What happened to Subhash Bose

[sampuran]

In recent months, The Pioneer has reported on Subhas Chandra Bose's mysterious disappearance. It has been established beyond doubt that Netaji did not die in the purported air crash on August 18, 1945, as was widely believed. A study of events, if placed in chronology, goes on to reveal some startling facts.


During the 1930s, when both Nehru and Bose were in the Congress, they did not see eye-to-eye. During this critical phase Gandhi always backed Nehru and both Gandhi and Nehru were aware that Netaji did not die in the air crash. The former stated publicly in January 1946, that he believed Bose was hiding, as did Sarat Bose. Netaji, it was thought, somehow slipped into Russia, foreseeing ensuing conflict between the erstwhile USSR and the West.


At the same time, the British, fearing the mutiny of Indian militia, had already decided to quit this country. Nehru was supposed to take over the reins of Government. It was perceived that the one man who could challenge his superiority was Subhas Bose. Consequently, in August 1946, Nehru requested Soviet agent VG Sayadiyant, living in Bombay, to personally deliver a letter to Stalin. The contents of that letter are still unknown.

There are two possibilities. First, the British were baying for Netaji's blood. Hence, Stalin might have been requested to keep Bose in custody till Independence was achieved. If that were the case, Bose would have been in India by 1950, when all hurdles were clear. So, one can infer there was nothing positive in the letter; or else Netaji would have come to participate actively in Indian politics. The second possibility hints at Nehru's offering certain sops to the Russian ruler to prefer him over Bose.



Notably, India acted as a USSR satellite during the Nehru dynastic regime. Though Nehru was hero-worshipped, his truth came to the fore when Shyama Prasad Mookerji died in mysterious circumstances in the jail of Sheikh Abdullah. No inquiry was conducted into the circumstances of his death. One tends to conclude that the conspiracy to kill Shyama Prasad Mookerji was hatched by Sheikh Abdullah with the active connivance of Nehru. Amid the humdrum, the RSS was first accused and then exonerated for Gandhi's murder.

The then Maharashtra Government was found lax in acting on intelligence reports on plots to kill Gandhi. Elsewhere, Pt Deen Dayal Upadhyay died mysteriously at a time when Leftists were at the peak of their propaganda against him. The Chandrachud Commission probing the death left many questions unanswered. Strangely enough, after the receipt of Nehru's letter, Netaji was kept in confinement somewhere in Siberia. Many personalities claim to have seen him or had an authoritative report on his presence in the erstwhile USSR. Shah Nawaz played a treacherous role and the Khosla Committee report proved to be doctored. Even the cause of death of Lal Bahadur Shastri is still shrouded in mystery.

What is known, however, is that prior to the departure of the Mukherji Commission, Ms Sonia Gandhi visited Russia. Whether former USSR leaders were briefed to stall the investigation is unknown. Russians are reluctant to disclose facts about Netaji. Did Netaji leave Russia? If so when and where did he go? Did he die, and if so, who performed his last rites? If alive, where is he? The Ministry of External Affairs can pressure Russia to be more forthcoming.

[dndeswal]

Netaji's death has remained a mystery but later it became a political game too. Pioneer is a Calcutta-based paper where there is an annual tamasha around Netaji's birthday (23 January) - someone or the other claims that Netaji is alive. Earlier, people used to believe this but not now - sixty years have passed (after 1945). Even if he survived after 1945, it is certain that he may not be alive now.

Netaji is known more by the people of Punjab and Haryana than the Bengalis themselves. After all, INA consisted of Jawans from these states and some from Rajashthan and UP too. An old villager, who had served in INA, used to say : "Yo Subhash Chander Bose to Jat hi tha par galti se Bangal mein paida ho gaya".

Let all of us pay homage to Netaji on his birthday (23 January).

[dahiyarules]

Does anyone really care. Bose was a hardcore leftist communist.

He would have made our life even worse. His hatred for west and enterprise would have stalled our development entirely. We would have ended up as just another North Korea, that died as the Berlin wall crumbled.

