as a day when the conventional history of India as sponsored by a
political party was turned on its head.
![](\\"http://www.missionnetaji.org/newsite/pics/comreport.jpg\\")
By Chandrachur Ghose
It is a red-letter day. It is a black day. It is a day of jubilation. It is a day of shame. It is a day of triumph. It is a day of defeat. Call it what you like, but 17 May 2006 will be remembered as a day when the conventional history of India as sponsored by a political party was turned on its head.
Seven years after it was instituted by an order of the Calcutta High Court, Justice Mukherjee Commission of Inquiry has nailed the myth. In clear and unambiguous terms it says Netaji "did not die in the plane crash, as alleged." Further, it says, "The ashes in the Japanese Temple are not of Netaji."
The conclusions naturally raise several questions which are more than uncomfortable to the government. If it can be established sixty years after the alleged \\'death\\' that Netaji was alive after the \\'death\\' then why could not the two earlier inquiries find that? Was the same conclusion reached by the Shah Nawaz committee and the G D Khosla commission mere coincidence? Why were successive governments so desperate to bring back the ashes from Renkoji temple? Why did a certain government become so active to confer \\'posthumous\\' Bharat Ratna on Netaji? Why have successive governments been so reluctant to investigate the matter with seriousness? Why are crucial files related to Netaji still classified? Why were many crucial files destroyed?
We understand the reluctance of the government to answer these questions. Who wants to bring out an uncomfortable past on the discussion table of the present, to be dissected and analysed by a much more knowledgeable and empowered public? Therefore the response of the government does not surprise us.
But, we Indians cannot allow the propagation of the myth anymore. The light of truth is now visible at the end of the black tunnel spanning sixty long years. We are fortunate that we have at least witnessed the beginning of the emergence of the truth.
The crucial questions - where did Netaji go and what happened to him - still remain unanswered. All available evidence points toward the former Soviet Union. We must now ask the governments of all countries to open up all files related to Netaji in their archives. As far as the Indian government is concerned, it has proved again that it does not want to know the truth. But we do. And we will stop at nothing short of the whole truth.
Chandrachur Ghose is a researcher at the University of Sussex, UK.
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