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Tuesday 19 January 2016

I do not believe Gumnami Baba was Netaji in disguise

Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose and artist's impression of Gumnami Baba
Left: Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose
Right: Artist's impression of Gumnami Baba

Seventy years and many inquiry commissions later, the disappearance of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose still remains a mystery to the public. To the Government of India, and to the Governments of the US, UK, Russia and Japan, information necessary to close the case may be available. So far such information has been kept secret. In recent times faced with the growing demand for declassification of documents related to Netaji mystery, the West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee took the lead by releasing the secret files on Netaji held by the state, though the mystery has not yet been solved. Subsequently PM Narendra Modi also announced that the secret files on Netaji held by the Centre would be declassified. He further said that he would request foreign Governments to declassify files on Netaji available with them beginning with Russia during his visit in December 2015. Although till now there is no word from the PM or his office about the outcome of his recent trip to Russia regarding this issue, the nation eagerly waits for 23rd January 2016 when the process of declassification of files relating to Netaji by the Central Government is supposed to begin. Will the Netaji mystery be solved or the will the truth continue to remain elusive? As of now the dominant hypotheses about what may have happened to Netaji are as follows -