If hes living, I hope his life is horrible. If he is dead, I hope he died in agony.

[sampuran]

Does anyone really care. Bose was a hardcore leftist communist.

He would have made our life even worse. His hatred for west and enterprise would have stalled our development entirely. We would have ended up as just another North Korea, that died as the Berlin wall crumbled.

If hes living, I hope his life is horrible. If he is dead, I hope he died in agony.

Very unfair comments.
Libertarianism isnt the end all of life.
Pl read 'The Springing Tiger' and 'A Witness unto Him' then we can discuss more about Subhash' political or economic philosophy.

[dndeswal]

.
Whatever personal opinion an individual possesses, it is a fact that not only Jats but others too living in Jatland area have great regards for Netaji. His shaking hands with Hitler must have been on account of the popular notion : “our enemy’s enemy is our friend”. Those were the days when the entire Indian sub-continent was struggling to get rid of British Raj.

World War-II was a big factor for India’s independence in 1947. Though British alliance won the War, it was a big blow to them, their economy’s back-bone was almost crushed and they actually made up the mind in 1945 itself to leave the Indian sub-continent.

[dndeswal]

.
Netaji or “N.S. Chandran”?

The following has no concern with the current debate but nevertheless, is relevant.

Sometimes in early 1960s, the name of a road in the city of Madras (now Chennai) was named “Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Road”.

Then, an anti-Brahmin movement started in Tamil Nadu and names of public places or streets were modified. ‘Bose’ being a Brahmin surname, was deleted and the street’s name was amended to “Netaji Subhash Chandra Road”

After some time there was an anti-Hindi agitation and demands were raised that all Hindi-looking names (of public places) should be “Tamilised”. Again it was amended to read as “Netaji Subhash Chandran Road”.

I do not know the current position. But some years back, a friend of mine from Tamil Nadu had told me that its abbreviated version was written on the street corner : “N.S. CHANDRAN ROAD”. !!!!!!!:)

[dahiyarules]

"Springing Tiger" and "A Witnes unto Him"

Soud biased from the title itself.

I have read and researched a lot about Bose, and have reached a conclusion accordingly.

Why are you denying the fact that Bose was a hardcore socialist. Socialism is the bane of civilized socieites.

I have no sentiment for any socialist leader, just like they posess no compassion for me. Its a mutually concieved hatred for each other.

By the way, why is honest criticism of any political leader "unfair," while you guys find it "fair" to criticize my political philosophy everytime you could. Now I not asking you not to criticize me. Do that. but dont just ignore what I have to say about others as "unfair."

Very unfair comments.
Libertarianism isnt the end all of life.
Pl read 'The Springing Tiger' and 'A Witness unto Him' then we can discuss more about Subhash' political or economic philosophy.

[parda]

FSU is a state and federally funded school. The school that you go to is supoorted with money from the government. There is a limit to hypocrisy and double talking.

[pnauhwar21]

Does anyone really care. Bose was a hardcore leftist communist.

He would have made our life even worse. His hatred for west and enterprise would have stalled our development entirely. We would have ended up as just another North Korea, that died as the Berlin wall crumbled.

If hes living, I hope his life is horrible. If he is dead, I hope he died in agony.

Just because a person was a so called communist or socialist and doesnt follow your idea of Libertarianism, he should die in agony or live a miserable life is not a right thing to say. In that sense, every Indian who was part of the freedom fight whether it be ppl. like Gandhi or Chandrashekhar Azad, Bhagat Singh or Bose should have been shot in front of public becoz they didnt believe in Libertarianism..

Pls keep in mind that people make an idea good or bad and not the other way round. If indian government doesnt do something good, its not because of the socialism structure but coz of the fact that an average indian doesnt have a sense of community or country. US itself isn't a libertarian country but its in much better shape than India mostly because of thinking of an average citizen. If India has to become a better place, then rational minded people should come in the government who dont just want to fill their bank balances. And an average citizen whether he is poor or rich should have a sense of belonging to India and not just care about his family.

Bose was one of the very few who brought together a lot of ppl. and filled them with pride for the country so that India could be free of britishers.

