, 1945 till when Netaji had been photographed at Saigon and, therefore, proof of his being alive till then could be ascertained. The evidence furnished by witnesses before the Commission and what the Commission could gather from its travels abroad were insufficient to infer anything beyond any reasonable doubt as to what had befallen him beyond 17 August, 1945. In the absence of sufficient legally tenable evidence, therefore, the JMCI concluded that there was no credible evidence to prove that death had taken place by Air-crash and that the Commission, therefore, was undecided as to the eventual fate of Netaji. It further concluded that the shes in the Renkoji Temple in Tokyo were of a Japanese soldier by th name Ichiro Okura who had died of a cardiac arrest on 19 August, 1945 and as such was not that of Netaji. It asked for a DNA Test to settle the issue which was, however, not done. Furthermore, the JMCI concluded on the basis of DNA Test of the blood samples from members of Netaji's extended family on both the maternal and the paternal lines that Gumnami Baba could not be ascertained to be Netaji.
The JMCI Report was tabled in Parliament in May, 2006 but was summarily rejected by the then UPA government without allowing any debate on the matter whatsoever.
The absence of exploration of the Russian angle to the entire mystery has left a gaping hole in the entire investigation and one wonders whether a fourth enquiry about Netaji's disappearance by way of a sequel to the JMCI ought to be demanded for by the countless followers of Netaji worldwide for a successful closure of the case. This time, though, proceedings must begin with re-tabling the JMCI in Parliament for debate on its findings so that there is national consensus for a fourth and conclusive enquiry.
The Government of India is allegedly still holding on to some top-secret files on Netaji that are in the possession of the Intelligence Bureau (IB) and the Prime Minister's Office (PMO). These will have to be first declassified and the government come clean on all its contents. Only then can the GOI exhort foreign governments to declassify all their files on Netaji and not some select files of convenience as the UK and Japan have thus far done. Russia will have to be persuaded to pursue this declassification process of their secret information on Netaji. With national and international operations thus, the mystery surrounding the disappearance of the enigmatic leader will be dispelled once and for all. To that day we look forward to.
Jai Hind !
Written by Sugata Bose
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