Skip to main content

Post-Stalin Netaji advised Soviets, had facial surgery, met Lal Bhadur in Tashkent!

In an curious Facebook post "What happened to Netaji?", former editor of the Times of India, Ahmedabad, Kingshuk Nag, who later took over the Hyderabad edition of TOI as editor, has asserted that not only did Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose didn't die in a plane crash, he went to the Soviet Union, where he served as adviser of the Soviet leaders during the post-Stalin phase.
One who has authored a Netaji book, he makes another astonishing "revelation": that Netaji, it is believed, had undergone face surgery "to change his appearance", and is "supposed to have met Indian PM Lal Bahadur Shastri when he went to Tashkent in 1966." Was Netaji so meek? One doesn't know...
Anyway, read the FB post:
***
Today is purportedly the day that Netaji died in an air crash in Taiwan in 1945. An elaborate theory of his death and the fact that his ashes were stored in Renkoji temple was created. By all accounts this is fiction.
Netaji disappeared into Soviet Union where he was looking for assistance to free India. To begin with he was kept in preventive custody as Stalin conferred with aides what to do with him. When India likely to become free in 1947, Stalin was still pondering on the use of Netaji. It was decided that Netaji would be sent to India. Netaji made two broadcasts on radio announcing that he would come to India at the head of an army. Radio technology in those days was weak so what Netaji announced was only monitored by the IB. But in the radio broadcast Netaji declared that he was aware of the trial of INA men at Red Fort. In the event however Netaji did not come. Why? There are no precise answers. But researcher and TV film maker Iqbal Malhotra believes that possibly Netaji fell foul of Stalin and was despatched to the Gulag in Siberia. This is what leading Netaji researcher Purabi Mukherjee also believes. She had lived for many years in Soviet Union and with her knowledge of Russian and contacts in the Soviet intelligence was able to unravel many hard facts. Hard labor there nearly killed Netaji but Stalin's death in 1953 led to a material improvement in Netaji's condition. He was released from the Gulag and settled in Moscow to continually advise the new rulers of USSR about India. Netaji never came back to India though many believed that this was the case (yours truly included). The Gumnami baba who lived in Faizabad near Ayodhya was an IB plant set up by B N Mallik who was an IB chief for a record twenty years. Lot of folks got taken in by the Gumnami baba tales and a Bengali movie that he was Netaji was also made. This is merely fiction.
Netaji stayed in USSR and is believed to have undergone face surgery to change his appearance. He is supposed to have met Indian PM Lal Bahadur Shastri when he went to Tashkent in 1966. Thereafter we have no clue about Netaji: but he probably died in Soviet Union a few years later. The latter half of the story obviously appears unappetizing to his relatives like his nephew Surya Kumar Bose and niece Madhuri Bose so they assert that Netaji perished in the air crash that never happened.

Comments

TRENDING

'300 Nazis fell by your gun': Most successful female sniper in history

By Harsh Thakor*  "Miss Pavlichenko’s well known to fame,  Russia’s your country, fighting is your game.  The whole world will always love you for all time to come,  Three hundred Nazis fell by your gun."  — from Woody Guthrie's “Miss Pavlichenko"

TU activist Anirudh Rajan, lawyer Ajay Kumar in custody: Wounded reputation of world's largest democracy?

By Vedika S*  Over the last few days, India's National Investigation Agency (NIA), known to be tasked with suppressing revolutionary, democratic, and progressive forces, conducted a series of raids across Haryana, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, and Delhi. Targets included human rights attorney Pankaj Tripathi, student leader Devendra Azad, and peasant union leader Sukhwinder Kaur. Lawyer and anti-displacement activist Ajay Kumar was arrested and taken to his home in Mohali, which was subsequently raided. He is now imprisoned in Lucknow as a suspect in the NIA's "Northern Regional Bureau (NRB) Revival case." 

RG Kar saga: Towards liberation from the constraints of rigid political parties?

By Atanu Roy*  There's a saying: "There is no such thing as a half-pregnancy." This adage seems particularly relevant when discussing the current regime of the Trinamool Congress (TMC). The party appears to be entrenched in widespread corruption that affects nearly every aspect of our lives. One must wonder, why would they exclude the health sector—a lucrative area where illicit money can flow freely, thanks to a network of corrupt leaders colluding with ambitious bureaucrats? 

'No to risky 11,000 MW hydroelectric project': Call to protect Siang river

Beverly Longid, Jiten Yumnam*    The civil rights network, International Indigenous Peoples Movement for Self-Determination and Liberation (IPMSDL), has voicesd its support for the residents of Siang District, Northeast India, as they resist the National Hydroelectric Power Corporation's (NHPC) efforts to monopolize the Siang River for its Upper Siang Hydroelectric Project, a massive undertaking proposed at 11,000 MW. 

A Hindu alternative to Valentine's Day? 'Shiv-Parvati was first love marriage in Universe'

By Rajiv Shah*   The other day, I was searching on Google a quote on Maha Shivratri which I wanted to send to someone, a confirmed Shiv Bhakt, quite close to me -- with an underlying message to act positively instead of being negative. On top of the search, I chanced upon an article in, imagine!, a Nashik Corporation site which offered me something very unusual. 

India's 55.6% still can't afford healthy diet, yet food wastage a serious issue

By Vikas Meshram  According to this year's 'State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World' report, India has the highest number of malnourished people in the world, with a staggering 195 million affected. This report, prepared by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, was published jointly by five UN agencies, including UNICEF. The report also highlights a slight improvement in India's statistics: between 2004-06, the number of malnourished people in the country was 240 million. 

Unwavering source of ideological inspiration in politics, life: Personal tribute to Yechury

By Bhabani Shankar Nayak  Sitaram Yechury was everyone's comrade. He lived his life in public like an open book of praxis. Everyone was familiar with his family background, student life, many talents, achievements, and political journey that defines his everyday life as a committed communist.  

Trailblazer in literary innovation, critic of Indian mythology, including Ramayana

By Harsh Thakor*  Ranganayakamma, commonly known as RN, stands out as a transformative figure in promoting Marxist thought, democratic ideals, and anti-caste principles through her remarkably clear and engaging writing style. A trailblazer in literary innovation, her works span a broad array of topics, from critiques of Indian mythology and revivalism to discussions on civil liberties, the Indian Communist Movement, and Maoism in China. 

'Abduction' of labour activist Anirudh Rajan part of a 'troubling trend': CASR

By Our Representative  The civil rights network Campaign Against State Repression (CASR) has issued a strong denunciation of the "abduction" of labour rights activist Anirudh Rajan, who was taken by state authorities on September 5, 2024, while traveling to meet his family. This incident is part of a troubling trend, as the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and various state forces have increasingly targeted trade union and democratic rights activists over the past year.