ALLEGED DEATH OF NETAJI AT TAIPEI – A CONCOCTED STORY [7 Pages]
[First Released – 23/01/2012; 4th Version – 21/10/2016; Last Edited – 06/12/2016]
[website: www.visionnetaji.org/AllegedDeath/]
By Ajay Kumar Majhi
1. Introduction
There has been a perpetual controversy regarding the story of the alleged death of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose ever since Tokyo Radio (quoting Domei News Agency – a private organisation in Japan) announced on 23 August 1945 that he died at midnight on 18 August in a hospital in Tokyo where he was being treated for severe injuries suffered in an air crash on the same day at Taihoku(now Taipei) in Formosa(now Taiwan).
Quite a large number of inquiries and studies, mostly official and a few personal ones, have been conducted so far on the matter. In this study, we will consider twelve such works 1-12, including the three9-11 initiated by the Government of India(after freedom) – all of which excepting Mukherjee11 and Dhar12 have accepted the story to be true. However, according to those ten inquiries/studies, Netaji died in the Military Hospital at Taipei on 18 August 1945(reported times of death varying from 7 PM to midnight), and, his body was cremated in the local municipal crematorium(reported dates varying from 20 to 22 August 1945).
Still then, in this very concise discourse, applying unassailable logic on some topical information gleaned from the cited twelve works, we will arrive at the following three interweaved assertions – any one of which implies definitively that the said story of death of Netaji was totally fabricated.
(1)There have/had never been any record in any known name of Netaji in the Military Hospital, the Health Bureau (authority to issue permit for cremation) and the crematorium at Taipei – contrary to the testimonies of different witnesses – whereas all the relevant files/record-books were found unimpaired in all respect,
(2)All the statements describing admission, treatment and death of Netaji of the two doctors Yoshimi Taneoshi and Tsuruta Toyoshi of the Military Hospital at Taipei made before various Inquiries were absolutely false, and
(3)The fully wrapped body(including the face) of Ichiro Okura, a Japanese male, cremated on 22/08/1945 in Taipei crematorium, was very cleverly projected as that of Netaji by the Japanese military authorities, and the alleged death of Netaji was announced on the very next day after Okura’s cremation.
Before proceeding further, the reader should take note of the following –
(i) All usages of the words injury, treatment, death, cremation etc. of Netaji will imply the presence of the adjective “alleged” before them.
(ii) The short form of referring to an Inquiry/Study(e.g. Mukherjee) will mean also the corresponding
Committee/Commission or Inquiry In-charge/Author or Report/Work, depending on the context.
In the sequel, in the Sections 2, 3 and 4, we will present the information base of this article – testimonies of the two doctors regarding treatment and death of Netaji in different inquiries, matters regarding cremation of Netaji, and facts regarding the relevant records respectively. Section 5 embodies logical analyses of those evidences – resulting into the assertions as have already been told, while Section 6 contains concluding remarks.
It is quite obvious that only the most relevant evidences are to be projected. Nevertheless, it can be claimed most humbly that (i) no evidences whatsoever in the reports of the various inquiries and studies conducted so far, including those not referred to here, can negate the findings of this study, and (ii) this work contains much more evidences and stronger logic than those projected by Mukherje11.
2. Treatment and Death – Testimonies of the Two Doctors (Yoshimi and Tsuruta)
2.1 Introduction
We will now summarise relevant information regarding treatment and death of Netaji as were revealed by the testimonies of the two doctors (Yoshimi and Tsuruta of the Military Hospital) in the various Inquiries.
2.2 Inquiry by Govt. of Japan (1945; Report Dt.19/09/1945) [Japan-11 for short]
Both the doctors were interrogated. Netaji, injured in an air crash on 18/08/1945, was treated by both Yoshimi, Head of the Hospital and Tsuruta, Military-Surgeon. He died at about 7.00 PM. The Report was silent about issuance of any death certificate.1
2.3 Two Inquiries by Govt. of UK(1946) [Figgess3, and Turner4 for short]
(1) Figgess3 (Report Dt. 25/07/1946) – Dr. Tsuruta stated to Col. J G Figgess that, on 18/08/1945, he(impliedly alone) treated injured Netaji who died shortly after 7 PM that evening. He issued the death certificate stating the cause of death to be “heart failure resulting from multiple burns and shock”. Dr. Yoshimi was not interrogated.
