How a Pakistani came to be fascinated by Subhash Chandra Bose’s story

First season of the much awaited web series “Bose: Dead / Alive”, by ALT Balaji, released last month. Based on various stories and (conspiracy) theories that surround the life and death of Subhash Chandra Bose, in particular Anuj Dhar’s book “India’s Biggest Cover up”, the series may well prove to be a watershed moment for television and web series in India. Certainly a departure from senseless sensationalism and family politics that is an inseparable feature of not just Indian soaps, but some attempts to narrate history, such as Sony’s Maharana Pratap and Zee’s Jodha AKber, too have been marred by loss of focus.

But how does a Pakistani, based in Karachi, come to care about a series on an Indian nationalist? Perhaps any history buff would come to love and appreciate the fine narration that is BDA. But it is not just another history series. It is the untold story of a hero whose life and death still remain a mystery in his own country and whose contributions remain understated. According to official version, Bose died in a plane crash in Taiwan in August 1945, but in decades since independence, his death and the circumstances that led the Indian government to adopt this version, have remained a matter of debate in and outside in Indian parliament.

My curiosity about the man named Subhash Chandra Bose started way back in 2002, with the release of Ajay Devgan starrer “Legend of Bhagat Singh”. There was a particular scene in the movie where a Bengali comrade of Bhagat Singh passes away in prison during their collective hunger strike and his comrades carry his body to the gates of the jail. At the gates, a man dressed in typical politician’s attire, wearing round spectacles collects his body after paying his respects. The movie did not mention his name, probably leaving it to the intellect of the Indian audiences. But Rajkumar Santoshi did make a point. Throughout the movie Gandhi was depicted as someone completely opposed to methods of Bhagat Singh. So was Nehru. But this mysterious character with round specs appears again in one scene, addressing a mammoth gathering and demanding the court judgment to hang Bhagat Singh to be revoked, a viewpoint that appeared to be diametrically antonymous to that of Gandhi’s.

3 years later I finally came to know about this character with the release of movie “Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose: The Forgotten Hero”. Back then pirated prints of Indian movies was the only peek that we could have into what was going on across the border. The movie finally revealed that Bose was no Gandhian after all and his leanings to more radical forms of resistance had led to his empathy towards Bhagat Singh and his comrades. But the movie stopped short of anything controversial and went with the official version of Bose’s death as its ending. 

Fast forward a few years, I was a student of political science and during one of our courses we were required to write a paper on the question of sovereignty in 20th century. I recalled the mention of Azad Hind government in a movie I’d watched years ago. I wondered whether it would be a good idea to cite Bose’s provisional Indian government as a test case of how “sovereign” governments can be established and function without a sovereign territory under its tutelage. It was supposed to be a purely academic paper and I’d intended to rely primarily on the resources available at the university library. Verinder Grover’s “Subhash Chandra Bose: Political thinkers of modern India: the springing tiger” was particularly helpful.

But as I researched more and more online, I was introduced to the world of Subhash Chandra Bose’s mystery. The first image that caught my attention was a press clipping from an Indian English daily with a picture of Nehru’s funeral. The late Indian PM’s body was laid out for public to pay their respects. Close to him, staring right towards the camera was a familiar face, draped in what looked like a Buddhist monk’s robes. The paper had circled the man along with a question, “who is this man?”. The year was 1964, 19 years after Bose was declared dead.

Such was the question of Bose’s death that it has almost created a cult following in India, it appeared. Possibilities as to how he could have survived and where and how he spent his remaining days were countless. There were claims of him being cited in Manchuria, others claimed that KGB had apprehended him and he died in USSR. I ended up wasting considerable time when I was required to focus on the paper that was due the very next day. I did not mention Bose or INA in my paper but never gave up reading on Bose.   

Years later I came across a talk by Indian journalist and writer, Anuj Dhar, who revealed that the man in the pic was indeed a Buddhist Monk and not Bose after all. But by that time more and more Indian news channels were running stories on some “baba” who had died in the ‘80s in an Indian town called Faizabad. Could it be possible this baba was actually “Netaji” under cover? As outlandish it may sound to us, contemporary Bose researchers are convinced he was indeed Bose.

“Bose: Dead / Alive” is the first attempt at narrating on screen the various versions of Bose’s life and death. But it appears, and I may be wrong, that it too would stop short of giving a definite answer to the mystery. The issue has become politicized in India and certain BJP leaders have brought this up time and again to question Nehru’s, and Congress’s, intentions. Whether they have a point or not, only time will tell. But it is heartening, nonetheless, to see certain sections of India’s society demand their government to make all facts and files, related to Subhash Chandra Bose, public.

I cannot help but draw comparisons with Pakistan, where countless stories are either waiting to be made public or, for that matter, to be investigated with a fresh perspective. The circumstances surrounding Quaid’s death, the conspiracy of Quaid e Millat Liaquat Ali Khan’s murder, the intriguing and astounding collapse of BCCI and many other mysteries are waiting to be answered.