[narenderkharb]

Shocking to see this stuff from you Sumit

We are too small to say any thing about that great hero.
Read about his life his struggle his scrifice and then comment like that
Having faith in liberal society is one thing and showing disrespect to a man who sacrificed his life for us is another
He was the true jat and a HERO to all of us.

[sampuran]

He would have made our life even worse. His hatred for west and enterprise would have stalled our development entirely. We would have ended up as just another North Korea, that died as the Berlin wall crumbled.
.

It is like flogging a child thinking he would grow up as a thief. That is why your comments are unfair.


Why English left India was not because of Gandhi, nor also because they had become weak.

First step was provided by the visionary called Chhotu Ram. Ignoring Gandhi he sent youth from then united Punjab into the army. Because he had realised the Brits would have to be thrown out physically. For that Indians neede to be militarily strong. Thats why he wanted more and more youth to join army, learn the tactis from the Brits and later use the same against them.

Secont step was provided by Subhash Bose. He could motivate POWs of Indian origin to give up loyalty to Brits and fight for their motherland. When this faith in the loyalty of the Indian soldier was shaken, Brits had no choice but to leave.

When the post-II WW PM of Britain was asked about Gandhi's contribution to the Indian independence, he said MI NI MAL (emphasising every sound).

[dahiyarules]

Every school is Government Funded in the US. Tell me one school that isnt.

I pay out of state tuition. I dont get any grants or subsidies from Government. I pay for what I get.

Thanks for double checking Hooda.

FSU is a state and federally funded school. The school that you go to is supoorted with money from the government. There is a limit to hypocrisy and double talking.

[cooljat]

ur absolutly right Narendra bhai I'm also stunned to read sucha words from Sumit, I salute this real nation's hero who never achived the status he deserved. He was my childhood hero & will remain always.
--
U know sumit u can't show ahimsa in front of hungry lion, u've to fight & kill him or otherwise get killed, thou I'm not against Ahimsa even I'm very much cool fellow but u know janwaron ke saamne ahimsa dikhaoge to jinda nahi reh paooge....I guess same thing Great warrior Bose wud have thought thats why he always said, "tum muje khoon do mein tume aazadi doonga!"
--
Just like a real Jat soldier he always wud have thought that "Hume aazadi bheek mein nahin chaiye; Aazadi humara janamsidh aadhikar hai aur yeh hum chhin ke rehenge"
--
I salute this greatest freedom fighter of India from core of my heart on his Bday aaniversary!

Salutations!

rock on
Jit

Shocking to see this stuff from you Sumit

We are too small to say any thing about that great hero.
Read about his life his struggle his scrifice and then comment like that
Having faith in liberal society is one thing and showing disrespect to a man who sacrificed his life for us is another
He was the true jat and a HERO to all of us.

[dahiyarules]

Dear Sampuran, Narender and Prashant!

Thanks for bringing up material points to advance the discussion.

I never asked for Gandhi and Bose to be publicly executed. Infact everytime I have called for execution of politicians, I want to make it clear that I was jsut being sarcastic. It was just another way of saying how much I hate them. Executions are not the hallmark of a civilized society. Those who fail to live up to the expectations of civilization should be purged, rahter than put to the sword.

Guys! mark my points. Instead of adding information to a going thread, you attack my political philosphy outright.

I want a smaller government and more freedom for the people form regulaiton. Period.

No country in te world lives up to my standards of liberty. Becuase Governments are firmly in control. I just want the people to break that control and claim their freedom.

Bose did what he though was right. I cannot blame him. Socialism was relly strong then. A lot of people fell victim to it. The dammage caused by socialism is unassessable. Eastern Europe is an example.

Bring some solid points, and stop punching me in my bag. :)


.................................................. .................................................

I want to add a point to the discussion. I had logged off after ym last post, but couldnt resist to add this one.


When people refuse to accept ciriticism of leader figures of a country, it is a very unhealthy sign.

