THE TRUTH ABOUT NETAJI'S AIR-CRASH

Blast from the past | Dr Satyanarayan Sinha

What is even today most-surprising is the adamant and fanatic belief of the Delhi Government in the faked Netaji\\'s death story. Such an extraordinary official attitude towards Netaji has forced the objective observers to come to the conclusion that it is politically advantageous to the Government in the office to falsely declare and make others believe, whether true or not, that Netaji is dead.

Netaji had been the only national leader who owed his strength to standing for stark nationalism in contrast to the Gandhian hatred for military means to gain independence. Subhas had been to the Victoria Memorial at Calcutta, and seen it entrated there that only 900 British soldiers under Robert Clive had defeated 72,000 strong Indian forces in the battle of Plassy. This defeat had broken the backbone of the Indian national manhood to the extent that no Indian before Subhas could come out to build up Indian fighting Divisions to drive out the British from India.

Such a restoration of the national self-respect, necessary for gaining Independence and the survival as a free country, made Subhas an unchallenged national hero. He had fought Gandhi in 1939 for the control of Congress, and had been outwitted and humiliated to the extent that he had to leave the country to fight for the cause most dear to him and to prove his faith in Indian fighting spirit to achieve independence. His bravery had military leadership in fighting the British forces under the most desperate circumstances has contributed in action the most brilliant chapter in India\\'s military history so far....

Of such a tremendous magnitude has been the historic role Netaji that if he returned to India at the end of the war, he would have been the most dangerous enemy to Gandhism and the Nehru-Shahi.

These considerations were uppermost in the minds of the Indian policy-makers who had taken over power from the British. Realising this truth in a flattering manner, the official verdict in the case of Netaji went all out to declare him dead, even at the cost of twisting the historical and factual evidence in favour of his existence after the so-called air disaster at Taipei.

(Extracted from the 1965 book Netaji Mystery by late Dr Satyanarayan Sinha, a lawmaker and diplomat who played a pivotal role in creating awareness about resolving the controversy surrounding Netaji\\'s disappearance.)

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