The Bose saga continues

Subhas Chandra Bose, popularly known as Netaji, was twice president of Indian National Congress twice, led the Indian National Army (INA) against the British and formed the Azad Hind Government in exile. His clarion call ‘Give me blood and I shall give you freedom’ reverberated through the country and inspired millions. His life, and the mystery surrounding his death, continue to preoccupy current generations.

Officially, Netaji was declared dead on August 18, 1945 in an air crash. This version has been challenged by many, leading to several books, allegations, debate, enquiry commissions, conspiracy theories and controversies. Just this week his daughter, Dr. Anita Bose Pfaff asked for DNA testing of the ashes kept in Tokyo’s Renkoji temple, to establish whether they are indeed those of her father.

Discovery Channel’s hour-long investigative show,

Subhash Chandra Bose: The Mystery explores the many unexplained layers and facets about his death, “His death is perhaps the most controversial unresolved event in contemporary India,” says Iqbal Malhotra, writer and director of the show. His film argues that the Government of India must take the lead in uncovering the truth. “The roadmap has been outlined in the film,” he says.

Using archival footage, interviews and comments of several personalities, seamlessly mixing past and present, Malhotra has pieced together a rather gripping narrative which does well to whet the audience appetitive to know more. The documentary starts with Siddhartha Satbhai — an ethical hacker who is convinced that Bose never died in the plane crash — receiving a grainy clip from an internet-based collective. Purportedly about the 1966 India-Pakistan talks in Tashkent, Russia, it identifies a man in the foreground as Bose. Calling him the Tashkent Man, Satbhai sets out on a journey to Russia to get the original footage. Malhotra tracks his journey, interspersing it with interactions, historical events, vintage visual footage and pictures, a brief overview of Bose’s life and comments. There is also Neil Miller, a forensic expert, who concludes after analysing the faces of Bose and the Tashkent Man, a high degree of likelihood of the two being the same.

The depth of research behind the film is evident from the useful and interesting nuggets of information it shares. Like the fact that Bose’s death certificate was prepared 43 years after his death; that the laboratory tests, by his brother Sarat Chandra, of a mark on the strap of the wrist watch worn by Bose on that fateful day revealed it to be an acid and not a burn mark. The Mukherjee Commission of Enquiry, instituted by the Government of India in 1999, concluded that the ashes kept in Renkoji temple did not belong to Bose. Likewise, Jean-Baptiste Prashant More — a Tamil-born French historian, author and teacher — claims that he had gathered from his mother that on August 18, 1945, the day Netaji’s plane is supposed to have crashed, Netaji was with his grandfather Leon Prouchandy, an ardent supporter of the INA, in Saigon.

Comments from Purabi Roy, a retired researcher; Major General Alexander Kolesnikov, of the Soviet Army; Joyanto Roy, secretary of Central Committee, All India Forward Bloc; and from Bose’s relatives, Ashish Ray and Chandra Kumar Bose, lend gravitas to the varied theories about the freedom fighter’s death. While some back the crash theory, others say that it was stage managed and that he stayed in Russia from 1945 to 1966. Other rumours says Netaji returned to India and lived incognito.

Malhotra’s admiration for Bose is obvious, as he reasons why Indians even after so many years continue to be fascinated by the leader. “Netaji inspired generations of Indians to assert themselves. He refused to turn the other cheek if slapped; he fought back.” This in no way colours his film as it presents views and counterviews about different aspects of the controversy.

The film says that material available in classified files in India, Russia, Japan and Britain — which also deputed Col. Hugh Toye, an MI operative, to keep tab on Bose — will help solve the riddle. “However, there is no likelihood that they will declassify the files any time soon,” says Malhotra. “The truth will have to be excavated.”

Describing the unravelling of the Bose mystery as an organic process with undeniable evidence hidden behind a wall of secrecy, the director says the film never intended to reach a conclusion. “We wanted to take the discourse to a higher level and will reveal more in the sequel if ratings are justified and if there is public demand. We are prepared to unravel much more.”

Subhash Chandra Bose: The Mysterywill be aired on Discovery Channel on August 15 at 7 pm

The depth of research behind the film is evident from the interesting nuggets of information it shares

The Bose saga continues

Iqbal Malhotra’s film documents the controversy surrounding Netaji’s death