No citizen should ever invest 100 percent trust and faith in their leader figures. Leaders are not gods. They are humans just like me and you. They blunder and they have their own personal needs and goals in their life too.

All political activity must be actively critiqued. When we blindly follow political leaders we tend to overlook their drawbacks. This is not good for the society in general.

I look at India today as a result of political decision making of leaders of yesterday. I admit that all the things that have happened to us arent bad all togther. Some really wonderful things happened too. India is a much better place to live than Pakistan, any given day.

More than being highly critical of our leaders, my main objectives is to break this "blind faith" in our leadership. I want us to be more analytical and critical of decisions that effect our daily lives.

We do not elect leaders to rule over us. we elect leaders to make decisions that improve our quality of life. Only critical questioning of political motives, can lead to a helthy decision making, and thus leading to a better India.

[vijay]

Can anybody tell if Subhsh Chandra Bose was a communist then why he mede alliance with axis powers in WWII. It is well known truth that both communist countries Soviet Union and China declared war against axis powers ( Germany, Italy and Japan ). If he was a hardcore communist, as my frend Sumit Dahiya said, why did he went for Germans who were fighting with Communist Soviet Union. His preference should had been Soviet Union not Germans and Japenese if he considered himself a communist. He was not a communist but his point of view may resemble the communist frame work becouse he talked about the equality. But that doesn't mean that he was a leftist communist. And my friends, who cares he was a communist or not he sacrificed his life for the country. That's concluded.

In my point of view he was a true indian and a real freedom fighter by heart and soul. And we should proud of HIM as British had nightmares becoz of that person.

I salute the great man.

[dahiyarules]

Let me define a Communist. Communists are people who folow a socialist ideology, and live in communities, to enforce collective action. Breaking it down, the driving ideology behind communists is socialism. Socialism is another word collectivism. There is no respect for individuality under collectivism. This leads to suppression of liberty and individual rights.

Adolf Hitler was a socialist himself. He wanted to expand Germany; thats why he went to war with the "Communist Soviet Union." Bose approached Hitler becuase he was the enemy of his enemy; in other words the British.

By the way Vijay. Let me correct some facts that you tried to mention in your post. First of all China did notbecome communist until 1948 when Mao Zedong's forces pushed Chang Kai Shek's forces to Formosa, what we know today as Taiwan. So there was no "Communist China" during WW2 which ended in 1945.

All I am questioning is Bose's driving ideology, keeping in view what would ahve happened had he taken over as the leader of an independent India.

I am not questioning Bose's patriotism. He loved India. I am not disputing that. So can we now cut down to the main point?

[sampuran]

Dahiya bhai
U are still not answer one point. How do you bad mouth a person in anticipation ? How do you abuse Bose for things he would have done ?
Does this qualify as objective criticism of leadership/heroes ?

Government is a necessary evil. It will be there. Cant wish it away. Over the last century, the role of the govrnment has been expanding. Now people want govrnment mechanism to even look after old people, children abandoned by unwed or wedded mothers, AIDS and other patients etc... As the societies become more complex and heterogenenity increases, so will governments. Just think of the means of communication, how they have multiplied in the last three decades. Somebody has to regulate. Otherwise it will be the MNCs that will dictate out lives, instead of governments.

Yes, need for regulation and govt control reduces where people themselves are ready to be self-disciplined. Unfortunately, greed has only been increasing. Along with increase in human population insecurity also increases. We have yet to find a perfect mechanism to keep these at bay. Hindus came close to solving it by following two principles - 'Vasudhev Kutumbkam' and 'Tyakten Bhunjitha'. Unfortunately, these we are only paying lip service today.

We have digresses. The issue is WHAT HAPPENED TO BOSE. Can you add to our knowledge. Thanks

[vijay]

Dear Sumit,

I think we are heading somewhere else. The aim of this thread was to discuss about Subhash Chnader Bose. His contribution in Indian freedom Strugggle and mystry about his death. Not about his personal thoughts and communism or socialism.
We indians know and respect him as a true indian and aggressive freedom fighter. We want to discuss his contribution in freedom struggle and the mystry about his death.

