By a strange coincidence my recent trip to Manipur coincided with the Subhas Chandra Bose’s snooping controversy. I, therefore, made it a point to visit the Indian National Army War Memorial at Moirang, near Imphal, where Lt Col. S.A. Malik of the Indian National Army (INA) hoisted the tricolour 71 years ago.
As I was looking at the pictures displayed on the walls of the museum, I came across a photograph of three out of the seven survivors of Netaji’s controversial plane crash. I thought I had found a vital clue to the mystery of the plane crash which, even 70 years and at least four inquires later, raises heckles and doesn’t set at rest doubts in many minds.
On reaching Delhi I found a book which can, perhaps, put a lid on the controversy regarding Netaji’s death and the role of the INA trials in the freedom struggle.
Jawaharlal Nehru, who along with three renowned barristers — Tej Bahadur Sapru, Balubhai Desai and Kailash Nath Katju — defended the INA heroes in the court martial, wrote: “Behind the law there was something deeper and more vital, something that stirred the subconscious depths of the Indian mind. Those three officers and the Indian National Army became symbols of India fighting for her independence. All minor issues faded away… The trial dramatised and gave visible form to the old contest: England versus India. It became in reality not merely a question of law or of forensic eloquence... but rather a trial of strength between the will of the Indian people and the will of those who hold power in India.”
The book, Soldiers’ Contribution to Indian Independence, is authored by General Mohan Singh, the founder of INA. Very little is known about Gen. Mohan Singh today and it is a Herculean task to convince people that it was this soldier of Punjab, a Captain in the regular British Indian Army, and not Netaji, who was the original founder of the INA.
In fact, Netaji was the third successor of INA’s leadership, the second being Rash Behari Bose. However, it is beyond doubt that it was Netaji who, after taking over the reins, tuned the INA into a formidable fighting force. He also gave it a new name, Azad Hind Fauj, and became its supreme commander on August 26, 1943.
Three years later, on August 9, 1945, Russia declared war on Japan and the Japanese accepted the terms and conditions of surrender put forward to them by the Allied powers. Netaji, who had reached Singapore from Rangoon via Bangkok, was thoroughly shaken up when the news of Japanese surrender was conveyed to him. He was persuaded to leave Singapore immediately and, after consultation with his colleagues, decided to leave for an occupied Russian territory which he described as an “adventure into the unknown”.
Having reached Saigon from Singapore, on August 17, 1945, Netaji’s ill-fated plane, a Japanese heavy bomber, took off from Taipei on the afternoon of August 18. But soon after it was air-borne there was a loud explosion. The plane tilted to the left, crushed headlong to the ground and caught fire.
Besides Netaji there were 12 people, including a crew of four, on board the military aircraft. While two — Lt. Gen. Shidei and co-pilot Maj. Takizawa — were killed instantly, Netaji and the pilot Aoyagi succumbed to burn injuries at Army Hospital, Taipei. Amongst the seven survivors was one Col. Habib-ur-Rehman.
Gen. Mohan Singh, who penned his memoir in 1973, writes on the controversy following the air crash: “The air-crash incident has become a highly controversial question in our country today. I have thought it proper to give a brief account of this unfortunate incident, because I am strongly of the opinion that the accident did take place on August 18, 1945. I was in Sumatra when I first heard of it. I did not believe it and took the entire story as a fabrication with a view to keeping the whereabouts of Netaji a secret. I held these views firmly till I met Col. Habib-ur-Rehman during the Red Fort trials. I had long discussions with him wherein I put him many searching questions. He was forthright, honest and frank with me, and I felt that he was telling the truth and not concealing anything. After these discussions I felt convinced that the account of the air crash was a fact and not a fabrication.”
The INA founder further writes: “Lt. Gen. Fujiwara, who had been deeply connected with the INA movement, visited India thrice during the last 25 years. During the course of our lengthy reminiscences, I had on many occasions told him that I did not believe the story of the air crash. He, too, convinced me that it was a fact. Gen. Fujiwara had served as a very important officer in the Japanese Military Intelligence department — I have no reason to disbelieve him.”
Besides the INA and Japanese military sources, the fact of Netaji’s death in air crash was confirmed by many British officers serving in Southeast Asia. Field Marshal Sir Claude Auchinleck, who was Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Army, wrote: “Bose was killed when a Japanese military aircraft in which he was flying from Singapore to Tokyo crashed in Formosa on August 18, 1945.”
If the INA, Japanese and British sources, who physically participated in Netaji’s theatre of operations cannot be relied upon, how can you believe those who were far away from the scene, both in distance and time. Gen. Mohan Singh asked a very pertinent question in 1973: “Suppose the story of the accident is a concoction and Netaji is still alive, what on earth prevents him from returning to India, where he is almost worshipped? Those who are spreading the stories that he is hiding in some ashram as a yogi are not doing him justice.”
Today we may or may not agree with what the General wrote 42 years ago, but there is no doubt that had Netaji not died in the plane crash he would have certainly come back. There was no reason for a leader so courageous and brave to go into hiding. Mahatma Gandhi, Pandit Nehru, Vallabhbhai Patel and the whole of India would have welcomed him with open arms. Perhaps, he could have prevailed upon Muhammad Ali Jinnah and prevented what Gandhiji could not — Partition of India.
If not, he may have, like the Sardar, agreed to be Nehru’s deputy.
The writer is an ex-Army officer and a member of the National Commission for Minorities. The views expressed are personal.