(2) Turner4 (Report Dt. 19/10/1946) – Dr. Yoshimi(the only deponent), in a written and signed deposition, stated to Capt. A R Turner that, on 18/08/1945, he (impliedly alone) treated injured Netaji who died at about
11 PM that night. On 20/08/1945, as was asked for by the Army officers, he issued the death certificate stating
the cause of death to be “extensive burning and shock”.
(3) General Note – Both the Reports were silent about the names in which death certificates were issued.
2.4 Inquiry by Govt. of Japan (1955; Report Dt. 13/12/1955) [Japan-26 for short]
Dr. Tsuruta (the only deponent) was interrogated on 13/12/1955. He told that on 18/08/1945, he (sometimes in the presence of Yoshimi), treated severely burnt Netaji who died at about 7 PM. He emphasized that he could not accept that the time of death was 11 PM, as daylight was still there. Asked, after several days, by the military authorities to issue a death certificate using a fake name for Netaji, Dr. Tsuruta wrote it giving a false Japanese name “Hachiro Okhura”.6
The Report was silent about the details regarding Okura and cause of death as was written in the certificate.
2.5 Inquiry by Shah Nawaz Committee (1956; Report Dt. 03/08/1956 ) [Shah Nawaz9 for short]
Both Dr. Yoshimi and Dr. Tsuruta testified to Shah Nawaz in Tokyo – on 22-23/05/1956 and 15/05/1956 respectively. According to the Report, Yoshimi, in association with Tsuruta, treated Netaji on18/08/1945. Netaji, however, expired in the same evening between 7 and past 8 PM. Yoshimi had issued the death certificate in the name of Chandra Bose as Netaji was known in Japan. Tsuruta asserted that it was not issued by him as such function was the prerogative of the Officer-in-Charge(obviously meaning Yoshimi).13
2.6 Inquiry by Khosla Commission (1970-1974;Report Dt. 30/06/1974) [Khosla10 for short]
Dr.Yoshimi deposed in Miyazaki (in Japan) before Khosla on 24/04/1971.His statements were the same as was given to Shah Nawaz in that he issued the death certificate in the name of Chandra Bose, although there were some discrepancies in the details.14
2.7 Inquiry by Mukherjee Commission (1999-2005; Report Dt. 08/11/2005) [Mukherjee11 for shor]
Dr. Yoshimi testified also before Mukherjee. His testimony (on 17/09/2002 in Miyazaki in Japan) was essentially the same – he had issued the death certificate in the name of Chandra Bose.15(i)
There is one highly significant addendum. One Indian deponent (Dr. Purabi Roy, a Kolkata based reputed researcher on Netaji) submitted to Mukherjee a copy of a death certificate in the name of Chandra Bose signed by Dr. Yoshimi on 18/08/1988. According to the certificate, Netaji was admitted in the Taipei Military Hospital around 6 O’clock on 18/08/1945 as a victim of an air crash, and died past 11 PM in the same night. This was procured by Dr. Roy from a Japanese scholar Mr. Tashikaju Shimoda who claimed (in his letter of 26/08/1996 to Dr. Roy) that he had collected the certificate from Yoshimi on 18/08/1988. On interrogation, Dr. Yoshimi could not recollect anything about Shimoda, but admitted that he indeed had issued the certificate. He, however, failed to put forth any reason behind such a late date(i.e.18/08/1988) of signing.15(ii)
It is needless to say that this certificate issued by Yoshimi was fabricated by him. .
3. Cremation – As Revealed By Various Inquiries
3.1 Introduction
A summary of information regarding cremation of Netaji, as were revealed by various Inquiries, will now be presented.
The official inquiries conducted in 1945,1946 and 1955 referred to in this discourse (vide Section 2), did not elaborate on cremation. According to Japan-11, the body was cremated on 22/08/1945. Dr. Tsuruta told to Figgess3 that the body, put inside a coffin, was taken away on 19/08/1945 and was possibly cremated. As per Dr. Yoshimi’s written statement to Turner4, the death certificate was issued by him on 20/08/1945, and cremation was done thereafter. As was deposed by Dr. Tsuruta in Japan-26, the body was cremated several days after death.
