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Report of the One-man Commission of Inquiry into the Disappearance of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose (1970-74) |
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7. Some Theories and Hypotheses (...cont'd)
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7.8 Another encounter with Netaji which is alleged to have taken place in 1947 is also related by hearsay evidence. This is the story of Sardar Niranjan Singh Talib (Witness No. 192), who has held high office. He was the President of the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee, a Deputy Minister, and then a Minister of State and subsequently a Cabinet Minister in the Punjab. His story is that in 1947 he went to the house of Sardar Baldev Singh where he was introduced to one Mr. Wag, an American Military Officer. According to Mr.Talib:
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"As soon as Sardar Baldev Singh introduced me to him, he took me to another room and he started showing some photographs of Netaji. He said that Netaji disappeared to Indo-China. He did not die in the crash but he disappeared and he went to Indo-China and he showed me photographs of some cottage where Netaji was standing."
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These photographs, according to the witness, were taken after the date of the crash. Wag had been commissioned by an American paper to write a story about Bose. This story was however, never published, and there is nothing to show that Wag's encounter with Bose after the date of the alleged crash was ever given publicity under Wag's signature in any American newspaper. Shri Talib went on to say:
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"I wanted to take one of the photos. But suddenly I do not know what happened to him; he took all the photos. He got somewhat suspicious and he stopped further conversation. He doubted something that I may not leak it out."
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It is strange that the story which was intended to be published in an American newspaper had to be kept secret. According to Dwijendra Nath Bose the story was related to him by Shri Talib. In any event Shri Talib's story is secondary hearsay evidence and Dwijendra Nath Bose's corroboration is one stage further removed.
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7.9 There is then Goswami's story that Bose visited Peking in 1952 as a Member of the Mongolian Trade Union Delegation. A photograph of this Delegation, together with the Australian Trade Union Delegation was published in a pamphlet (Exhibit No. W-8/G) which has been placed on the record of this inquiry. The same photographs was published in the issue of Hindustan Standard dated 5-10-1955 and the Jugantar. The Hindustan Standard also published a statement made by Goswami, at a Press Conference. An enlarged framed copy of the same photograph was brought to the hearings of the Commission by Goswami, and its display aroused a great deal of emotion among the audience. Goswami also alleged that a bald monk wearing glasses standing near the bier of Shri Nehru was no other than Subhas Chandra Bose. The second contention of Goswami will be examined in a subsequent part of this chapter. With regard to the photograph of the Mongolian and Australian Delegation I cannot accept it as a refutation of Bose's death at Taihoku in 1945. If the photograph in the pamphlet is accepted to be genuine, there is no reason why Bose's name should not have been mentioned. The only resemblance of the person alleged to have been Bose in the photograph and the real Bose is that both show a partial baldness of the head and both wear glasses. Either Bose was concealing his identity so cleverly that no one else in the Delegation came to know the truth or the partial resemblance was only accidental and no significance can be attached to it. In any event, the evidence of the photograph does not establish that Bose was alive after 1945.
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7.10 Another strange story of an encounter with Bose, in January 1954, is related by Mubarak Mazdoor (Witness No. 194), an active politician and a member of the Socialist Party. His story is that, while on a holiday, he went to Rangoon and visited the Ena Lake, which is a tourist attraction. He went on to say:
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"After roaming about on the Lake, watching the crowd, I got tired and came to a tea stall where I was standing near a bench. On that there was a sitting a gentleman dressed in Pongi dress — I mean a Burmese priest with saffron coloured dress. It was in the year 1954. It was towards the end of January 1954. As soon as this gentleman saw me, he said, 'Tashrif rakhiaye'. I got very much interested in a gentleman who could speak Hindustani, and wore a Pongi dress. I sat down by his side. By that time the stranger ordered a cup of tea for me and spoke to the tea-stall holder in very nice and eloquent Burmese. As soon as I saw this man, my mind started wondering as to who could be this man. I had definitely seen him. I asked the gentleman, 'How do you speak good Hindustani?' He said, 'I have lived in India for quite a long time.' I asked him, 'What is your nationality?' He answered: 'men and women are born in one country, some in the other country, and after a short duration, they complete their journey and leave this world, can you expect a man to tell his nationality after he is dead. You are putting a question to me about my nationality. There are some important points.' After that he saw a foreigner coming and he left me. A short while after a pretty Burmese girl came to me and said, your friend Mr Monk, wants you. Before he left me, I asked his name and he told me that his name was Mr. Monk. I accompanied the Burmese girl to a quite place on the sand where they were taking their lunch. I was also offered lunch by the Burmese friend of Mr. Monk and that foreigner. Then Mr. Monk and his friend took me in their car, and left me at my hotel...He left a great impression in my mind and I was pondering, he must be a great man. He had great resemblance with Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose...I want to say that he was alive and I believe that Mr. Monk was Mr. Subhas Chandra Bose...He was none but Subhas Chandra Bose."
