Netaji's 117th birth anniversary, his disappearnce and death remains a mystery

First Indian head of undivided India, Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose was born on January 23, 1897 in the town of Cuttack, Odisha, as the child of Janakinath Bose and Prabhavati Devi. His death remains a mystery because of cover up by the leaders of the Indian National Congress in connivance with Five Eyes network. 

Netaji had escaped from British India in 1941 to the freedom struggle forward. He headed the Azad Hind Fauz but went missing in 1945. He was last seen at the Bangkok Airport on 17th August 1945. Justice Mukherjee Commission had rejected the opinion that he died in a plane crash in Taiwan on August 18, 1945. Taiwan government ruling out the alleged air crash which supposedly killed him. It has been 68 years since Netaji disappeared. In general Indians know only as much as Philip Finney,  the then assistant director, Intelligence Bureau will have Indians know.

The Calcutta high court on January 16, 2014 has ordered constitution of a special bench to take up a petition demanding declassification of secret documents on the mystery surrounding the disappearance of Netaji. Justice Joymalya Bagchi, who was part of the division bench which heard the case, said since he was involved in the Mukherjee Commission which had investigated into the case once, he would not take up the matter. The issue of Netaji's fate and controversy about his remaining alive until 1985 was probed by former Supreme Court Justice MK Mukherjee between 1999 and 2005, which was rejected by the United Progressive Alliance government with the Action Taken Report laid in Parliament without any reason. Hearing a PIL, Chief Justice Arun Mishra said the special division bench would be constituted by acting Chief Justice Asim Banerjee to look into the matter.

The Union of India, National Advisory Council, RAW, Intelligence Bureau, private secretary to the Prime Minister, Defence Secretary, Home Affairs department and West Bengal government among others have been made respondents in the case.

The petition demands declassification of all documents, including top-secret files, relating to Netaji so that the mystery surrounding his disappearance could be solved.

The Prime Minister's Office had earlier refused to furnish data on documents and records it held on Netaji's disappearance, saying the disclosure would harm India's relation with foreign countries.

The petition demands a judicial review on whether the documents should remain secret in public interest. It has submitted all secret documents that could throw new light on the case. Is Netaji's fate similar to that of Raoul Wallenberg, a Swedish diplomat? Will an Indo-Russian commission for investigating the missing Indian nationals within the territory of the erstwhile USSR yield any result? Will access to KGB archives, Presidential Archive, the archives of the Foreign Security Service and the Archives of the Army General Staff especially of Stalinist period reveal something not revealed so far? Is it true that Netaji was in the USSR after 1945? Does Salman Haidar know about Netaji's death?

Meanwhile, it is business as usual Pranab Mukherjee paid homage to Netaji. In fact he quoted him selectively in his first speech as the President. Has Pranab Mukherjee who is described in the Justice Mukherjee Commission of Inquiry report as one of the seven witnesses who had testified before it in favour of the story on Bose's death in plane crash changed his views now? Who all are still propagating the discredited Taipei death story?