The successive political dispensation in India ignored or deliberately neglected Subhas Chandra Bose and his contribution. The so called first Prime Minister post independence was deliberately hostile as the disclosed files reveal. The Anglophile bureaucrats who got to rule India through the transfer of power, the Elites, were no better. They eulogized the contemporary leadership and Subhas to them was at best a nuisance. The historians, barring a few, were predominantly Marxists or living on alms from the family or dispensation. Therefore they had no reason to respect Subhas. Atleast three generations have grown up reading next to nothing about Subhas Chandra Bose and his contribution. The comment of Clement Attlee to Justice P.B Chakrabarty, that was duly published by Dr. R.C Majumdar, was revealed in the age of Social Media and was mostly unknown to the Indians at large. INA soldiers and their sacrifices were forgotten. Many INA soldiers and revolutionaries alike died in penury. Those who joined Congress and became MP or MLA could survive, but then they had to sell their conscience as happened to Shah Nawaz Khan, who had to declare Netaji as dead to please his boss, the then Prime Minister, and got a deputy minstership as a reward. Those who could not stand Congress and still wanted limelight, accepted leftism as alternative and went nowhere - like Lakshmi Sahgal. The "family members" were given liberal grants and donations for research, but they had to accept the story of "death by aircrash" as a precondition. The dead ghost Mahakal silently laughed, sitting somewhere in remote North India. Its true that few statues were made (by admirers), few roads were named after him (by popular demand) and birthdays were religiously celebrated everywhere in India on 23rd January. In Western political, media and academic circle the name Bose was synonymous with a venomous snake, a brigand, a Nazi collaborator, a renegade. None protested from elite India, the feeble voices of protest were drowned. But then something happened. Something stirred the conscience of the Nation. Many voices suddenly started to echo to reclaim the lost glory of India. And the name of Subhas Chandra Bose came up prominently. Government declassified files to reveal some and hide more, but still some recognition did come in, possibly as a political gesture, but even that's better. All through the country there is a new awareness, awakening. People are realizing that Mukherjee Commission was right, the aircrash was fake. People are recognizing that Bose was denied his place. Social media is playing a critical role in shaping a new narrative, in rewriting history to reflect the true glory of sacrifice, not the fake account of Ahimsa and "Kharga vina Dhal ne Azadi de diya."
Ghost of Netaji is returning, Mahakal will be coming back to haunt his detractors, and this time they have no where to escape. The fake narratives will be demolished and the sacrifices of the people, the bloodshed for the Nation, the terrible torture and pain undergone by many which have enabled few to enjoy power for long, will be recognized. And the few who enjoyed power for long will see their bastion crumbling to pieces. The revenge of history is terrible. Those who have denied Netaji and his legacy will be wiped away in days to come. This is not a prophecy, but a deep conviction in the cosmic justice.
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