Famous Indians who disappeared

Subhas Chandra Bose

Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose was the most famous anti-hero of the Indian freedom fight. He was the ninth child among fourteen siblings. His youth was a lot similar to any IIT aspirant today, searching for the best schools, studying hard, topping every exam he ever gave. He was 4th in the country in Indian Civil Services examination of 1920. But then Jallianwalla Bagh happened. He realized that being a civil services officer under British rule is doing as much good as Manmohan Singh being prime minister, so he resigned his job and joined the Indian National Congress (INC). He also started a newspaper and was elected to be president of All India Youth Congress in Bengal then he got arrested for civil disobedience, became the mayor of Calcutta, traveled through Europe and wrote a book called 'The Indian Struggle' to increase awareness of the independence movement. So basically all the things in the checklist of how to be awesome. 

      However, it did not turn out all that well. See, Bose believed in using violence to fight violence, unlike Mahatma Gandhi he was deeply impressed by the methodological approach and disciplinarian outlook of the British, he just did not like their subjugation. In other words if Gandhi was the bald Professor X of our freedom fight Bose was Magneto. Things went bad when World War 2 broke out. Lord Linlithgow declared war on behalf of India mobilizing thousands of Indian soldiers without consulting the INC. Bose did not like this usage of Indian soldiers as cannon fodder and organized mass disobedience protests in Calcutta. He was arrested again but released quickly to be kept under constant surveillance. Soon Bose escaped to Germany under disguise, and was welcomed by the Nazi. Despite their murderous hatred toward anyone that does not look like them the Nazis were surprisingly supportive when he asked them to help fight the British in India. They also funded Azad Hind Radio and helped gather 4500 Indian war prisoners who previously fought for the British, under an organization called Indian Freedom Legion in Berlin. During all this great "support" they were also abundantly clear about the fact that the control of the Indian legion lies with German armed forces whilst stating Bose's overall leadership of India. Bose read between the lines when he met the Nazi leader Hitler, that his motive was to use Indian soldiers for a war against Russia and not to win any independence wars for India.

       After this he left Germany and headed for Japan. The Japanese also had an history of using Indian Army as a pawn in the propaganda game. They also didn't exactly trust Bose's military skills but when he reached south east Asia he took over the reins and motivated the Indian Army Legions with his famous slogans "Give me blood, and I shall give you independence" and "Jai Hind". INA and the Japanese army invaded British India from the north east boundary of Manipal for a military victory over British but failed eventually. The greatest irony in this case was the British Indian army consisted mostly of Indians and the INA consisted of Indians. We were probably the only country which fought for both sides in World War 2. There must have been weirdest headlines the next day, " Many Indians died on both sides in a war between Japan and Great Britain." Congress leaders such as Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru recognized Bose as a patriot but also distanced him from the INC due to his association with fascism. Typical Indian relatives right? you be a good boy all your life no one even cares but go on one lousy date with Hitler, everybody hates you now. However Bose refused to surrender and escaped to the Soviet Union which was freshly turning anti-British. But his flight crashed in Taiwan giving him third degree burns. He died a short time after that in a hospital near Taihoku.
       This accident however was falsely reported by the media so many times with insufficient detail that many people in Bengal believed that Bose was indeed alive and in Soviet's custody. Conspiracy theorists had a field day telling people that he escaped death. People are always at denial of the truth they cannot face.

Famous Indians who Disappeared: Nana Sahib

 Nana Sahib

   Nana Sahib was the adopted son of Peshwar Baji Rao II (donno if its the same guy from the ridiculous movie which glorified infidelity) from a not-so-great time in Indian history i.e the British Rule. Peshwar just lost the third maratha war and was super bummed about the fact that he had to "maintain" the province of Kanpur with the pocket money that British provide. Adding to his disappointment Lord Dalhouise had just introduced 'Doctrine of Lapse' which was a fancy British accent way of saying "If you croak before you have a son or do anything other than what we say, your kingdom will be ours bitch". So when finally Peshwar said goodbye to the world, the British not only refused to give his pension but also disapproved Nana Sahib's rise to throne in Kanpur. This obviously pissed people off and led to the Indian Rebellion of 1857.

      The rebellion went great for the first couple of months. Nana Sahib and troops successfully took over the British treasury in Kanpur( then known as Cownpore) then closed in on the East India Company's entrenchment maintained by General Wheeler. After starving and getting sunburned for almost 20 days in the entrenchment, General Wheeler agreed to surrender if promised a save passage to Allahabad. This was a huge moment for every sepoy present there as it coincided with the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Plassey. So, the deal was signed and General Wheeler walked out of the entrenchment with the remaining of his European friends and headed down to the Satichaura Ghat where they planned on taking boats to Allahabad. But 'accidental' rifle fire broke out from the angry sepoys as soon the the boats started to drift. There is always that one guy with twitchy trigger fingers who ruins things for all of us, right? No one knows till this date if this was a carefully planned massacre or adrenaline filled confusion.The gathering around the lake consisted of escaped soldiers who witnessed their entire families being killed by the Company's troops.

      Anyhow coming back to our boat ride gone wild, all the remaining men including Wheeler were executed after properly saying required prayers because it was as God intended, and around 200 women and children were taken captive with an idea of using them as hostage in future negotiations. But this did not sit well with the big dogs waiting for Wheeler in Allahabad. They sent troops to recapture Kanpur even though it meant killing everything that moves. General Havelock who was in charge of this force, defeated the armies of Nana Sahib at every check point resulting in massive bone breaking on both sides. Finally it became clear that all negotiations have failed and Kanpur will be recaptured. Not knowing what to do with the hostages, Nana Sahib 'allegedly' ordered the Indian soldiers to shoot them. After multiple attempts to persuade him not to kill women and children the soldiers finally gave in and shot the captives through the holes in the boarded windows. Nana Sahib reportedly threatened his soldiers with the 'Do or Die' policy but left the building not wanting to witness the massacre. Weird, right?. Then the dead/injured were thrown into a dry well just like in Murder 2 folks. Knowing this Havelock retaliated with wiping off entire villages and setting them on fire in his way. When the Company finally marched into Kanpur, Nana Sahib fled his Palace leaving everything as it is. Havelock occupied it with zero resistance.

       Nana Sahib was assumed to have fled to Nepal. A lot of people claim to have met him in the interior parts of Nepal. Many prison enthusiasts have turned themselves in to the British claiming to be aged Sahib in the following years. Though many written authentic accounts of Nana's death were discovered none were confirmed till date. His fate still remains a mystery.