3.2 Inquiry by Harin Shah (Inquiry – 1946, Testimony/ Book – 1956) [Harin2 for short]
Mr. Harin Shah, a journalist, Free Press of India, Bombay( now Mumbai) visited Taipei for about a week from 30/08/1946, and conducted a probe on the alleged death of Netaji. Harin deposed before Shah Nawaz( on 16 & 17 April, 1956 in New Delhi)16(i), and also wrote a book on the matter.2 The salient points of his narration were as follows.16(ii)(a)
Harin visited the Taipei Municipal Bureau of Health and Hygiene (Bureau for short) where each dead body, along with the doctor’s certificate (i.e. death certificate), was to be brought to collect a cremation permit – which, in turn, was an essential requirement for cremating any dead body in the local crematorium. He met two Chinese male employees(Li Chin Qui and Tan Ti Ti) working there for quite some time. The following were told by them.
On 21/08/1945, few Japanese officers brought a body inside a coffin and a death certificate. They heard the Japanese officers telling the Director (of the Bureau) that the body was actually that of the Indian leader Chandra Bose, and to keep the matter a secret, a fictitious name(Okara Ichiro – a Japanese male) was used in the certificate. The body – a very big one – fully wrapped in cloth, was taken out of the coffin for some time; but they were not allowed to inspect the body though mandatory in law for issuing a cremation permit. A permit in the name of Okara Ichiro was issued. The concerned staff members were told by the Japanese officers to keep the matter a secret. Harin conjectured they filled in the cremation permit with some random information.
3.3 Inquiry by Govt. of Formosa (1956; Report Dt. 27/06/1956) [Formosa7 for short]
This was conducted by the Govt. of Formosa on the initiative of the Govt. of UK following a plea by the Govt. of India. The relevant part of the Report, sent to the Govt. of India on 10/08/1956, was as follows. 7
Probe was conducted in the Taipei Municipal Health Centre( erstwhile Bureau). Both Li Chin Qui and Tan Ti Ti, whom Harin met in 1946, were still working there. Tan said that, on 21/08/1945, a Japanese army officer came for a cremation permit. He submitted the death certificate of one Ichiro Okura who died on 19/08/1945 due to heart failure in the military hospital. A permit was issued for cremation on 22/08/1945 at 6 PM. He added that he was present also during cremation and saw that the whole body(excepting the eyes, nose and lips) was swathed in white cloth. The Japanese officer told that the deceased was actually Bose, the Indian leader. Tan could also recall the visit of one Indian reporter(i.e. Harin) 10 years back. Li corroborated Tan’s version regarding the issuance of cremation permit and said that he was not present during cremation. They added that as they were not acquainted with Bose there was no question of identifying him by them anyway.
3.4 Inquiry by Govt. of Japan (1956) [Japan-38 for short]
It was conducted by the Govt. of Japan on the request of the Govt. of India. As per the Report (24/07/1956), Netaji was cremated using a false name Ichiro Okura to keep the matter a secret.8
3.5 Inquiries by Shah Nawaz Committee (1956; Report Dt. 03/08/1956 ) [Shah Nawaz9 for short]
and Khosla Commission (1970-1974; Report Dt. 30/06/1974) [Khosla10 for short]
Regarding the state of the body after death, all the witnesses excepting one, had told that the body including the face, fully wrapped with cloth, was put inside a coffin. Only Major S Nagatomo, said to be deputed by the Japanese Military Headquarters in Taipei to arrange for Netaji’s cremation and funeral, deposed to Shah Nawaz that he opened the lid of the coffin and saw the face which was a big round one.17(i)
A photograph of a fully covered object (originally placed by the Govt. of Japan before an Inquiry by the US Armed Forces in 1945 as an evidence of the dead body) was put by the Govt. of India before both Shah Nawaz9 and Khosla10. Both of them opined that the dead person could not be identified from the photograph.17(ii)
Some witnesses had said that the coffin itself was put in the furnace, while others testified that as the coffin was too big to go inside the furnace, the body, fully wrapped in cloth, was taken out and placed in the furnace.
