'Death' of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose has never been convincingly explained

The 'death' of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose has never been convincingly explained. No one is arguing that

Bose was immortal; but the mystery around his death remains an all time enigma of our time.

The Khosla commission record also shows that the so-called eyewitness Dr Yoshimi had

contradicted himself on the timing of Bose's death.

Having said these, one may now debate here how one of the chief protagonists of India's freedom struggle actually was outsmarted by political machinations of some of his contemporaries. 

It is unfortunate for the country that such a thing happened also because Jawaharlal Nehru cultivated friendship and good rapport with Britons like Lord Mountbatten to Sir Stafford Cripps and offered himself at the political stage as a disciple of Mahatma Gandhi.

By 1937 different power games were on. Nehru made a disastrous refusal to induct only two members from the Muslim League in the government of Uttar Pradesh. 

Bose, as President of Congress in 1938, began a fresh attempt to negotiate with Mohammed Ali 

Jinnah for a settlement of the Hindu-Muslim question. But he soon discovered that Nehru was reluctant 

and had already complicated the negotiations.  

Nehru allegedly used to dismiss the existence of the League. He said there were only two parties in India: 

the British and the Congress! 

Was this not a sign of arrogance from a paragon of virtues and democracy ?

Thus Nehru wanted the Congress to not only attain independence for India, he wanted an independent country that is under single party domination of the Congress.

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Bertrand De-Jouvenel, the French Philosopher who was born in 1903 and has seen Bose era;  was impressed by our country’s size (post 1947 itself) and had said in 1960s later that “Bihar itself has a population equal to France”.

So, India is itself a continent –

India as a nation known to people of my generation – born late 1960s-early 1970s – has progressed. But in retrospect, India as a civilization has been actually in the process of change and each passing day sees that transition in the context of the millennium-old spectrum of social life. All these mean multiple challenges on ground.

Foremost of all these challenges has been one core issue – that is the gap in “absorption” of a rich ancient culture into a new synthesis called modernity.

Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose had come in Indian life and had left India at a crucial juncture of its history. Some of his compatriots and albeit political rivals took over the reins of power and perhaps often displayed gross selfishness, partisan ways and parochialism. A new kind of political culture was pushed. It actually accentuated several dormant problems and these have today turned into demons. Some of these cannot be controlled.

The Hindu-Muslim disunity is one of them. Casteism is the other. It only shows Netaji Subhas Bose's leadership and the INA he led was able to shed all these trappings. Sadly, a free India could not. No democracy – as enforced in the manner – actually can achieve that. This was our another faultline, may be. 

So, India is itself a continent – with considerable variety of people, their culture, occupation and climate and natural resources. So perhaps naturally we also inherited the challenges of provincial discrimination, religious (or communal) passions and hatreds. 

Sadly, not enough was done by the Govt and the citizens to conquer these vices. I often wonder, whether Netaji's presence amidst us during such hour would have resolved at least a few problems.

On this birthday, Bose will again hit newspaper and television headlines and blog sites. A few years ago, people spoke about ‘secret and codified’ papers regarding his life and times. They were brought out by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2016.

This new leader, Modi - India chose so enthusiastically in 2014, comes from the land of Mahatma Gandhi and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. Without going into details, I ought to share here that Modi also – mildly put - has disapproved  certain things Pt Jawaharlal Nehru did and said.

We will debate these political issues on a later day. But as an ardent admirer of Bose – initially by the fashion as I too was born a Bengali and he is a folk hero of Bengalis. And later by conviction – I beg your attention to the contemporary setting. Things are actually in a mess today and would have certainly pained Netaji. 

 The challenges are many and yet we as countrymen and women continue to contribute in increasing a few – at least every month. The situation we are in, should be enough to wake us up to the realization that the basic game has changed fundamentally. 

Lingering territorial disputes are no longer the driving force. After 78 years, we still have found no answer to starvation and problems on water have only grown manifold.

Instead, it is high time we appreciate that the world and our country should be viewed through economic prism and developmental lens. One community can be rivals to another in one front and at the same time we need to be on a winning partnership in another.

The task ahead is for scrupulous placement of several broken chapters and episodes on an increasingly complex chessboard. 

 

I am referring to the game of chess as this sports teaches each one of us that after the game is over – pawns and the King have to get inside the same box.

Now the practical issues: In 1940s when Bose had left us in agony and even few years later – in 1947 – when India was divided but free from colonial masters – as a nation India emerged a miserable figure. Our country was stricken with dire poverty. 

But overall there have been intriguing changes in food scenario and plans. The heavy shortfalls in agricultural stocks and targets are now thing of the past.  In industry we have reaped benefits from dependence on heavy industries. But the truncated new-economic culture ensured in many pockets the gap between haves and have nots has increased manifold.

Our farmers often end their lives themselves. We disrespect women and fight over religion.

Some people may appreciate that India was actually a colonial economy par excellence – when we exported raw materials and Britain dumped the manufactured goods. 

From our Asian brothers like Japanese, we need to learn corrective steps on these fronts.

Lately the government is talking about ‘Make-in-India’. Japan or even neighbours like South Korea have over the years utilized the same technical novelties that are prevalent in India but are strangely enough not adequately adopted. Sad na? 

  

Ends