Did Netaji Subhash Bose really die in a plane crash?

Mangalore Today/ ITV

New Delhi, Nov 16: The enigma surrounding the death of Netaji remains the greatest mystery of India. The plane in which he was supposed to be travelling crashed in Taiwan in August 18, 1945. 

 

It is said that he got badly injured in the crash and died in the hospital. The body was cremated later. But there has been dispute on this chain of events. 

Many people believe Netaji didn’t die in the crash; in fact he wasn’t on the plane in the first place. It is also said that he lived in disguise in India for many years after that. 

Subhas Chandra Bose and a general of the Imperial Japanese army Tsunamasa Shidei were reported to be flying to Tokyo, Japan when the alleged plane crash occurred at Matsuyama aerodrome (now Songshan Airport) in Taipei, northern Formosa (now Taiwan). 

 

After cremation, Bose’s ashes were taken to Japan and interred at the Renkōji Temple in Tokyo. The news was withheld by the Japanese government for five days before it was announced by Japanese news agency Domei. The Allied forces took the Japanese news as a ploy. 

The matter was looked into by several Allied intelligence teams and soon discrepancies in the Japanese report became apparent.  The findings of the intelligence teams seem to have not confirmed the Japanese announcement. For as late as October 1946, the Government of British India refused to confirm the death of Bose.

 

After India’s independence, the matter was looked into by three official panels formed by the government of India following the public demands. These panels were: Shah Nawaz Committee, Justice GD Khosla Commission & Justice Mukherjee Commission of Inquiry. The Shah Nawaz Committee upheld the Taiwan crash version, as did the Justice GD Khosla Commission, whereas the Mukherjee Commission negated it.

There has been allegations that the Indian Intelligence Bureau had doctored an intelligence report to "prove" Bose’s death. The official view of the Indian government has been formed based on this doctored document. 

 

Justice Mukherjee mentioned in his report that Netaji was no more, considering his age at the time of report submission. But based on documentary evidences, airport records, and hospital records, the commission dismissed the plane crash theory, in favour of the view that he might have escaped to Soviet Russia.

However, it has also been alleged at various times that the Indian government and political leadership was aware that Bose may have been alive, and according to one theory, in captivity in Soviet Union, but chose to ignore or actively collaborate to suppress this information after Independence.

 

Mission Netaji is a Delhi-based Indian non-profit trust that conducts research on Subhas Chandra Bose’s disappearance.
Some documents the organisation has dug out have information connected to Bose’s disappearance. This led to more documents that remain classified.

Several Indian ministries, including the Indian Prime Minister’s Office, have refused to make public the documents under the Right to Information Act campaign launched by Mission Netaji, on the ground that their disclosure will affect India’s relations with foreign countries.

The rumours of conspiracy theory also do the rounds but there hasn’t been any concrete answer to it and even today his death remains a disputed topic.