A mind so strong can make as well as break greatest of the great walls. When there is a man with strong will and patriotism flowing in his blood, he can make the toughest rulers break into a sweat.
The inspiration to not only Indians but patriots all around the world, Netaji subhas Chandra Bose was always surrounded by suspicion and had a mystery draped all over him which continued even after he passed away. From his personal life to the way he died, has always been a mystery.
On January 23, 2016, Prime Minister Narendra Modi declassified 100 files on Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose. Despite the infinite conspiracy theories of his death, these documents did not offer any confirmation to defy his death in the plane crash in Taiwan.
Earlier, in September 2015, Mamata Banerjee had announced the release of 64 documents that contained information about him and yet many questions remain unanswered.
The ever so intriguing mystery that surrounds his disappearance and death is one that has aroused the interest of many a man. This has led to the theories of him being killed in the soviet prison to a plane crash near Taipei to him being alive as a 'gumnaami baba' in UP.
In 2015, a request was made to the soviet embassy by one AS Sharma regarding the truth about Netaji being killed in a Soviet prison. To this, the Russian State Archives emphatically responded, "Subhas Chandra Bose had never been in any penitentiary (in the Soviet Union)".
In the latest response to a string of queries on the same topic, most recent being by Govind Talwalkar, Former editor of Maharashtra Times, has been researching on this for over 60 years.
The Russian Archives clarified that in the responses given earlier also in 1992 and 1995, the records found in a letter of correspondence between soviet officers clearly dismiss the false propaganda that Bose met his end in Siberia.
These files released a 60 year-old report by the Japanese Government which explained that the death was caused by a plane crash near Taipei on August 18, 1945. This seven- page report also mentions that he was admitted to Nanmom branch of Taipei Army Hospital at 3 pm and by 7 pm he died. According to the report, the ashes of Netaji are interred in Tokyo.
The Shah Nawaz Khan-led inquiry instituted by the then Indian Prime Minister, Jawahar Lal Nehru investigated the matter later in 1956 and reached the same conclusion as the Japanese Government.
These stories only touch the tip of the iceberg that surrounds the mystery relating to the death of Netaji, who founded the ‘Azad Hind Fauj’ and fought the British Raj to attain Purna Swaraj. He gave birth to the slogan ‘Jai Hind’ that holds the patriotic vibe even today as the nation observes his birth anniversary.