The declassified files on Subhash Chandra Bose are tame, watch the documentary instead
Even the most diehard believer in the 'Netaji did not die' theory can't be expecting him to be alive on his 119th birth anniversary.
With the declassification of the government of India files related to Subhash Chandra Bose today, the many conspiracy theories around his death have been put to rest. Bose did die in a plane crash and colourful stories of, say, his internment in Russia or his life as an travelling mendicant in Uttar Pradesh will hopefully now be treated with appropriate levity.
Spicing up Bose's story though, is wholly unneeded. Netaji, as he was often known, led an incredibly adventurous life, not only rising to be a leading politician of Bengal and head of the Congress' left wing (before being deposed by Gandhi and Patel in 1939) but also performing a daring escape from British captivity to wage war against the Raj. Amongst his many talents, he was credited for being a master of disguise. In the video above his nephew Sisir K Bose describes one such daring escape by his uncle.
Conspiracy theories around Netaji's death had become a cottage industry in themselves, with insinuations of the Nehru government covering up what "really" happened. While the files declassified today may have put a dampener on the more salacious legends surrounding Bose, it is worth revisiting his life as a giant of the Indian freedom struggle. The documentary below details his political life and his controversial collusion with Nazi Germany and Japan as part of his efforts to rid India of the British colonial rule.