The witnesses either could not specify the date of cremation or mentioned different dates. Shah Nawaz conjectured – “The cremation is more likely to have taken place sometime later (than 19/08/1945)”, while according to Khosla10, it was 20/08/1945.17(i),(iii),(iv)
On the next day, bones from all parts of the burnt body, starting from the throat, were collected.17(v)
3.6 Dead Body Not Shown to Ayer
Mr. S A Ayer, a Minister in the Provisional Government of Azad Hind(PGAH) – established by Netaji in Singapore on 21/10/1943 – along with four other colleagues(Col. Pritam Singh, Col. Gulzara Singh, Maj. Abid Hasan and Mr. Debnath Das) got stranded in Saigon, when Netaji, taking Col. Habibur Rahman as his adjunct, left Saigon on 17/08/1945.18(i) As the story goes, Habibur survived the crash, and, after having treatment in the Military Hospital at Taipei, went to Tokyo in early September 1945.
On 20/08/1945, while on his journey to Tokyo, Ayer was told about the death of Netaji by Rear Admiral Chuda at the Saigon aerodrome, and then by Col. Tada, his escort, at Canton. The body was not shown to him, ignoring his repeated and fervent requests, though the plane halted for the night of 20-21/08/1945 at Taichu in Formosa but not at Taipei, and took off at about 9.00 AM on 21/08. Ayer did not believe the story of Netaji’s death, but changed his mind later(on 08/09/1945, in Tokyo) having been persuaded by Habibur.18(ii), (iii).
Ayer visited Japan again for about a fortnight during May-June 1951, and made some inquiries on the alleged death of Netaji. On his query, Tada told that the plane reached Taichu at about 10 PM(on 20/08/1945) when it was dangerous to land at Taipei surrounded by hills, and moreover, 21/08/1945 was the last day given by the Allies to ground all Japanese planes in and outside Japan. Ayer was satisfied with this explanation.19(i)
Nevertheless, according to Ayer himself, the plane reached Gifu(about 200 miles from Tokyo) at about 01.00 PM on 21/08/1945, and flew to Tokyo on the next day, i.e. after the last day set by the Allies.19(ii) Considering the relative geographical positions of Taichu, Taipei and Gifu/Tokyo, it was quite possible to land at Taipei en-route Gifu and show the body, spending only about two additional hours on the very 21/08/1945.
It did not occur to his mind that though Habibur told him that Netaji was cremated on 20/08/194518(iii), Tada did not put this as a reason – both in 1945 and 1951 – for not being able to show the body on 21/08/1945.
4. Records Relevant to the Story in Question
4.1 Introduction
Most of the official inquiries conducted by the Governments of India(both before and after independence), UK, USA and Japan – particularly those conducted in 1945 & 1946 – did not think it prudent to seek for any record relevant to the matter in question.
In response (Dt.04/06/1956) to two queries (Dt. 20/05/1956) by Shah Nawaz9, the Govt. of Japan (i) stated that no official inquiry regarding the air crash in question was conducted, and (ii) submitted a military record regarding Lt. Col. Shidei (who allegedly died instantly in the said crash), in which it was mentioned that Shidei died by war in Formosa on 18/08/1945.20
As contemporary official records of the Taipei Military Airport have not been available till date, it is not possible to establish the veracity of the story of the air crash itself directly. However, indirect evidences regarding its falsity had been gathered by Dhar12 and Mukherjee11 – there were no news of the air crash and death of Netaji in the contemporary local newspapers, although the news of another air crash far away from Taipei about a month later, and release of Netaji’s relatives from custody by the British Indian Government were there 21. Anyway, we prefer to bypass this matter in our endeavour. However, our said three findings – to be arrived at in this discourse – will imply that the tale of the air crash was also fabricated.
Search for records, as described in the sequel, were made by only a few ones among all the Inquiries/Studies made so far including those not referred to in this discourse.
4.2 Medical Records of Taipei Military Hospital
As were noted by various Inquiries, Netaji’s identity was disclosed during admission in the Taipei Military Hospital.22 Dr. Yoshimi told to Shah Nawaz9 and Khosla10 that entries regarding the treatment and death of Netaji were made by him and Tsuruta in the Hospital diary as usual, and he was not aware of what happened to the records after the war.14
However, medical records of the relevant period were not available in the said Hospital when sought for by Harin2, Formosa7, and Mukherjee11 during their probes in 1946, 1956 and 2005 respectively.23
The most telling fact in this regard, nevertheless, has been revealed – thanks to Dhar12 – in July 2012. As per the letter, Dt. 14/06/1956, from the Govt. of Japan(Mr. Hisaji Hattori, Chief of 4th Section, Asian Affairs Bureau, Ministry of Foreign Affairs) to the Indian Embassy, Tokyo(Mr. A K Dar, First Secretary), the medical records of the said hospital were transferred to the Repatriation and Relief Bureau, Ministry of Welfare, Govt. of Japan for custody, and no records regarding Netaji could be found there even after a thorough investigation.24
4.3 Records of Health-Bureau/Crematorium Retrieved by Various Inquiries
(1) Harin2 – The following is the continuation of what has been told in Section 3.2.