You want to say something regarding that.

[sandepdhaka]

netaji 1 st go in russia after fall of british government in i8ndia. he spend some time near 15 to 18 years in russian jail and died there b/cindian governments TOP most leaders never want him here in india. some old UK politions also know that.........and all the inquary commissions r here to FOOL us.

[sampuran]

The report of the Justice Mukherjee Commission of Inquiry (JMCI) on the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose mystery is with the Government since November 14. What new thing does it say apart from the already publicised fact that there was no air crash at Taiwan on August 18, 1945 as claimed by the GD Khosla Commission and Shah Nawaz Khan Committee?


Well, plenty, as The Pioneer found out during a week-long investigation recently. The biggest revelation, complete with documentation, is about the guilt of India's first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, in suppressing the basic facts about the Taiwan non-crash and subsequent bogus cremation of Netaji. Nehru, who doubled as India's External Affairs Minister, had been personally informed by the Government of Formosa (as Taiwan was then called), albeit through British channels, in August 1956 about the full facts behind Japan's staging of a spectacular "death" for the Indian hero.

Yet, Nehru had allowed the Shah Nawaz Khan Committee to go on with its command performance of an inquiry. He had accepted a report that completely contradicted the Formosan version. The myth about the air crash was allowed to grow under the assumption that a lie told many times becomes the truth. The Khosla Commission, instituted by his daughter Indira Gandhi, also reiterated it. Finally, in January 2005, the JMCI got the truth straight from Taiwan.

Had Nehru not concealed the Formosan report back in 1956, two great misfortunes might have avoided this nation. First, three generations of Indians would have been spared of the tragicomic dimensions that the Netaji mystery often took. Second, the subcontinent's most charismatic politician could yet have been recovered for the people of India had its Government made use of the reliable input that he had not died as presumed 11 years earlier. Who knows, he may very well have been held prisoner at the time in some gulag in China or Soviet Russia. The possibilities are endless because, after all, Subhas Chandra Bose would have been only 59-years-old in 1956.

THE ANGLO-FORMOSAN INQUIRY

The facts about Nehru's deception came to JMCI from an unexpected source: Great Britain. In 1996, the British Government had declassified some papers (The National Archives Ref: Fo 371/12012) relating to an inquiry it had conducted on behalf of India through its Embassy in Formosa. This was necessitated by the lack of formal diplomatic relations between New Delhi and Taipei.

The full series constitutes Exhibit 229 of JMCI. It includes correspondence, once deemed confidential, exchanged between the UK High Commission in India and Tamsui ( in Formosa), the British Foreign Office and its departments for Southeast Asia and the "Far East" and notes exchanged between the Consul (the highest official posted in Tamsui) and the Formosan Government.

It all starts from a note sent from the UK High Commission in India to the Commonwealth Relations Office in London dated May 3, 1956 referring to a request made to it by New Delhi to arrange for the British Consul in Formosa to use its good offices with the Nationalist Chinese Government to interview "certain Formosan witnesses and obtain a copy of cremation certificate".

There is a certain background to this. In 1955, Nehru, under public pressure, had instituted the Shah Nawaz Committee. Apart from the former INA officer who had joined the Congress, there was an ICS officer, SN Moitra, and Suresh Chandra Bose, a brother of Netaji. In May 1956, this group went to Tokyo to collect evidence and interview the remnants of the INA, Japanese generals and a large number of others who were connected with the great leader.

Once there, the Committee felt that their inability to go to Formosa because of India's pro-Communist China position would considerably undermine the credibility of their findings.

The Indian Ambassador, BR Sen, had tried to get around this lacuna by proposing to the MEA that the Japanese Government be used as a medium (Secret Telegram dated May 19, 1956 forming JMCI Exhibit 236). South Block replied to the Ambassador a week later that while he could try his luck with the Japanese, they had meanwhile, approached the British but were awaiting a reply (Secret Telegram dated May 22).

