The Disappearance of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose: Why has the Common Man Not Supported This Cause?

 

What happened to Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose? Did Netaji survive the fatal crash in Formosa? Did any crash really happen? Did Netaji die that day? Had Bose secretly gone to Russia? Did the Azad Hind Fauz Chief go to China? Did the former Congress President come back to India and lived life as an ascetic? Was Gumnami Baba really Subhash Bose? Did Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan meet him in Moscow? Did Subhash die in a Siberian jail? Did Stalin had a role in this mystery? What lies in the Russian archives? What thing related to Netaji did Raja Habib ur Rahman Khan not tell anybody? Mukherjee Commission (2005) rejected the plane crash theory, why did this disagreement with the Shah Nawaz Committee (1956) and the Khosla Commission (1970)? Why does the government not declassify all the documents related to Bose even after 74 years of his disappearance? As per the latest news reports, the government claims to have declassified all the files but Shri Anuj Dhar, who happens to be the go-to man when it comes to Bose, has refuted the claims of the government.

The questions are numberless. There are no answers. Just several conspiracy theories.

Lately, the fight for the declassification of files related to the disappearance of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose has sped up. It has never gained this much momentum in decades since his mysterious disappearance in August 1945. The government has also taken note of the increasing discontent relating to the negligence shown towards this matter. Debates on news channels on this matter have also become frequent. 

Many books have been published on this subject in the last few years, many of which hint towards some controversy whereas others have rejected the claims of his survival as just plain rumors.

The main proponent of this struggle has been Shri Anuj Dhar who has devoted years of his life doing a tremendous amount of research to try to bring about a fruitful end towards this secret. His best-selling works like India’s Biggest Cover-Up, No Secrets, Conundrum, What Happened to Netaji, Back from Dead: Inside the Subhas Bose Mystery have shed light on the matter in great detail, contemplating all the angles. He is also the founder-trustee of a not-for-profit organization Mission Netaji which campaigns for the declassification of documents concerning Subhash Bose.

Even though he has not left any stone unturned in his quest towards a resolution to this mystery. From writing books to giving lectures, doing TV debates, getting a TV series made based on his book, the man has done everything possible to bring this matter to the common man’s consciousness. But, years of persevering hard work has not yet yielded him the support of the common man in a way which he would have expected.

I myself used to consider the mystery of Subhash Chandra Bose as an extremely important agenda that needs a resolution. After all, he played a major role in India’s struggle for freedom; he was the Congress President in 1938 and 1939. But lately, I have observed that our country is plagued with numberless problems that are far superior to this mystery and it is for the very reason that people have not come out to support this cause in numbers that one would have hoped for. This matter is a non-issue in the current era. And, when the matters of significance are being dealt with lightly how may one expect the people to support this? And, the governments would never want this issue resolved because it keeps a section of people busy which ultimately benefits them. It has become a political agenda now.

Today, the country needs an answer to rising communalism and crime, terrorism, steps taken towards combating climate change poverty, educated unemployment, cheap labour. Nowadays, postgraduates, Ph.D. scholars are being exploited; education has lost its value. We require a strong education policy. We want infrastructure. We want our farmers to flourish. We want an increase in living standards. We want a life that observes success and high standards in the real sense and not just in statistics, papers, and government reports.

Moreover, finances are also a major factor. Bose: Dead/Alive an Indian historical period drama web television miniseries based on Anuj Dhar’s India’s Biggest Cover-Up was released on JioCinema at ALTBalaji, a subscription-based video-on-demand platform (Though, of course, the series is deficient in detail but it would give an overview of the matter in a very efficient and glamorized manner. I highly recommend everyone read the books authored by Shri Anuj Dhar, which happens to be filled with an abundance of great details). However, the point is, if one really wants to gain people’s attention, why not upload the series on a platform such as YouTube (handsome money can be earned from YouTube as well)? My question is, who would pay to watch a dead cause on ALTBalaji, which is itself new, has lesser mass reach compared to platforms like Netflix – an international platform. Moreover, the culture of subscription-based streaming OTT service is a new one in India and is mostly used by the affluent class, mostly to watch such entertaining content that is not allowed on TV because of censorship issues. If the motive of the series was really to gain the attention of the masses, why launch it on a paid web streaming service? Even Balaji Telefilms could have broadcast it on the TV. 

Having said that, I understand the dynamics of the market and launching something directly on YouTube may not be the right decision on the part of the company when a tremendous amount of finances are involved, and when it plans to launch a new international service. But, I must again stress the fact that to have a mass reach, uncommon steps are to be taken because the matter in itself is very uncommon. 2020 is on the horizon, the series was released on November 20, 2017, i.e. a good two years ago. They should at least now, with the intention of bringing this peculiar case to the eyes of this generation, launch it on YouTube or broadcast it on TV. From a financial standpoint, it would be a win-win situation for everybody.

Unfortunately, it does not matter to people if Netaji stayed alive or died, which, I feel, is a pity because the man sacrificed his life for the nation. I used to be very much entangled in this matter but it is just a diversion from the main issues. Its resolution won't affect anybody's life. Of course, the mystery should be solved but we can't expect the support of the common man because he is already fighting a battle in his life. People want better lives.

No one should doubt my support for this cause. I really appreciate the efforts of all the people like Shri Anuj Dhar. The people of this nation should be grateful to him for he is fighting to write the accurate history of this nation. His efforts are unparalleled to anybody. The battle he is fighting is a very tough one and he might not be able to get people out in support for they are fighting their own battles.

I wish the mystery is resolved at the earliest. Shri Anuj Dhar deserves a salute.