By D N Singh
Kolkata, Gomoh, Peshawar and Kabul, that was the route that one of the greatest patriots in India, Netaji Subash Chandra Bose before the great escape. Without knowing Poshto, he had ventured acting as a deaf and dumb, a tight-rope walk that only a few daredevils of that time could have risked through the tight vigil of the British.
But he did, leaving the trails of a great escape when he was close watch of the British guards. After being released from the prison he was in house arrest in his home.
Great escape
But Netaji Subas Candra Bose had plans in his mind to escape. His plan was to escape from Kolkata, reach Afghanistan, and then travel to Germany via the Soviet Union. It was in 1940 when he kick-started his mission.
With him in that, mission was his nephew, Sisir Bose as the co-conspirator and was all along with him in a car till he left the Indian soil he was in love.
Bose’s brother Sarat Chandra had left the Elgin Road house and moved to a home nearby, at Woodburn Street. Sarat’s son Sisir was Netaji’s chief co-conspirator in his grand escape plan.
As a smart way out to befool the British guards he avoided meeting the guards and grew beards wearing the looks of a Muslim and then stopped meeting anyone except Sisir who used regular visits that the guards were aware of and took that casually.
History may be blurry but as descriptions of that time would have all believe that, Netaji used a Sedan car, black in colour and Sisir was his driver in that great escape.
Wearing a long brown coat, he transformed himself to a typical Muslim with a loose Pyjama below. It was almost like a midnight pushing footing and to avoid the British guards from suspecting he, seated at the rear seat, kept his door open and Sisir closed his door with a bang so that, the guards were used to Sisir’s single drive visits.
Start of the mission
The night matured and at 1.30 am, amid the deadly silence, Netaji just entered the car while Sisir at the wheel.
Except the silence of the night, none saw them and they headed towards Gomoh in Bihar(now Jharkhand) after a late night dinner at a relative’s residence. Who knew that, the country’s most sought after was escaping in Kalka Mail. He headed to Peshawar where supporters of Aga Khan helped him to enter Russia.
Subas Chandra Bose came back to his self and changed his guise and travelled to Moscow using an Italian passport. From Moscow, he was taken to Rome, before finally reaching Germany in April 1941. He was able to meet Adolf Hitler only in 1942 His chemistry with Hitler could not be long as he never wanted to be a tool of Hitler against the British.
He travelled to Japan in February 1943 and formed the Azad Hind Fauj in Japan occupied Burma with the backing of the Japanese army. Netaji’s dream of liberating India didn’t become a reality as the Azad Hind Fauj saw defeat. But even so, the British never managed to re-capture him. Netaji is believed to have died in a plane crash in Taiwan in August 1945.
Today is his Jayanti and the nation remembers, although many do not know that, Netaji’s mentoring (including schooling) was in Odisha’s Cuttack as he used to live with his parents at their ancestral home Janaki Bhavan.