Harin procured the copies of the said death certificate and cremation permit from the Bureau – both written in Japanese. These documents, including English translations, were presented to Shah Nawaz, and also placed in his book. According to the death certificate, Okara, a male, an officer of the Formosan military government, born on 09/04/1900, admitted in the Taipei Military Hospital on 17/08/1945 after heart attack, died there on 19/08/1945 at 4 PM due to heart failure, and his death certificate was issued by Dr. Chhuluta Toyoji on 21/08/1945. The cremation permit (No. 2641) contained the additional information, apart from his addresses at Taipei and Tokyo(native place), that the application for the permit was made on 21/08/1945 and cremation was permitted to be held on 22/08/1945 at 6 PM in the local municipal crematorium.16(ii)(b)
(2) Formosa7 – This Inquiry [vide Section 3.3] also procured a copy of the entry(No.2641) regarding Ichiro Okura in the cremation register. This cremation record contained the additional information, as compared with those collected by Harin2, that cremation took place on 22/08/1945.7
(3) Japan-38 – This Report [vide Section 3.4] also contained a copy of the cremation record No. 2641(wrongly mentioning it to be the cremation permit). This record was same as the one procured by Formosa7.
(4) Prof. Samar Guha (for Khosla10) – Prof. Samar Guha, a Kolkata (then Calcutta) based Netaji researcher, visited Taiwan(Formosa) along with Khosla10 in July 1973. He procured copies of the death certificate and the cremation permit of Okura, as was done by Harin2 in 1946, and submitted them to Khosla10.25
(5) Mukherjee11 – The Commission visited Taipei during January 26–27, 2005 and conducted probes in various offices. It requested the Government of Taiwan to despatch (to the Kolkata office of the Commission) the pages of the cremation register of the old crematorium – the only one in 1945 – pertaining to the period from 18 to 24 August, 1945. On 28/03/2005, the Commission received a copy of the 25 pages of the cremation register covering the period from 17 to 27 August, 1945. The entries in Japanese were got examined by an Anglo-Japanese translator recommended by the Japanese Consulate in Kolkata. The following transpired.
Among the 273 entries in total, there was no entry in the name of Chandra Bose or Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose. Also, there were no entries regarding the others who were alleged to have died instantly in the crash. But, the entry (No. 2641) regarding Okura, as was found in 1956 by Formosa7 and Japan-38, was there.26
The above finding confirmed the fact – as was implied by the findings of Harin2, FORMOSA7, Japan-38, and Guha25 as have already been told [vide Sections 4.3(1-4)] – that no person having the name Chandra Bose or Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose was cremated in the relevant period.
One should keep in mind here that (i) if a death certificate was issued in some name, cremation permit would have been given in the same name, and the same name had to be written in the cremation register, and (ii) according to the findings of various inquiries, Netaji was cremated in the local crematorium.1,3,4,6-8,27
5. Logical Analyses of Evidences and Information (Presented in Sections 2 to 4)
5.1 Introduction
We will now arrive at our findings after making logical analyses of evidences and information presented in the Sections 2, 3 and 4 above. It would also be clear that those findings are interrelated.
The readers are to note here that different spellings and styles of using names of Japanese persons in different documents(e.g. Ichiro/Hachiro, Okara/Okura/Okhura, Chhuluta/Tsuruta etc. ) are due to regional differences in dialects, and, translations of various records from Japanese to English done by different persons.
5.2 Records of Netaji’s Hospitalisation, Treatment, Death and Cremation – Absolutely Non-Existent
It should be evident from the Section 4 above that there have/had never been any record whatsoever regarding the admission/treatment/death/cremation of Netaji (in any of his known name) in the Military Hospital, Health Bureau(authority to issue cremation permit) and crematorium at Taipei – contrary to the testimonies of different witnesses, whereas all relevant files/record-books were found intact in all respect – no paper was reported to be lost, torn, burnt or illegible fully or partly.