From another cable (May 24), it is apparent that a feeler had been sent to the Formosans requesting they allow a certain number of witnesses to travel to Hong Kong, at Indian expense, to depose before the Committee. But from a cable sent by the British Consul in Formosa to his superiors in London dated May 20, it was clear that the Tamsui-based diplomat was already active on the project and that the Formosan Government was against the Hong Kong idea.

The British had been only too glad to avail the opportunity to launch another inquiry into the Bose mystery (they had carried out several by then already) and the High Commission's cable clearly states as much: "Indian official concerned was obviously embarrassed at making this request. Nevertheless, I think there is some advantage in trying to establish facts in this case..."

They moved with astonishing efficiency in uncovering what New Delhi wanted. Strangely enough, the Indian Government did not ask them to ascertain whether a Japanese "Sally Bomber" had indeed crashed in Taihoku on August 18, 1945, killing Netaji, Japanese General Shedei and two others.

It only wanted the interviews of a couple of nurses who allegedly "treated" Bose in his "final moments", two clerks who India believed saw the "body" and a small number of people believed to have been associated with its cremation plus the police super of the time and select officials. The British were also requested to get the "doctor's report on Bose's death", the "police report on death" and "cremation permit" (Cypher no.847 dated June 6).

This reveals that Nehru's mind was made up. He only wanted to prove that Netaji had died and in pursuit of this line, he did not care to first check out whether a "crash" had taken place. Instead, he ordered a wild goose chase about the cremation. Meanwhile, even as the British moved with lightening speed in activating the Formosan establishment, his toady, Shah Nawaz Khan, spent several weeks in Japan actively promoting the fiction about the air crash and composing yarns in support of it.

Finally, on August 10, 1956, JV Rob, a diplomat with the High Commission in New Delhi, handed over to the Indian MEA "five copies of the translation of the letter from the Governor of Formosa together with the police report and the cremation certificate". Two copies of the original in Chinese. They all pointed to a make-belief cremation against a backdrop full of contradictions that the Shah Nawaz Khan Committee either overlooked deliberately, or was completely innocent of.

They all point to the central fact that there was no proof of Netaji's actual death in Formosa. The country had to wait 49 years to know what the British and Formosans knew all along. And now, thanks to JMCI, it is abundantly clear that Nehru knew too.

[sampuran]

What did Jawaharlal Nehru do with the result of the Formosa inquiry which bunked Netaji's death-by-aircrash theory? The British High Commission in New Delhi passed them on to him on August 10, 1956.

Yet, one month later, not only did he accept the report of the Shah Nawaz Khan Committee which told a diametrically opposite story but also told Parliament on September 11 that Netaji's death was a "closed chapter".

Did he simply take the Formosa papers and burn them? Technically, any document in the possession of a Government should be filed away - either in classified or declassified form. Since their contents were material to the work of the Shah Nawaz Committee, common wisdom demanded that they should have been placed at its disposal by the MEA.

But the three-member panel's innocence of the very existence of the documents was quite apparent from the manner in which they relied on secondary and tutored sources wherever they went in their mission to "prove" that Netaji had died in an air crash in Taihoku airport. Denied permission to travel to Formosa, the scene of the alleged "accident", these documents constituted the only first-hand evidence that was available.

As reported on Tuesday, the Government of India had used British channels to get the official Formosan version. Between May and August, the British Consul in Formosa collected considerable evidence to demolish the Japanese story that Netaji had met his doom on August 18, 1945. Nehru had hoped that the report from ground zero would be music to his ears. But, because the result was unfavourable, the papers were vanished.

Did the first Prime Minister of India treat the Formosa papers as his personal property? There is reason to believe in the affirmative. He did not place it before Shah Nawaz Khan. Fourteen years later, his daughter, Indira Gandhi, did not turn them over to the GD Khosla Commission she had constituted to perpetuate the fiction about the Taihoku crash.

Had the British Government not declassified them in 1996, the Formosa papers would never have reached JMCI. The Vajpayee Government, which turned over hundreds of valuable files to JMCI during its six-year term, would certainly have included the Formosa papers if they were available in the archives of the MEA.

