Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated hologram statue of Netaji Subash Chandra Bose at India Gate, on 125th birth anniversary of iconic freedom fighter on January 23, 2022, under the cupola where the statue of British monarch King George V once stood. “Role of our heroes, whose memories were being erased post-Independence, are now being revived,” Modi said at the inauguration. President Ram Nath Kovind said, “India gratefully pays homage to Netaji Subash Chandra Bose on his 125th birth anniversary. The daring steps that he took to fulfill his fierce commitment to the idea of a free India — Azad Hind — make him a national icon. His ideals and sacrifice will forever inspire every Indian.” Paying tribute to Bose on his birth anniversary, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, “I bow to Netaji Subash Chandra Bose on his Jayanti. Every Indian is proud of his monumental contribution to our nation.” A grand statue, which will be made of granite, will replace the hologram statue once it is completed. The statue will be a fitting tribute to Bose’s immense contribution to the freedom struggle and would be a symbol of the country’s indebtedness to him as said by Prime Minister. The hologram statue will be powered by a 30,000 lumens 4K projector. An invisible, high-gain, 90 percent transparent holographic screen has been erected in such a way that it is not visible to visitors. Union Home Minister Amit Shah said that this is not just a statue but a befitting tribute to legendary Netaji, who gave everything for India’s freedom.
Subash Chander Bose was born in an affluent Bengali family on January 23, 1897 in Cuttack, Orissa. His father, who was an imminent lawyer by profession, ensured that his son availed the best education in eminent institutions like Scottish Church College Calcutta and Fitzwilliam College at Cambridge University in 1920. He was the 9th child amongst 8 brothers and 6 sisters, which means that they were 14 brothers and sisters in all. Bose appeared in the prestigious ICS examination and secured 4th position. He was a very intelligent and a sincere student and was strongly influenced by the teachings of Swami Vivekananda and was known for his patriotic zeal as a student. During the period of civil disobedience movement by Mahatma Gandhi, Bose resigned from ICS in April-1921 to join the freedom movement. He joined the youth wing of Congress Party and soon rose to the higher ranks of the party hierarchy by virtue of his eloquence and leadership skills. Bose joined the non-cooperation movement started by Mohandas K Gandhi, who had made the Indian National Congress a powerful non-violent organisation. Bose was advised by Gandhi to work under Chitta Ranjan Das, a politician in Bengal. At an early stage he accepted Deshbandhu Chitranjan Das as his political guru. There Bose became a youth educator, journalist and commandant of Bengal Congress volunteers. His activities led to imprisonment in December 1921. In 1924, he was appointed Chief Executive Officer of Calcutta Municipal Corporation, with Das as Mayor. Bose was soon deported to Burma (Myanmar) because he was suspected of having connections with secret revolutionary movements. Released in 1927, he returned to find Bengal Congress affairs in disarray after death of Das, and was elected President of Bengal Congress. Shortly thereafter he and Jawahar Lal Nehru became the two General Secretaries of Indian National Congress. Together they represented the left-wing faction of party against the more compromising, right-wing Gandhian faction. When the civil disobedience movement was started in 1930, Bose was already in detention for his associations with an underground revolutionary group, the Bengal Volunteers. Nevertheless, he was elected mayor of Calcutta while in prison. Released and then rearrested several times for his suspected role in violent acts, Bose was finally allowed to proceed to Europe after he contracted tuberculosis and was released for ill-health. In enforced exile and still ill, he wrote The Indian Struggle 1920-1934 and pleaded India’s cause with European leaders. He returned from Europe in 1936, was again taken into custody, and was released after a year. Meanwhile, Bose became increasingly critical of Gandhi’s more conservative economics as well as his less confrontational approach toward independence. In 1938, he was elected President of the Indian National Congress and formed a national planning committee, which formulated a policy of broad industrialization. However, this did not harmonize with Gandhian