5.3 Testimonies of the two Doctors(Yoshimi and Tsuruta) – Absolutely False
(1) Analyses of Individual Testimonies
Yoshimi asserted before Shah Nawaz9, Khosla10, and Mukherjee11 that he had issued the death certificate in the name of Chandra Bose. The findings of Mukherjee11(viz. non-existence of any entry in the name of Chandra Bose or Netaji’s full name in the cremation register, and the issuance of a fabricated death certificate by Yoshimi to Shimoda) establish irrefutably that Yoshimi had lied all along.[vide Sections 2.3(2), 2.5- 2.7, 4.3(5)]
Tsuruta told on 25/07/1946 to Figgess3 that he had issued the death certificate(without mentioning the name in which it was issued), then on 13/12/1955 to Japan-26 that it was in the fake name Hachiro Okhura – whose ailment and cause of death, according to records, were totally different from those mentioned by him(Tsuruta) to Figgess3, and finally on 15/05/1956(i.e. just after five months of the previous interview) to Shah Nawaz9 that the certificate was issued not by him but by Yoshimi. There should not be any iota of doubt now that Tsuruta also had lied all along.[vide Sections 2.3(1), 2.4, 2.5]
Thus, each of them had lied totally all through as shown above after analysing their statements individually.
(2) Analysis of Testimonies in Tandem
If their testimonies are considered in tandem, blatant contradictions regarding the mode of treatment(i.e.
done singly or jointly), time of death, and most importantly, issuance of death certificate will be revealed. In
particular, the diametrically opposite statements of the two doctors to Turner4 and Figgess3 respectively that each
of them alone had treated Netaji, and had issued the death certificate with widely varying times death(11 PM
and 7 PM) can by no means be ascribed to fading memory due to passage of time as the Inquiries were
conducted in the 11th and 14th months of the incident [vide Section 2.3].
It should be evident that at least one of them had lied. If the incident is true and one had told the truth, there
could be no reason for the other to lie to prove the same incident as true.
Thus, both of them had lied totally as is clear from the above analyses of their testimonies in tandem.
(3) Conclusion
The arguments presented in the segments (1) and (2) above, and non-existence of any hospital record regarding Netaji (vide Section 4.2) prove absolutely that both the doctors had lied in all respect all along.
5.4 Cremation of Okura(A Japanese) – Projected As That of Netaji
(1) Introduction
As has been presented in the Sections 3.2-3.4 and 4.3, the body, fully(including the face) wrapped in cloth, of one person having a Japanese(male) name Ichiro Okura was cremated in the local municipal crematorium on 22/08/1945 with a cremation permit issued by the competent authority based on the death certificate issued by
Dr. Tsuruta on 21/08/1945, and with due entry in the cremation register. According to Harin2, Formosa7, and
Japan-38, actually Okura was Netaji. This was told also by Dr. Tsuruta to Japan-26[vide Section 2.4]. Records of Okura’s death/cremation were found by Harin2, Formosa7, Japan-38, Guha25, and Mukherjee11.
It is to be noted here that, as no person in any known name of Netaji was cremated in the relevant period, the witnesses of Shah Nawaz9 and Khosla10 in this regard talked about the cremation of the fully wrapped body of Okura as that of Netaji, or the other way round – knowingly or unknowingly[vide Section 3.5].
(2) Okura Was Not Netaji
The following facts will convincingly establish that Okura was not Netaji.
(i) The details regarding Okura (date of birth, profession, cause and date of death etc.) are totally different from those of Netaji and those alleged to be pertaining to Netaji [vide Sections 4.3].
It is interesting to note here that even Khosla10, after examining the documents regarding Okura given by Prof. Guha[vide Section 4.3(4)] and Govt. of India(as a part of Shah Nawaz9 Report) asserted that Okura could not be Netaji, but added that “- – the two documents have no evidentiary value at all, and neither of them proves or disproves anything”. He forgot conveniently that discarding Okura as Netaji automatically proves the story in question to be false as cremation of Okura was projected as that of Netaji.25
(ii) The dead body was fully wrapped in cloth and remained so even during cremation, and no person could see the actual body. The testimony of Nagatomo, unacquainted with Netaji, of seeing the face of the body was either false, or else, the face was wrapped later. He, however, did not mention about any mutilation of the face. A photograph of a fully covered object was produced as an evidence of the dead body. The body was not shown even to Ayer, a Minister in the PGAH, on utterly untenable grounds. [vide Sections 3.2 to 3.6].
