Pranika Dutta, a sixth-grader, explores the enduring mystery of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose’s alleged death, a topic that has intrigued researchers for decades. An adoption of an article in East India Story.
THE UNSOLVED MYSTERY
What are the true events that happened but have never been told to us? Why are we always told that Netaji died in a plane crash when there is no record of a plane that flew on that specific day? Why are some files about Netaji still classified in Japan and India? Who can give answers to all these questions?
This story can give a brief answer to all these questions that have been answered by some researchers and writers.
Coming back to the topic, was there a plane crash that day?
It is said that a plane took off from Saigon on August 17th, 1945, and crashed over Taipei, Taiwan, on August 18th, 1945. This is the same plane on which Netaji was believed to have been travelling. But why was there no record of a plane flying from Saigon on that day?
Then it is also said that Netaji was taken to the Army Hospital Nanmon Branch, where he died. However the patient list of the hospital has no record of a patient who was treated, nor was there any death certificate issued by the doctor.
Still, it is said that Netaji died in a plane crash. It is important to mention that many conspiracy theories prove that the plane crash was false.
The conspiracy theory that stands out first is the theory of Bhagwanji or Gumnami Baba. Bhagwanji had a similar face to Netaji, and his English accent was the same as Netaji’s. But this is not the proof, because many people going beyond this theory have shown that many monks like Bhagwanji also have a fluent accent in English.
Sadly, Bhagwanji died on 16th September’1985. But, after his room was investigated, suspecting him as Netaji, a few letters written by Netaji’s brother, Sarat Chandra Bose, were found. The question that arises in our minds is why the letters written by Sarat Chandra Bose were with this monk.
Moreover, Baba’s room was filled with more than 2000 articles in 25 trunks. Many pieces of evidence were found, like a watch, radio, Japanese binoculars, etc., whose possession by a monk is questionable. The handwriting of Gumnami Baba and Netaji also showed great similarity. DNA testing was conducted with the teeth of Gumnami Baba and samples from members of Netaji’s family. Unfortunately, the result turned out to be negative.
Several commissions were set up to find out the truth behind Netaji Subash Chandra Bose. The latest is the Mukherjee Commission, which concluded on November 7th, 2005. The conclusions were:
a) Netaji Subash Chandra Bose is dead.
b) He did not die in the plane crash, as alleged.
c) The ashes in the Japanese Temple are not of Netaji.
d) In the absence of any clinging evidence, a positive answer cannot be given.
Recently, many new researchers like Kunal Bose, Anuj Dhar, etc. are trying to reveal some new, unknown evidence of the Gumnami Baba theory.
29th of April 2019. Two independent researchers, Anuj Dhar, and Chandracchur Ghosh, released the book Conundrum: Subas Bose’s Life After Death. This was the result of extensive research done on Bose. It contains completely a different angle on Netaji.
In the future, we hope to get the ultimate truth to this unsolved mystery from our new generation of researchers.
