Why did the Government of India reject the JMCI Report? And how Justice M.K.Mukherjee failed the Bose family and the nation!

JUSTICE MUKHERJEE COMMISSION OF INQUIRY (JMCI) ON ALLEGED DISAPPEARANCE OF NETAJI – FOUR FUNDAMENTAL ERRORS
The JMCI conclusion of no air crash at Taihoku Taiwan on 18 August 1945 is based on a glaring misrepresentation of existing evidence from a first-hand witness. Netaji aide and fellow traveller on the doomed aircraft Habibur Rahman, did NOT testify to the earlier Shah Nawaz Committee of 1956 (as witness SW4) that the aircraft nose-dived from 12-14,000 feet! (page 207 of Shah Nawaz Report and pages 52 and 89 of JMCI Report.)

The Government of the Republic of China/Taiwan did NOT advise Justice Mukherjee or anyone else that there was no air crash. They said rather that they had no evidence in their records of such a crash – not surprising given that Japanese civilian and military forces remained in full control of Taiwan until withdrawal in late October 1945, and that such records will obviously be found in Japan and not Taiwan! (page 272 of JMCI Report.)

The contention of Justice Mukherjee in the JMCI Report (page 94) that local newspapers in Taiwan did not carry news of any 18 August 1945 plane crash is NOT true. Indian journalist and author of the book “Gallant End of Netaji”, Harin Shah, confirmed to the Shah Nawaz Committee that two local Chinese newspapers (which he names as “Taiwan Didi Shimpao” or “Taiwan Daily”, and “Shin Tsung Pao” or “New Life Daily”) had done just that, and that a brief obituary had also appeared (pages 283-286 of Shah Nawaz Committee Report).

The Head Priest of Renkoji Temple in Japan the Reverend Mochizuki did NOT deny access to the reported remains of Netaji, nor did he nor the Governments of India and Japan hinder efforts to initiate DNA testing of those remains. Indeed the Reverend Mochizuki expressly informed the Government of India through its Ambassador in Tokyo that he had “no objection to a DNA test being conducted on the mortal remains in his custody” and would be “willing to hand over to India the casket containing the ashes” (pages 220-221 of JMCI Report). Justice Mukherjee himself decided not to proceed with DNA testing (pages 30-31 of JMCI Report).

20 August 2022