By Anuj Dhar

A key to the Netaji-Bhagwanji mystery lies in understanding the customary oath of secrecy.

It may explain why Col Habibur Rehman, the only Indian witness to the plane crash, continued to insist until his death in Pakistan in 1980s that Subhas Bose had died in the plane crash. It may also explain why many of those who were in touch with Bhagwanji never identified him as Bose, even in the face of strong evidence.

Netaji lived at a time of intrigue and betrayal. He was secretive by nature and over the years he became so cautious that he never fully confided in any single person. He revealed only a part of his plan to one person and often administered an oath of secrecy to people who knew something vital about him.

A case in point is his escape from Kolkata in 1941. Netaji's niece Sheila Sen Gupta and her younger brother Pradip Bose have some interesting insight into the incident.

Many Bose family members, apart from Sisir Bose, knew about his decision to escape, but Subhas knew if he escaped and all of them pretended they knew nothing about it, some of them would be arrested and tortured to find out the truth.

Sheila Sen Gupta says that her uncle also had the ability to figure out who could withstand torture. He chose her elder brother Aurobindo to provide an alibi to keep others out of harm's way.

So, knowing well that Subhas had left Kolkata on January 17, 1941, Aurobindo told the police that he had seen Netaji on January 25. As anticipated, the police arrested Aurobindo and tortured him. Earlier, Sheila Sen says, Netaji had briefed Aurobindo on 200 types of tortures used by the British.

Aurobindo never wrote about this incident, despite repeated requests from friends and relatives till he died in 1988, i.e. 47 years after the event, as he was bound by the oath of secrecy.

Shiela Sen Gupta say there was no way Habib Bhai would have revealed anything to even his closest family members.

Much in the same manner, Bhagwanji met so many people and yet he ensured that secrecy was maintained. Dr P Banerjee, Durga Prasad Pandey, Krishna Kant, Dilip Kumar Mukherjee all remained tight lipped until the man was consigned to flames in 1985. There are still many, including Dr R P Mishra, who refuse to say anything even now.

A clearer picture emerges from the testimony of Netaji associate and revolutionary Sunil Das, who also assisted Bhagwanji. Sunil Das told the Khosla Commission that he believed that Netaji was alive but refused to answer why the leader was still in hiding. "I have no competence to answer that".

He admitted both Leela Roy, Netaji's close friend and Bhagwanji's follower, and Sarat Bose, Netaji's elder brother, believed Netaji was alive after 1945.

Sunil Das said he was 'trained in crucibles of secret revolutionary politics' and unless he was specifically told, he was bound to keep things to himself.

Appearing before Khosla Commission, Netaji's nephew Dwijendranath Bose also said his uncle did not die in 1945. A typed copy of Dwijendra Nath Bose's statement was found at Rambhawan in 1986.