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Strangely enough when the witness was questioned further he said that when he put the direct question to this strange Monk and asked him if he was indeed Subhas Chandra Bose, the stranger replied in the negative. Then comes this surprising passage in the witness's statement:
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"Then again I said, is Subhas Chandra Bose dead? He virtually shouted at me and said, who says that Subhas is dead?"
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The witness did not appear before the Shah Nawaz Khan Committee, although he said he was persuaded by hundreds of people to go to Calcutta and make a statement before that Committee. His ludicrous story needs no comment. It has only to be heard to be rejected.
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7.11 There is yet another story of this kind of accidental or chance encounter, related by Sharda Prasad Upadhyaya (Witness No. 20), a Primary School teacher of Jabalpur. The incident to which he deposed is said to have taken place in 1957 or 1958, in the month of May. The witness says:
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It was about 10 or 11 a.m. I was going to have a bath in the Narain Nallah, which is a stream which flows near our village. Ram Kumar Chaube, another resident of our village was also with me. We were going towards the path which comes from Jabalpur and goes along the stream. We saw two sadhus come from this route. Hearing the sound of some stones disturbed by their walk, I looked back and saw that the sadhu in front was definitely Subhas Chandra Bose. He was wearing saffron coloured clothes. He was wearing a lungi and a loose kurta. He also had a sheet or shawl on his head. He was carrying a stick. I had never met Netaji personally, but being a school teacher, I have seen many of his pictures in the course of my instruction to my students. And the person I saw was exactly similar to the pictures of Netaji which I had previously seen. Netaji asked me where the route led to, and I told him that it went straight to Jabalpur...We continued to follow Netaji, but he stopped us and asked us to go and do our own work and not follow him. We did not dare to disobey him and so left him. I did not address him as Netaji, but noticing that we were following him and that the stream had been left behind, he told us to go about our own business and we did not dare to follow him or speak to him further".
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The witness went on to make a confession of his too ready credulousness by saying:
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"The same day I spoke about the incident to the people in the village. They told us that what we were saying was not correct and that it was impossible that we should have met Netaji and we should not talk in this manner."
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The story really deserves no comment.
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7.12 MAWU ANGAMI, (Witness No. 202) a Naga political leader, associated with Phizo for several years and now detained in the Special Jail, Nowgong (Assam) was examined as a witness. His story is that he met Bose near Penang in April, 1958. He said:
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"Till 1958 I did not know much about Shri Subhas Chandra Bose nor whether he was dead or alive. In 1958 when some INA personnel met me in Rangoon, they told me that Shri Subhas Chandra Bose was alive. They did not mention the place where he was. I met only two officers. They told me that Netaji was alive. After some days I went to Burma. There I contacted other INA personnel. From there I went to Penang, and they made arrangements for me to meet Shri Subhas Chandra Bose. I personally met Shri Subhas Chandra Bose, in Penang in 1958 April...Before that I had never seen him. One of the confidential men of Shri Subhas Chandra Bose introduced me to Shri Subhas Chandra Bose. He told me to describe him as Mr. Gupta and Subhas's name was simply made as 'Azad'. Before I could meet Shri Subhas Chandra Bose I had to take a pledge that I would not disclose the existence of Subhas Chandra Bose...That confidential man introduced me to him and I had to believe, that the person introduced was Bose."
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The witness's only knowledge of Bose's physiognomy was derived from some photographs which he had previously seen.
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