2. Intoductory (...cont'd)

2.11 Regarding Malaya he stated that the way the Japanese were crushing the Malayans and completely Japanising them had aroused his suspicion about their sincerity and good faith. Mohan Singh ordered all I.N.A. troops to collect their arms, disband and revert back to the Indian prisoners of war status. The I.N.A. thus stood dissolved. On this Mohan Singh was dismissed by the Japanese military authorities, and placed under arrest. It was at this juncture that Bose arrived in Tokyo..

2.12 In Tokyo, Bose was received by the Japanese Premier, Tojo, who said in the Diet: "Japan is firmly resolved to extend all means in order to help to expel and eliminate from India the Anglo-Saxon influences which are the enemy of the Indian people, and enable India to achieve full independence in the true sense of the term." A few days later, Bose held a press conference and made two radio broadcasts, calling upon Indians to gather under his banner. He then went to Singapore, accepted the Presidentship of the Indian Independence League and called for the allegiance of the Indian National Army, which had been reorganised by the effort of Rash Behari Bose. On July 9, 1943, in pouring rain, Bose addressed a meeting of 60,000 people, and said: "There is no nationalist leader in India who can claim to possess the many-sided experience that I have been able to acquire." He then began his campaign, and toured extensively, visiting Rangoon, Bangkok, Saigon, meeting and exhorting Indians and working long hours late into the night. In August, he assumed personal command of the I.N.A., and a few days later, announced this fact.

2.13 Field Marshal Count Terauchi was in overall charge of the Japanese forces in South-East Asia, and he was not in agreement with Bose's plan to wage war against the British. He was of the view that the war in South-East Asia was purely a Japanese affair, while Bose, on the other hand, argued that Indians must make the maximum contribution of blood in their fight for freedom. After some insistence, Terauchi finally agreed to employ one regiment of the I.N.A. as a trial measure. Bose spoke to the I.N.A. about their shortcomings. He pointed out that desertion and pilfering among them were rife. There was some disloyal talk, and Bose said that the chicken-hearted could leave the army, and he would not dissuade them from their design. He picked a group of men and formed the 1st Division, which was called Subhas regiment. This was placed under Capt. Shah Nawaz Khan and the men were subjected to hard training. A few other regiments were also formed, and a regiment of nurses and women soldiers, called the Rani of Jhansi Regiment, also came into existence. On October 21, 1943, Bose inaugurated the Provisional Government of Free India and appointed a Council of Ministers to advise and assist him. He styled himself the Head of the State, Prime Minister and Minister for War and Foreign Affairs. Bose took a solemn oath to serve his country and continue the sacred war of freedom till the last breath of his life. The next day, the Provisional Government declared war on British and America. A number of countries quickly accorded recognition to the Provisional Government. Bose, considering himself the Head of an independent government, even though the government was a provisional one and functioning in exile, felt that as an ally and friend of the Japanese, he should have a more significant voice in the planning and execution of the war effort in the East. Terauchi, however, was not agreeable to Bose's demand, and Bose, therefore, spoke to Tojo and complained of Terauchi's attitude. He asked Tojo to agree that as the Japanese marched into India, the occupied regions would be placed under his (Bose's) control. Four days later, on November 5, Bose addressed a conference in the Diet building. His speech was an immediate success, and Tojo announced that Japan would hand over the Andaman & Nicobar Islands to the Provisional Government of Free India. The Army Chief of Staff, Gen. Sugiyama, agreed that in the 1944 offensive, the I.N.A. would rank as an Allied army under Japanese operational command and not as something subordinate to the Japanese military forces. On November 18, Bose left Tokyo and travelled to Singapore, passing through Nanking, Shanghai, Manila and Saigon. He addressed meetings and was taken around academies, cadet colleges, war factories, etc. From Shanghai, he broadcast an appeal to Chiang Kai Sheik. The tour was a personal success for Bose and when he met Terauchi, the latter agreed that Bose's headquarters would be able to take part in the planning and the execution of the war effort there.

2.17 News of Bose's death in an air crash or in consequence of injuries received in an air crash on August 18, 1945 was broadcast on the radio from Tokyo by the Domai Agency a few days later, and was then published in several newspapers. The news was read by Indians with sorrow and a sense of deep bereavement. The post-war turmoil in the country with the political and economic problems that came with it, was agitating the Indian mind, and Bose's reported death was looked upon as just one more tragic event in an era which had left vast areas in Europe and Asia devastated, homes, institutions and factories razed to the ground, 6 million Jews exterminated, Hiroshima and Nagasaki all but annihilated, Hitler's aggressive militarism and Japan's pride in never having suffered defeat brought low.

2. 19 It was not, however, long before doubts began to be expressed about the truth of the crash story and about Bose's death on August 18, 1945. Many apocryphal accounts of his escape and his subsequent activities were narrated. As early as 1946, Sardar Patel, Home Member, was asked if any ban had been placed on the movements of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose. In 1952, there was a question in Parliament asking if the Government of India intended to make an investigation into the truth of the report about Bose's death. The demand for an inquiry into the whole matter became more vociferous, and in this demand Shah Nawaz Khan, who had been a trusted lieutenant of Bose, and the members of the Bose family joined. At a public meeting held in Calcutta, the need for such inquiry was vehemently protested. In April, 1956, the Government of India appointed a committee consisting of Maj. Gen. (I.N.A) Shah Nawaz Khan as Chairman, and Shri Suresh Chandra Bose, elder brother of Netaji, and Shri S. N. Maitra, ICS, as members, "to enquire into and to report to the Government of India the circumstances concerning the departure of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose from Bangkok about the 16th August 1945, his alleged death as a result of an aircraft accident and subsequent developments connected therewith."

2.20 This Committee examined in all 67 witnesses in India and at places in East Asia, and submitted a majority report to the Government on July 16, 1956. Shri Suresh Chandra Bose did not subscribe to the conclusions arrived at by his colleagues, and wrote a dissenting report which he submitted to the Government on October 9, 1956. This dissenting report was placed on the table of the Rajya Sabha on December 12, 1956. It was also published by the author in the form of a book which has been placed before the Commission.