These actions were taken obviously to make it sure that the identity of the person could not be determined by any means whatsoever.
(iii) The facts that cremation was done on the 3rd day after death, and bones from all parts of the remains of the burnt body, starting from the neck, were collected show that Buddhist customs were observed[vide Section 3.5].
(iv) The claim that the Japanese authorities wanted to keep the death of Netaji a secret does not hold good as
(a) it was better for them to disclose it to avoid obligation(handing over Netaji) to the Allies,
(b) the Japanese officer disclosed the “secret” that Okura was actually Netaji to the Director(of the Bureau)/ employees of the crematorium, that too in such a way that all others could also hear – plausibly a deliberate attempt to create witnesses of Netaji’s alleged cremation,
(c) the death of Netaji was announced on 23/08/1945 – the very next day after Okura’s cremation.
It is evident that the intention behind keeping the matter secret till the cremation of Okura was over was to avoid inspection and identification of the body by any outsider whosoever.
(v) Lastly and most importantly, it has been proved that all the testimonies of Dr. Tsuruta, including the one given to Japan-26 stating that the death certificate for Netaji was issued in the name of Okura, were false[vide Section 5.3]; actually, Tsuruta had issued the death certificate of real Okura. Consequently,
(a) the narration of Harin2 that the Bureau people had filled up the forms regarding Okura with some fictitious data(which was not told by Formosa7) was false[ vide Sections 3.2 and 3.3],
(b) the differences of the statements of the Bureaux staff to Harin2 and Formosa7 might be due to failing memory, or some falsity somewhere, and do not have any significance at all, and
(c) plausible contentions that fictitious personal details of Netaji were incorporated, and Buddhist traditions were followed regarding cremation and collection of remains deliberately to make the camouflage believable, and the body was fully wrapped to hide mutilations do not hold good.
(3) Conclusion
It is now definitively proved that Okura was by no means the false name of Netaji. He was altogether a different person – a Japanese one, and his cremation was very cleverly projected as that of Netaji by the Japanese military authorities.
6. The Final Conclusion
As was committed in the Section 1, the three assertions have now been proved clearly by impeccable logical analyses(Section 5) of an authentic information base built with evidences taken from twelve Inquiries/Studies, ten of which had endorsed the story of Netaji’s death to be true (Sections 2, 3 and 4). It is needless to add that they are interrelated.
Those interweaved findings, even just any one of them, prove(s) absolutely that the whole story of the injury, treatment, death and cremation of Netaji ( and by implication, the air crash) was a concocted one based on a plan made for whatsoever purpose(s). This assertion holds notwithstanding what other witnesses – in whatever numbers – had said. The plan had inherent loopholes as manifest in the contradictions exposed in our discourse.
Acknowledgement – The author wishes to put on record his indebtedness to his wife Runu for her all round support, to Netaji Bhavana Manch, Kolkata and Mr. Girish Chandra Maity, Kolkata for making some documents available, and to many others for their moral and other support.
References and Notes
[ General Notes: The first 12 of the following list are the main sources of information. The others are references (as cited in the main text) to these sources with details (Section/Page No.). However, if the Reports are short (Nos. 1, 3, 4, 6, 7 & 8), they have been cited directly.]