Further proof that the Government completely hushed up the Formosa findings was produced by Keshub Bhattacharya, a Kolkata High Court advocate and deponent before JMCI. He referred to a question fielded in the Rajya Sabha on August 2, 1966 by Forward Bloc's Chitta Basu in which the then External Affairs Minister, Sardar Swaran Singh was asked whether the Taiwanese authorities had begun a probe into the alleged air crash and, if yes, would the Government of India like to join it?

In his reply, Swaran Singh said he had "heard" about such a committee but would have nothing to do with it since India and Taiwan did not have diplomatic relations.

What is significant is that he merely played along with rumours about a Taiwanese probe in 1966. There was no reason for the Taiwanese to conduct a fresh probe a whole decade after they had conclusively established that there was no plane crash, no Subhas Chandra Bose in Taihoku and no cremation of his dead body. Moreover, Swaran Singh proved to be completely in the dark about the 1956 report.

To the post-Independence generation, Nehru's hidden fear of the Netaji specter was a matter of conjecture. But, after JMCI's clinching report (submitted earlier this month and awaiting presentation in Parliament) that he intentionally concealed information that could have led to the closing of the mystery surrounding the great patriot's disappearance, few would be left in doubt of the smallness of Nehru's political vision.

The Justice MK Mukherjee Commission of Inquiry (JMCI), which presented its final report to the UPA Government in early-November, has conclusively established that Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose did not die in an air crash at Taiwan's Taihoku airport on August 18, 1945.
The rest is still a mystery. But one thing is clear. The "ashes" kept in a box (not an urn) in Renkoji Temple near Tokyo belong to somebody else. No, it did not require a DNA test to establish this fact.

The entire story, which began with Netaji's aide Colonel Habibur Rahaman collecting the "ashes with one tooth filled with gold" from a crematorium in Taipei (Shah Nawaz Committee report, page 23) on August 21, 1945 (the Formosa papers declassified by Britain say it happened on August 23) and ended with his depositing two wooden boxes to Major Kinoshita of the Imperial Japanese Army on September 7, was a fabrication.

When Justice Mukherjee, accompanied by key deponents, went to Renkoji Temple in September 2002, there was only one box. He was not able to look inside the box as it was a holiday and a carpenter could not be found to open it. On October 24, two officials of the Indian Embassy in Tokyo, First Secretary C Rajasekhar and Second Secretary T Armstrong Changsan, went there and had the box opened in the presence of the chief priest.

They found no ashes. There were parts of a human skull, portion of a jaw, some teeth (no gold filling in any of them) and some bone fragments. If, as the Shah Nawaz Khan Committee and GD Khosla Commission claimed, "Netaji's body" had been "cremated " for an entire night, no medico-legal expert would adduce that such soft bones would survive. Dr Madhusudan Paul of Kolkata Medical College, who went as a deponent, opined that skull fragments, three-fourths of the mandible and teeth would, in the event of cremation, be the first to vanish. Justice Mukherjee saved this crucial piece of insight for his final report.

As for DNA testing, two reputed experts, Dr Terry Milton of the United States and Dr N Saitou of the Department of Genetics at University of Tokyo, who were approached by the JMCI, declined to accept the bone fragments, saying incinerated bones leave no DNA for latter-day testing.

The last leg which supported the Taihoku air crash story was the version of Dr K Yoshime, the Japanese Army medic who claimed to have written out the death certificate of "Ichiro Okura", the false identity given to the alleged body of Netaji at the Nan Men military hospital.

Dr Yoshime had testified before a large number of inquiry panels preceding the JMCI (including Shah Nawaz's and Khosla's command performances). He would have died with his secret, but he admitted to the JMCI in September 2002 that some time in 1988, he had been approached by two Indians who made him change the name on the death certificate from "Ichiro Okura" to Subhas Chandra Bose.

Now that a judicial commission has unequivocally stated that the box at Renkoji Temple could be containing anybody's bones but Netaji's, would the Government of India continue to promote its fiction?


Courtsey : Udayan Namboodiri in www.dailypioneer.com (http://www.dailypioneer.com)