economic thought, which clung to the notion of cottage industries and benefiting from the use of the country’s own resources. Bose’s vindication came in 1939, when he defeated a Gandhian rival for reelection. Nonetheless, the ‘rebel president’ felt bound to resign because of the lack of Gandhi’s support. He founded the Forward Bloc, hoping to rally radical elements, but was again incarcerated in July 1940. His refusal to remain in prison at this critical period of India’s history was expressed in a determination to fast to death, which frightened British Government to release him. On January 26, 1941, though closely watched, he escaped from his Calcutta residence in disguise and, traveling via Kabul and Moscow, eventually reached Germany in April. In Germany, Bose came under the tutelage of a newly created Special Bureau for India, guided by Adam von Trott zu Solz. He and other Indians who had gathered in Berlin made regular broadcasts from the German-sponsored Azad Hind Radio beginning in January 1942, speaking in English, Hindi, Bengali, Tamil, Telugu, Gujarati, and Pashto. A little more than a year after the Japanese invasion of Southeast Asia, Bose left Germany, traveling by German and Japanese submarines and by plane and arrived in May 1943 in Tokyo. On July 4 he assumed leadership of the Indian Independence Movement in East Asia and proceeded, with Japanese aid and influence, to form a trained army of about 40,000 troops in Japanese-occupied Southeast Asia. On October 21, 1943, Bose proclaimed the establishment of a provisional independent Indian government, and his so-called Indian National Army (Azad Hind Fauj), alongside Japanese troops, advanced to Rangoon (Yangon) and thence overland into India, reaching Indian soil on March 18, 1944, and moving into Kohima and the plains of Imphal. In a stubborn battle, the mixed Indian and Japanese forces, lacking Japanese air support, were defeated and forced to retreat; the Indian National Army nevertheless for some time succeeded in maintaining its identity as a liberation army, based in Burma and then Indochina. With the defeat of Japan, however, Bose’s fortunes ended. A few days after Japan’s announced surrender in August 1945, Bose, fleeing Southeast Asia, reportedly died in a Japanese hospital in Taiwan as a result of burn injuries from a plane crash. Did Bose actually die in a plane crash in 1945 as officially accepted? If yes, then why his death remains shrouded in mystery even today. A lot has been written and said about the unfortunate death of Netaji Subash Chandra Bose. There have been myriad theories, debates, discussions, movies, and several documentaries about the cause of his death, yet there has so far been no confirmation to any of these theories. Netaji had gone missing in 1945 and some of his family members had rejected report of his death in a plane crash in Taihoku airport in Taiwan on August 18 that year. Several reports claimed that Netaji had on August 18, 1945, boarded a plane from Taihoku Airport in Taiwan, which crashed leading to his death. An investigative report by the Japanese government titled ‘Investigation on cause of death and other matters of the late Subash Chandra Bose’ was declassified in 2016. It concluded that Bose died in a plane crash in Taiwan on August 18, 1945. The report was completed in January 1956 and was handed over to Indian embassy in Tokyo, but was not made public for more than 60 years as it was classified. According to the report, just after takeoff, a propeller blade on the airplane in which Bose was traveling broke off and engine fell off the plane, which then crashed and burst into flames. When Bose exited, his clothes caught fire and he was severely burned. He was admitted to hospital, and although he was conscious and able to carry on a conversation for some time he died several hours later. The Centre from time to time had constituted panels, Shah Nawaz Committee in 1956, the Khosla Commission in 1970, and the Mukherjee Commission in 2005, to shed light on the circumstances leading to Netaji’s death or disappearance, but none could render any answer. On September 1, 2016, Narendra Modi Government declassified investigative reports of the Japanese government, which concluded that Bose died in a plane crash in Taiwan. Reports also suggested that his remains are preserved at Renkoji temple in Tokyo. Many, however, continue to believe that Netaji survived plane crash and lived in hiding.
(The author is a Chartered Consultant Civil Engineer, passionately attached and devoted to his Motherland – Jammu & Kashmir).