Soumi Goswami
“One individual may die for an idea, but that idea will, after his death, incarnate itself in a thousand lives.”
One of the greatest leaders of the Indian freedom struggle, beloved Netaji, gave his indelible contribution to the freedom fight. On the fateful day of 18th of August, 1945, He fell into the trap of vicious bombers and the plane he was on crashed in Japan. Although Netaji tried to escape, with third-degree burns, he succumbed to his injuries in the hospital at night.
Dr Yoshimi and the team, who were treating Bose, were surprised at his coherence as he was still conscious with burns all over his body and head. Netaji’s death came as a shock and disbelief.
Today on his 125th birthday. Let’s take a look back and reimagine what the turn of events would be if Netaji had survived the crash.
Before His Death
Netaji’s tales of valiance were crossing borders in 1943. He had already emerged as a Hero and regarded as the ‘Indian Samurai’ in Germany and Japan. Netaji’s disguises, surprise attacks, and plannings made all of his followers believe that Netaji has survived the crash and must have been in the hideout again. However, Netaji’s death was confirmed by the doctors treating him and the Japanese government.
If he had, in reality, survived the crash and came back to India, Gandhiji and others have already planned his fate. Netaji would have been handed over to the police for an arrest as decided by the leaders of the nation then.
What if he again slipped under the noses?
Even if Netaji had surpassed getting arrested, the political scenarios would have been more or less the same.
1. Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru being the Prime Minister of free India and Sardar Patel, the deputy Prime Minister, Nehru mentioned in his letters that if Netaji had been alive, he would’ve been the defence minister of free India.
2. As Pandit Nehru grew older and by the 1960s when he retired from his post he would have handed over his post and responsibilities as a Prime Minister to Subhas Chandra Bose.
3. Netaji along with Indira Gandhi would have created a different history in the political books of India by providing longer political stability to the nation.
4. Later on, there would have been also a probability of Netaji joining the left-wing parties CPI and CPIM. This is because Netaji was greatly influenced by their ideologies.
5. The probability of Netaji becoming the chief minister of West Bengal can also not be ruled out.
6. While Netaji would have been at the centre of the power, he would have complete political discipline and would not have tolerated core religious extremist parties.
7. Lastly, if Netaji had survived the crash, the political scenarios would more stable and strong.
