Since independence the denial of successive governments to declassify files related to the death or disappearance of great national leader Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose has created a cobweb of myths around the legend’s sudden exit from the national stage. The news that recently hit the headlines relates to a Gumnami Baba of Faizabad who many believe was Netaji in disguise. Anuj Dhar who has spent more than a decade researching Netaji’s mysterious disappearance from the national stage speaks to Shambhudeep Hore about declassifying the Netaji files
Going by debates in news channels there was a time when declassifying the Netaji files was hardly discussed. These days it is being discussed in TV. Is this a good sign?
– Definitely. But if you ask me whether I am satisfied I would say no. The most contentious issues are still not discussed, and we are, in a sense, still beating around the bush. We should be confronting those in power rather than arguing with party spokespersons who join debates with the qualifying statement “While I don’t know anything…” Those who do know much, ministers and government officials, must enumerate before the people of India why the Bose files can’t be made public. This hide-and-seek must end.
“Truth is stranger than fiction”. How far does this saying relate to Netaji’s case?
– I can’t think of one more apt. In the last few years cobwebs have been cleared to such an extent that we can pinpoint what exactly happened to Netaji. The possibilities boil down to just three: He died in Taiwan, was killed in Soviet Russia, or was in Faizabad till 1985. The surprise of all surprises is that evidence is leading us to Faizabad. I cannot imagine a scenario stranger than this. A man presumed to have died in our grandparents’ time was there in our own! This seems straight out of a Hollywood flick.
You’ve been saying that the real “father of the nation” was Netaji and not Gandhiji. Don’t you think Indian governments would consider this a blasphemy?
– I have been saying that Netaji was “the man of the match” of the freedom struggle. In that respect I place Netaji higher than anyone else. There is a growing body of evidence demonstrating that Netaji, not Gandhiji, played the pivotal role in freeing India. That alone is the reason why no stone must be left unturned to ascertain what really happened to him. Look how India has made attempts to find out the truth about the deaths or killings of ordinary people, thugs and terrorists. Why can’t we do the same for Netaji? All the same, I belong to a minority. Even in states where Netaji was born and lived – Orissa and Bengal – people are interested in him but have also been brainwashed by those who reaped the harvest of Netaji’s toils after coming to power in 1947. That’s why the chief ministers of these two states have not even bothered to utter a word about the need for declassification of the Bose files. Most people believe in the non-violent creed of Gandhi and swear by its efficacy. So they will never allow anyone to take Gandhi’s place. Gandhi will remain the main deity of the temple called India no matter who is in power. This will change only when Netaji’s supporters, scattered the world over, get their act together and start acting in national interest.
Since you’ve come back from London what is the level of interest you have evinced among the people about the files?
– Among NRIs there is considerable interest – even more than the people here. Those who left India years or decades ago still have an emotional connect with the land of their ancestors. Of course, I can’t say that for those born outside India. I had a very good experience in the UK, where I felt completely at home thanks to Netaji’s admirers, grouped under the Netaji Subhas Foundation, UK. I was even feted publicly at their behest by the Mayor of Harrow. No one in authority has feted me in India till now. Had I been doing similar research about Gandhi or Nehru, I’d have received a Padma award by now. But then it’s no secret that when it comes to Netaji our government is hostile. In the UK, I even approached a British MP with a view to seeking his support in voicing the declassification demand. While it did not happen, Gareth Thomas, a three-time MP from Harrow West constituency was kind enough to give me time and attention I haven’t got from MPs in India barring a few.
I hate to tell you this, but I am sort of blacklisted at Presidency College, Kolkata because despite several attempts the students there couldn’t get me to address them as the authorities wouldn’t approve. There is a strong pro-Nehru lobby in Bengal which also includes members of the Bose family masquerading as Netaji experts. But when I was in UK I was welcomed to Oxford University and the London Business School, thanks to the efforts of NRIs Anirban Mukhopadhyay of the Netaji Subhas Foundation and Arijit Ghosh Dastidar and Nitin Kumar, representatives of the India Club of London Business School.
It is alleged that there are 64 files lying with the West Bengal government that successive state governments have denied to declassify. How alive is the Netaji issue in Bengal?
– Sixty-four files related to Netaji were supplied by the home department of the Bengal government to the Mukherjee Commission in 2001. I am sure their number must have gone up. And then there are files with the CM’s office. So we are talking about something about 70 files at least. The political and intellectual class in Bengal has zero interest in Netaji. Take for example the honorable MP Derek O’Brien. He is so intelligent, well-informed and articulate. There is no issue under the sun on which he has not offered his take. But despite nationwide clamour to seek the declassification of the Bose files, he has not made even a single Tweet about it. The Left, with some notable exceptions, doesn’t think too much of Netaji for historical reasons. Old-timers would recall how communists used to describe Netaji with expletives. Besides, there is the fear that “Netaji was killed in Russia” and that wouldn’t be good news to the comrades.