Though belated, we felt it was worth sharing this article today. Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose stood at the forefront of the Indian independence movement, playing a pivotal role in India’s freedom. His leadership and the threat of an army revolt shook the British Raj, ultimately forcing them to decide to leave India. It is ironic, however, that many Indian historians have shamelessly overlooked these brave-hearts aggressive and fearless acts. Here’s to honouring our brave son of the soil – Netaji. – EDITOR
On 23rd January, Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Jayanti, also known as ‘Parakram Diwas’ or Courage Day, to honour one of India’s most prominent freedom fighters. This year marks the 128th birth anniversary of Subhas Chandra Bose.
Real Bharath Premi and Desh Bhakth, Netaji resigned from the Indian Civil Service in 1921 and returned to India. He fought with English authorities and hence, he became a rebel by the then-British government in India. Netaji worked under the mentorship of prominent Congress leader Chittaranjan Das who, along with Motilal Nehru, left the Congress Party to form the Swaraj Party in 1922.
Born in 1897 in Cuttack, Odisha, Subhas Chandra Bose was the ninth child of Janakinath Bose and Prabhavati Devi. He completed his BA in Philosophy from the Presidency College in Calcutta (now called Kolkata). His father also sent him to England to appear for the Civil Services Examination. He scored the highest marks in English and placed fourth overall.
Netaji was elected the President of the All India Youth Congress Committee and the Secretary of the Bengal State Congress in 1923. Subhash Chandra Bose briefly served as the mayor of Calcutta in 1930.
Who is Gumnami Baba?
Renowned Telugu Journalist and author M V R Sastry has presented authentic and logical reasons to conclude that Netaji was not Gumnami Baba and the plane crash is a stark reality. Sastry, the author of two Telugu books on this national hero, Sastry highlighted the exemplary leadership and uncompromising political approach of Subhas Chandra Bose. The speaker raised a brainstorming question: did India gain independence due to the supreme sacrifices made by Netaji Bose and his Indian National Army or by non-violence satyagraha?
This talk is in continuation of its previous Author Speaks program on ‘Mysteries and Untold Stories of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose’ by investigative author Chandrachur Ghose last week, who said that there was overwhelming evidence to say Gumnami Baba was Netaji himself. Sastry reasoned it out saying the heroic and adventurous character of Netaji is not compatible with a silent and inactive or docile living and ignominious death. It was not his character. He is a hero and died in a plane crash, which was proved beyond reasonable doubt.
MVR Sastry, a well-known Telugu senior journalist, and editor of ‘Andhra Bhumi’ newspaper of Deccan Chronicle group for more than two decades has investigated Indian History and authored books on the Indian Freedom Movement, Gandhi, Kashmir, and Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose. He appealed to the nation to show some gratitude to several students and faculties eager to listen to the guest speaker, who admonished the need to give the tallest freedom fighter his long-overdue place of honour in the history of freedom struggle after 75 years of India’s independence.
Mr. Sastry criticized the three Commissions of Inquiry that were formed after independence to investigate the mysterious disappearance of Bose from different angles, and accused them of giving biased reports, being not free of political influence.
He explained in his extempore talk various historical aspects to confirm that Bose died in the ominous plane crash in Taihuku (Taiwan) on 18 August 1945. While noting that almost 77 years have passed since the plane crash, Sastry felt deeply pained as no serious action has been taken to bring back Netaji’s ashes by any government in all these years. Netaji is the only hero who has just a date of birth but no date of death, and this year being 125th birth anniversary, he called for a coordinated campaign to create pressure on the present government, bring back the ashes from the Renkoji temple in Japan, and conduct a DNA test.
He reiterated that between 1945 and 1974, almost ten investigations took place which were conducted by the British Army, the Allied Command based in Japan, the Government of British India, the Governments of Japan and Formosa, followed by commissions appointed by the Government of India, and also by individual journalists and followers of Bose and all of them concluded that Netaji died on the fateful night of 18 August 1945, after third-degree burn injuries due to air crash.
While sharing his apathy towards the official version of the plane crash theory, Mr. Sastry also raised concern over how few authors have given rise to various conspiracy theories on the death and reappearance of Subhas Chandra Bose. In his talk, Mr. Sastry extended his solidarity to the recent demand and movement of Janasena Party President and famous film star of the south, Pawan Kalyan, who demands that the ashes of Netaji be brought back to India and kept in the Red Fort and Tricolor be hurled above it so that the mysteries surrounding Netaji’s death is removed forever and the leader gets his due from the people of his motherland.
The School of Law (SoL), Mahindra University, organized this lecture series “Unfolding the legacy of a legend: Netaji”, recently to commemorate the 125th birth anniversary of Bose. MVR Sastry’s well-researched narrative about Bose’s determined character and his resolution to free his motherland from the shackles of the British Raj created an urge among the audience to explore further details about the incredible contributions of the forgotten hero.
However, Mr. Sastry’s conviction about the plane crash theory in 1945 was contested by Dr. Paromita Das Gupta, a history faculty at the School of Law. Dr. Das Gupta, based on the study of the Mission Netaji group including Chandrachur Ghose and Anuj Dhar, raised some pertinent questions regarding the authenticity of the plane crash theory since no inquiry commission had ever visited the crash site and collected data from ground zero. She was particularly interested in understanding why the passenger list of the fateful flight which is supposed to have killed Netaji had not been found yet, why Netaji’s co-passenger and his closest aide Habibur Rahman who also planted the crash theory, never had a scratch on his body despite a shocking plane crash that caused third-degree burns to which Netaji succumbed in 1945. Doubts were raised by historians about the authenticity of the death certificates issued in 1956 and as late as 1988 for allegedly the same individual but with two different names.
Appreciating the questions, Sastry took these questions and stated that there was circumstantial evidence to prove that Netaji died in a plane crash and bring closure to this long-running disappearance saga of a leader who delivered his promise: a Free India through strategies that appeared to be unacceptable to his contemporaries, but that captured the essence of our great national leader. Netaji’s mantra was: “Give blood, I will give freedom”, and he kept the promise.
Here are some more inspirational quotes by Subhas Chandra Bose:
“Soldiers who always remain faithful to their nation, who are always prepared to sacrifice their lives, are invincible.”
“Freedom is not given, it is taken.”
“It is our duty to pay for our liberty with our blood. The freedom that we shall win through our sacrifice and exertions, we shall be able to preserve with our own strength.”
“One individual may die for an idea, but that idea will, after his death, incarnate itself in a thousand lives.” (The author teaches School of Law Mahindra University Hyderabad)
