Conundrum- Subhas Bose's Life After Death

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This volume was conceived at a time when circumstances were quite different from the shape they acquired as we came closer to finishing it. In that sense, this book has become what we did not intend it to be. Towards the middle of 2016, we were keenly optimistic as a Commission of Inquiry set up by the Uttar Pradesh government, three years after being asked by the Allahabad High Court, set out to establish the identity of India's most famous unknown man',' who was given the moniker `Gumnami Baba' by the local people and the vernacular press. We were optimistic that the inquiry headed by retired Justice Vishnu Sahai would bring a closure to the most intriguing aspect of India's most enduring political controversy-the fate of Subhas Chandra Bose. An unseen holy man lived in several parts of UP for nearly three decades and was claimed by most of his followers, and later by investigative journalists, to have been Bose in disguise. The commission was to verify these claims-to state whether these were true or not. Our aim, consequently, was to aid the inquiry as conscientious citizens, as we had by dint of our single-minded pursuit of a decade and half amassed information relevant to this inquiry.

Today, however, we are constrained to characterise this book as the result of an inquiry which Sahai Commission could not, rather would not, undertake despite a clear mandate. In the course of our own investigation, we, two private persons with modest means, were able to dig deeper and retrieve far more than the commission of inquiry having statutory powers and public funds at its disposal. But then, the virtual non-working of the Sahai Commission must be seen in the context of a long tale of apathy characterising the approach of the establishments in India since 1947. Even the courts could not persuade them to get their act together and piece together this gargantuan jigsaw puzzle. Why they did not want to do that will become clear in the subsequent chapters detailing what we have been able put together.

It would be in order to lay the context before dwelling deeper into the matter. Before anything else, we are perfectly aware of the fact that the subject matter of this book isn't going to give us an ideal head start. To most, the very idea that Subhas Chandra Bose could somehow be linked to some nondescript holy man would be outrageous-or even part of some sinister design to denigrate a national icon. On 21 February 2019, members of the Bose family called a press conference in Kolkata and slandered us for 'betraying the nation' accusing that we have been running a 'sinister campaign' to taint Netaji's image. It was painful for us to see these kin, who came into national prominence because of our efforts in the first place, launch such a tirade. Claiming that it was a 'criminal offence' to link Baba to Bose, they went to the extent of issuing a public threat to national-award winning filmmaker Srijit Mukherji, who is making a movie on Gumnami Baba based on this book that he 'might have to leave India'. The kin, underlining their political clout and with bouncers in tow, brazenly called upon Home Minister Rajnath Singh to let loose the Intelligence Bureau after us, so as to prevent us from making public our findings.

With that sort of backdrop weighing down on us, and our reputation, and probably safety on the line, let us begin by admitting that years ago when we hadn't had the opportunity to scrutinise the incredible legend of the so-called Gumnami Baba, we thought as much. Our thinking patterns were fashioned by what we had absorbed growing up as regular people of India. To even think that Netaji, dead since the days of our grandparents, was living till the 1980s, of all the places in Faizabad, was as patently absurd a proposition for us as all those farcical Elvis Presley spotting and alien abduction claims.

It was only much later that we realised-to borrow a dialogue from the spy movie Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy based on the John le Carre classic-that 'things aren't always what they seem!' It is an odd co-relation to make, but there are details in the Gumnami Baba tale which compel one to think along this line. These details would fascinate anyone interested in politics, mystery, history, intelligence, intrigue, skullduggery, occult, etc.-not just those who are keen to know more about the disappearance of Subhas Bose.

We are laying out before you these details in all earnestness. This volume, a digest made from reams of material, has been written especially to flag a particular aspect which we think holds the key to unravelling modern India's longest running mystery. Our main aim in doing so is to enable the people of India to take an informed stand. We do so in deference to a court order, and would present ourselves for any inquiry by the court (or even the Intelligence Bureau should it wish to launch one to the view of the Bose family members).

**Contents and Sample Pages**