1. Japan -1(1945):: Investigation on the cause of death and other matters of the Late Subhas Chandra Bose
: Mukherjee11 – Exibit No. 227
2. Harin(1956):: Shah Harin(1956): Verdict From Formosa – THE GALLANT END OF NETAJI Subhas
Chandra Bose(Atma Ram & Sons, Delhi) [An account of an inquiry conducted in 1946]
3. Figgess J G (1946):: Mss Eur C785, British Library(India Office Records), London
4. Turner A R (1946):: W.O 208/3812, Public Record Office, London
5. Ayer (1951):: (i) Ayer S A(1951) – UNTO HIM A WITNESS(Thacker, Bombay) [A memoir, 1943-45]
(ii) Ayer S A(1951) – Report on the Death of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose
: Harin2 – APPENDIX II(pp 123-129)
6. Japan-2(1955):: Investigation on the death of Chandra Bose : Mukherjee11 – Exhibit No. 227B
7. Formosa(1956):: Mukherjee11 – Annexure D/5(pp 277-285)
8. Japan-3(1956):: Mukherjee11– Annexure D/7(pp 286- 288)
9. Shah Nawaz (1956):: Shah Nawaz Khan and S N Moitra(1956) – Netaji Inquiry Committee Report; GOI
[The third member Mr. Suresh Chandra Bose, Netaji’s elder brother, submitted a Dissentient Report. This 3-member Committee, Chaired by Major General(INA) Shah Nawaz Khan, then Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Railways, GOI is commonly known as Shah Nawaz Committee.]
10. Khosla(1970-1974):: G D Khosla(1974) – Report of the One Man Commission of Inquiry; GOI
[ This one man Commission, Chaired by Justice G D Khosla, Retired Chief Justice of Punjab High Court,
is commonly known as Khosla Commission]
11. Mukherjee (1999-2005):: M K Mukherjee(2005) – Report of the Justice Mukherjee Commission of Inquiry;
Parliamentary Proceedings(2006), New Delhi
[This one man Commission, Chaired by Justice Manoj Kumar Mukherjee, Retired Judge of the Supreme
Court of India, is commonly known as Mukherjee Commission]
12. Dhar Anuj(2012):: India’s Biggest Cover Up (Vitasta, New Delhi)
13. (i)Shah Nawaz9 – Sec III.1 to III.5(pp 27-29); Annexure I-10(List of Witnesses – Nos. 48, 39)(pp 69-70)
(ii) Mukherjee11 – Sec 4.6.23(p 70)
14. Khosla10 – Sec 4.98(p 42); Appendix I(List of Witnesses – No. 72)(p 128)
15. (i) Mukherjee11 – Sec 4.6.5(p 54), Sec. 4.6.22(pp 68-70); Appendix I(List of Witnesses – No.84)(p 303+7)
(ii)Mukherjee11 – Sec 4.8(pp 74-75); Annexure D/12(pp 298-299)
16. (i) )Shah Nawaz9 – Annexure I-10(List of Witnesses – No. 9) pp 69-70
(ii) Harin2 – (a)Arrival – p 21, Period of Inquiry – p 96, Narration – pp 84-90; (b) Records – pp 90-93
17. (i)Shah Nawaz9–Sec IV.2-3(pp 39-41); (ii)Shah Nawaz9–Sec III.7(p 32);Khosla10 – Sec 5.39(p 60),5.44(p 61)
(iii) Khosla10 – Sec 4.48(p 28); (iv)Khosla10 – Sec 9.1(xviii); (v) Shah Nawaz9 – Sec IV.4(p 41)
[ Also see Mukherjee11 – Sec 4.12.17(pp 103-106)]
18. Ayer5(i) – (i) pp 66-72; (ii) pp 74-92; (iii) pp 107-115
19. (i)Ayer5(ii) – pp 128-129; (ii) Ayer5(i) – pp 91-98
20. Shah Nawaz9 – Annexure I(1.Gen. Shidei’s Service Record; 2.Report on air crash) – pp 62-64
21. Mukherjee11 – Sec. 4.12.12-4.12.13(pp 93-94); Annexure C/1(pp 255-259); Annexure D/1(pp 272-274)
22. (i)Figgess3; (ii)Turner4; (iii)Shah Nawaz9 – Sec.III.1(p 27); (iv)Khosla10 – Sec. 4.37(p 26)
23. (i)Harin2 – p 72; (ii) Formosa7 ; (iii) Mukherjee11 – Annexure C/1(p 257)
24. Dhar12 – p 79
25. Khosla10 –Sec 4.93-4.99(pp 41-43)
26. Mukherjee11 – Sec4.7-4.7.4(pp 72-74); Annexure D/10(pp 292-295)
27. (i) Harin2 – pp 97-114; (ii) Shah Nawaz9 – Sec. IV.3(p 40); (iii) Khosla10 – Sec. 4.48(p 28), 8.48(p 121)
The Author may be contacted at – Ph.: +91 9433356873(M); E-mail: akmajhi@redeffmail.com