Netaji: An Enigma

We are celebrating 125th birth anniversary of Netaji Subhashchandra Bose on 23 January, 2022. Who was Netaji ? Netaji was the founder of Azad Hind Fauj or Indian National Army. He gave us inspiring slogans – Jai Hind & Chalo Delhi

Born on 23 January,1897, at Cuttack, Odisha, to Janakinath and Prabhavatidevi, Netaji studied at Presidency College, Kolkata. He became a Graduate of Calcutta University in1919 and went to England to appear for Indian Civil Service exam in 1920.

He left the I C S and joined the nationalist movement. He became the President of Indian National Congress in 1938. Later he founded his own Party, Forward Block. In 1941 he went abroad and organised the Azad Hind Fauj with the help from the Russian, German and Japanese leaders.

He is believed to be dead on 18 August,1945,in an air crash while travelling from Singapore to Tokyo.His ashes are supposed to be in Renkoji Temple, Tokyo. But a majority of the people believe that Netaji did not die in 1945 and he lived for another forty years. They also believe that the ashes kept in Renkoji Temple do not belong to the late Leader. There are reasons for these beliefs.

A recent book named “Conundrum by Chandrachur Ghose & Anuj Dhar and published by Vitasta Publishlng, Pvt LTD, New Delhi, has come to conclusion that Netaji did not die in 1945 air crash and he lived till 1985 in the form of a Gumnami Baba in a remote part of India. Having spent over 15 years in procuring and scouring through thousands of records from across the world, interacting with eyewitnesses and consulting experts, the authors come to a history- blending conclusion that a mostly unseen, unnamed holy man who lived in various parts of U P from the1950s to 1985 was Subhas Bose himself.

Now the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has inaugurated a hologram of Netaji at the India Gate on 23 January,2022, to celebrate the125 th birth anniversary of Desh-Nayak or a Leader of Nation as Rabindranath Tagore described Netaji. A grand granite statue of Bose will be installed in the Canopy at India Gate where once a statue of King George V stood. It is proposed to be unveiled on Independence Day as a part of Azadi ka Amrut- Mahotsava celebration.

There is. an unexpected bonanza for fans of Netaji as India Govt Mint has launched a commemorative coin on this occasion. Further the Netaji statue will be sculpted by a noted sculptor Adwaita Gadnaik, Director, National Gallery of Modern Art. The 28-foot statue of Netaji will be carved in jet black granite stone from Telangana. Meanwhile there is a fresh demand for bringing the ashes of Netaji kept in the Renkoji temple,Tokyo, Japan, to confirm its genuineness, this time from Azad Hind Fauj Sabha, headed by my close friend shri C P Hulsure.

Shri Hulsure feels that Netaji was a Liberator of India as his INA became a catalyst for our freedom because the then British P M Clement Attlee was not sure of Indian military support as it consisted of a majority of Indians. You can contact him at the following address: CP Hulsure, CO, Azad Hind Fouz Sabha, Hitler Bhavan, Rane Classics,A3, Someshwarwadi, Pune-411008, Phone : 8600524813

Let us hope to solve the mystery of the disappearance of Netaji in 1945 by 2047 while celebrating the centenary of our Freedom & 150th birth anniversary of Netaji. Jai Hind!