The Spine-Chilling Last Words of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose
Subhas Chandra Bose was an elusive figure throughout the Indian Freedom Struggle. He made alliances with the then imperial Japan, got India the ownership of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and also founded the Azad Hind Fauj which after independence morphed into the Indian National Army (INA). Yet his tragic death in a mysterious plane crash was like an unsolved riddle in the echelons of history.
A decade ago in 2015, the then Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, declassified hundreds of archives and secret documents about Netaji after meeting with a delegation of his family members at the PM’s official residence. But, yet another first-hand source of how, and what happened to Netaji remains obscured. The source which I cite here and the story which I narrate here are from the book “The War Diary of Asha San“. Asha San was a young lieutenant in the Azad Hind Sena and was brought up as a revolutionary, a freedom fighter, and a nationalist by her doting parents, Anand Mohan Sahay and Sati Sen, both of whom were close confidants of Netaji.
It was a sunny day with no gusty winds and the skies were mostly clear, it was perfect weather for a smooth plane journey. The flight plan was that Netaji and one of his close associates Colonel Habibi would travel down to Tokyo from Saigon, via Taihoku and then head to Manchuria. But misfortune fell and as soon as the plane took off, it crashed. All the people onboard were gravely injured and barely managed to escape the burning plane, except for Netaji who was seated near a gasoline tank. His uniform caught fire, and Colonel Habibi’s hands and face got severely burnt.
Amidst the chaos Colonel Habibi was barely able to escape the burning plane, he shortly fell unconscious while lying near the carcass of the ill-fated plane. After a short while, he gained consciousness and found Netaji’s half burnt body. Netaji spontaneously asked him, “Habib, how are you?’. To which Habib respectfully replied, “I am fine, how are you?”. Netaji, struggled and barely blurted, “I, perhaps may not be able to live longer. When you go to India, please tell our countrymen that Subhas lived bravely and died bravely. India will soon be free. This is a certain future.”
He then became unconscious. A lorry came and took all the injured to the airfield’s hospital where the doctors and nurses tried their best to save Netaji, but at around 8:30 p.m., Netaji took his last breath. The British were jovial about the news but the whole country dipped into silence and mourned Netaji’s death.
The Japanese counterparts of Netaji were too mourning as they stated that India has lost its lion. On a concluding note, the Indian Prime Minister has declassified a major chunk of archives pertaining to Netaji’s tragic death. Is it a move to woo the people of Bengal for electoral gains or a genuine effort to honour Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose?
