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Journalism of Courage
A controversy has erupted over the upcoming Bengali film ‘Gumnaami’ which deals with the alleged theory of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose living disguised as an unnamed mystic in Uttar Pradesh post Independence. Family members of the freedom fighter have expressed their strong objection to the film and portrayal of Netaji as Gumnaami Baba, saying it amounts to a great insult to Bose, who they believe died in a plane crash near Taihoku Airport in Taipei on August 18, 1945.
Gumnaami director Srijit Mukherjee, however, defended his film saying it explores all three different theories surrounding the disappearance of Netaji in a balanced manner. The film has been cleared by the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) on Wednesday (August 28) and is awaiting release on October 4 this year.
There are several theories regarding the death and disappearance of Netaji. However, three have got more currency leading to multiple probes and endless debates.
While it is commonly believed that Bose died shortly after a plane crash in Taipei in 1945, a second theory suggests he was captured and murdered in a prison in Russia.
A report submitted on July 25, 1946 by Colonel (later Sir) John Figgess, an intelligence officer investigating Bose’s death, had confirmed he died in a Taihoku Military Hospital on August 18, 1945. The cause of death was heart failure resulting from multiple burns and shock following the plane crash.
Post-Independence, the Government of India constituted as many as three commissions to unearth the truth behind Netaji’s disappearance.
In 1956, the central government appointed a three-man committee headed by Shah Nawaz Khan, Member of Parliament and former Lieutenant Colonel in the Indian National Army, to probe Bose’s death. This committee also concluded that Bose had died in the crash.
Following rumours about Bose being alive, the Central government in 1970 set up a new commission headed by Justice G. D. Khosla, a retired chief justice of the Punjab High Court. This commision agreed with earlier reports of Figgess and the Shah Nawaz Committee on the main facts of Bose’s death.
In 1999, following a court order, the central government appointed retired Supreme Court judge Manoj Kumar Mukherjee to probe the death again. The Mukherjee Commission submitted its report on November 8, 2005 after three extensions and mentioned that there was no strong evidence to prove that Bose died in the crash. The report was tabled in the Parliament on May 17, 2006, but the government rejected the findings.
There have been demands by Netaji’s family and several others for declassification of secret files held by West Bengal government and Government of India with a hope that it will help answer questions regarding Bose’s disappearance. In September 2015, the West Bengal government led by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee declassified 64 files on Netaji and made it available for public. The Central government headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi also started declassifying secret files on Netaji from January 23, 2016 onwards. At first 100 files were declassified. Later another 100 were also declassified in the same year. Even the declassified files could not produce any strong evidence that Netaji was alive post 1945.
A Japanese government report 1956, which was declassified in September 2016, also agreed with the findings of Figgess Report, Shah Nawaz Committee Report and Khosla Commission report that Bose died in the crash.
The third theory- on which the Bengali film is titled – is of the legend of Gumnaami Baba. There have been strong claims by certain quarters that Bose had lived disguised as the Gumnami Baba or Bhagwanji or Mahakal in Uttar Pradesh’s Faizabad district. The unnamed mystic died in 1985.
Calling Gumnami Baba an extraordinary person, the Allahabad High Court directed the UP government in 2013 to set up a panel to end the controversy about his identity. The judicial commission was set up in 2016. The Justice Vishnu Sahai Commission’s report submitted in 2019 remained inconclusive as it could not determine whether the reclusive sadhu was indeed Netaji in disguise.
This May, Netaji researchers Anuj Dhar and Chandrachur Ghose released their book Conundrum: Subhas Bose’s life after death. The book, which is the outcome of 15 years of research, claims to prove that Bose actually lived in post-Independent India following his plane crash and supports the third theory of Gumnaami Baba. Although it could be argued that the film Gumnaami is based on this book, the filmmaker has not acknowledged it in public.
Family members of Bose have also criticised Dhar and Ghose and their Delhi-based organisation Mission Netaji for supporting this third theory and accused them of running a sinister campaign against Bose. Both Dhar and Ghose have refuted their allegations and claimed that members of Bose family were aware of this connection of Netaji with Gumnaami Baba. He also claimed that Bose family members were threatened by this issue being discussed in the mainstream.
