Netaji: Why Aug 18 continues to be muted affair in Delhi

New Delhi, Aug 18 When you are unsure of the exact date of death of the countrys one of the biggest icons, it not only does not bring a closure for the kin and the extended family, but also remains a muted affair for all others, robbed of the grandeur it otherwise deserves.

Like every year, New Delhi woke up to August 18 on a muted note, given there's no certainty that freedom fighter Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose died on this day in 1945.

What can be, however, said with a certain amount of certainty is that he 'disappeared' on this day 75 years ago.

With conflicting findings of different inquiry commissions into his whereabouts or status, New Delhi remembered one of its iconic heroes of the Indian freedom struggle through individual tweets by Union Ministers and politic.

The Ministry of Culture, which would have tweeted of any event — virtual or otherwise — in Netaji's remembrance if it would organize any, but didn't. And there's a reason. Last year, the Press Information Bureau (PIB) had enthusiastically tweeted '#PIB remembers the great freedom fighter Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose on his death anniversary. #Netaji #subhashchandrabose.'

The tweet was deleted later on, given that there's no certainty that he indeed died in a plane crash on this day, a theory Justice Mukherjee Commission disagreed with.

However, a rather emotional tweet came from Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Puri. He recounted his earlier days in Japan, saying: "When I was a young political officer in the Indian Embassy in Tokyo in the mid-70s, I used to accompany the India Desk Officer of Gaimusho on visits to Renkoji Temple on this occasion every year. Netaji's ashes were interred there. We would thank the priest for caring for them."

But one of the reasons August 18 is a silent, or sombre, affair in Delhi was clear to Puri, who was immediately corrected by many that those were not Netaji's ashes.

Anuj Dhar, who penned 'Conundrum: Subhas Bose's Life after Death' remarked: "According to the Mukherjee Commission report, Renkoji remains are of a Japanese soldier, whose body was passed off as Subhas Chandra Bose's as per the escape plan. The MEA itself had doubts, but never confronted the Japanese."

No wonder others like BJP National Secretary Sunil Deodhar were more careful with their words. In fact, having faced a situation where it had to delete its tweet last year, PIB's main Twitter handle too did not put any tweet on Bose.

However, this silence should not be misconstrued as the disregard by the government that declassified scores of files that unravelled many inconvenient truths from the past, including how India's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru 'snooped' on Netaji's family. This muted response is primarily because there's no unanimity on Bose's death.

When Prime Minister Narendra Modi skipped a visit to the Renkoji temple during his Japan visit, it raised fresh doubts about the claims that the ashes kept there were of Netaji's.

"I believe that the time has come for the Indian government to unravel the whole mystery so that we know what actually happened to our national icon," says TMC MP Sukehndu Sekhar Roy, who raised the issues pertaining to Netaji repeatedly in Parliament.

But till that day arrives, August 18 is likely to come and go amid a muted atmosphere, at least in New Delhi.

( With inputs from IANS )