Bose didn't die

Bose didn't die

Times of India , Patna 25-5-06 Bose didn’t die in air crash, claims Netaji’s driver by Binay Singh, TNN Azambarh : “How could Netaji be killed in an air crash in 1945 when I dropped him on the banks of river Sitangpur near the Burma-Thailand border about three-four months after the crash”, wondered Nizamuddin, the 102 years old man who claims to be Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose’s driver in the Azad Hind Fauj (AHF). “Yeh sab ek propaganda netaon dwara kiya gaya ki Netaji air crash mein mare gaye. Sach to yeh hai ki azadi ke waqt Netaji bhi maujood they (It’s a rumour spread by politicians that Netaji was killed in an air crash. The fact is that he was alive at the time of the country’s independence),” said Nizamuddin. A native of Islampura locality in Bilariyaganj, about 12 km from the district headquarters, Nizamuddin was also sure that Bose lived in Faizabad in the guise of Gumnami Baba. However, he could not meet his leader again after their last meeting on the banks of river Sitangpur. “I am hundred percent sure that Gumnami Baba was none other than Netaji. Swami, his righthand man, had disclosed it to me.” Nizamuddin also claimed that he met Swami twice in Varanasi and at the Mission Hospital in Azamgarh about 10 years ago. Swami was constantly in touch with Netaji, he said. Who was Swami? According to the repatriation certificate issued to Nizamuddin, Swami (full name S V Swami) was chairman of Relief and Repatriation Council, Azad Hind Fauj and Allied Organisation, Rangoon . It was the only document with him that showed his association with the AHF. Why had he not revealed this earlier when he was sure about Netaji’s stay at Faizabad? “My revelation might have harmed our great leader, he could have been killed by conspirators. And I did not want any harm to Netaji,” said Nizamuddin, sitting on a cot in the courtyard of his house. He also said there was some pact with the Britishers that Netaji would be handed over to them dead or alive and that’s why he lived in the guise of Gumnami Baba. According to Nizamuddin, it was not Bose, but some other people, such as Captain Ekram, Lal Singh and some Japanese who were in the plane that crashed in1945. He claimed that he spent four years with Netaji after joining AHF in 1942. “I drove a 12-cylinder car, which was gifted by the Malaya king to Netaji. I also fought several battles,” he claimed. He did not know anything about Bose’s plan after he had dropped him on the river bank. “No one could read his mind. I insisted on accompanying him further, but he (Netaji) told me to return and also said we would meet in independent India ,” he recounted.