Vande Mataram: Salutations to Netaji on his birthday

Netaji reviewing INA troops in Singapore after formally taking command

Today is the day when one of the most valuable flowers of the independence movement blossomed in the garden of India. Today is the day when Netaji, the man who I admire the most, took his first breath in the holy land of India. He was one of the first Indians to have passed the civil services exam, but he didn't join it as he didn't want to work under the British Flag. He just wanted to show them that we Indians are not inferior to any one. He was the only man who could challenge the authority of Gandhiji in Congress. He managed to become the president of Congress even against the wishes of Gandhiji. It was an achievemnet in itself but Netaji left that position too.

There has always been a great amount of mysticism surrounding his personality. He was put under house arrest by the British but he managed to give them a slip . Thereafter, he went to Afganistan and then to Germany, met Hitler and then moved to Japan. Finally he formed the strong Indian National Army and fought with the British in Burma and North East.

He was an enigma in life and a mystery in death. Officially it was claimed that he died in a plane crash in 1945 and his ashes were kept in a temple at Japan. But many people were not prepared to buy this theory. They always believed that Netaji used this as a decoy to go incognito. Owing to massive public demand, three commissions (all at different times) were set up to clear the mystery surrounding Netaji's death. The first two commissions stated that he did die in 1945. But the last commission (Justice Mukherjee commission) stated that he didn't die in 1945. The DNA of the ashes kept at the Japanese temple didn't match the DNA of his off springs. Moreover Taiwanese government informed the commission that no plane carrying Netaji ever crashed in Taiwan. Government of India rejected the findings of this commission and thus the mystery surrounding his death still continues.

Journalist Anuj Dhar conducted an independent enquiry of his own on this issue. In a special series with Hindustan Times, he claimed that a mysterious sadhu named Bhagwaanji, residing close to Ayodhya, was infact Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose. His full series can be read here:-

http://www.hindustantimes.com/news /specials/Netaji/netajihomepage.shtml

Incidentally, Anuj has also written a book on Netaji titled 'Back from Dead: Inside the Subhas Bose Mystery'.

Great men evoke admiration with their words as well as their silence. Similarly, they generate curiosity with their life as well as their death. No one can confidently say whether Netaji died in 1945 or not. However, one can safely and proudly conclude that this enigmatic man was an amalgamation of grit,determination and wisdom. And It is because of people like him that we are a free country today.