E-Paper
The Bose who walks
The truth be told, unlike the government, we are convinced by the Mukherjee Commission findings that Subhas Chandra Bose did not die in a plane crash in 1945.
The truth be told, unlike the government, we are convinced by the Mukherjee Commission findings that Subhas Chandra Bose did not die in a plane crash in 1945. We also agree with the expert panel that the ashes at the Renkoji Temple in Japan are not that of Netaji. The only thing about the commission’s findings that we don’t buy is that Subhas Bose is dead. Just because the great man would be 110 years old on January 23 next year hardly means that he is dead.
Considering that he was last seen in Japan, one must remind the (mostly non-Bengali) sceptic that the oldest man in history was Shigechiyo Izumi, a Japanese who lived for 120 years and 237 days. Also, the Japanese have the highest life expectancy in the world (er, 74.5 years). So, as the good doctor was told by Sherlock Holmes, “When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.” In the case of Subhas Bose, that improbable truth happens to be that the man is alive.
It’s not everyday that we agree on anything with the Forward Bloc. But as the party that Netaji founded has stated, it is very odd for the government to reject the Mukherjee Commission findings without any explanation. The earlier two commissions which had propagated the Taihoku plane crash thesis did not even visit the place to collect documentary evidence. When the Mukherjee panel went to Taihoku, it found no evidence of the plane crash. Which only reinforces our view that Sourav Ganguly has not seen the last of international cricket. Jai Hind!