The mystery surrounding Gumnami Baba, once thought to be Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose in disguise, took an interesting turn last Saturday when a team from the Faizabad district administration began going through his belongings.
This Friday, about 600 copies of The Pioneer newspaper from various editions between 1983 and 1985, along with some other newspapers, and several others items were found in one of his trunks. So far a Rolex watch, some letters from Netaji’s family-members, a pair of spectacles and a uniform of the Azad Hind Fauj have been found in the boxes that have been opened since February 27.
Gumnami Baba, alias Bhagwanji, who died on September 16, 1985, spent the last days of his life in Ram Bhavan, a house in Faizabad, belonging to one Thakur Gurudutt Singh.
Following the Baba’s death, Netaji’s niece lalita Bose came to have a look at the material possessions of the man left in the house he lived in.
Sources said lalita Bose appeared convinced that Gumnami Baba was none other than Netaji himself and she sought safe custody of his possessions. Her 1986 petition in this regard came to judgment in 2013, with the lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court ordering the Uttar Pradesh Government to curate and preserve all the belongings of Gumnami Baba and also conduct an enquiry to establish the identity of the man.
The process for compliance with the HC’s order began in 2015 and two committees were formed to look into the details. On February 27, 2016, his belongings locked in 32 big and small trunks, were unlocked at the Faizabad treasury.
The boxes were opened before a 10-member administrative panel, led by Faizabad District Magistrate Yogeshwar Ram Mishra.
The team prepared an inventory of the Baba’s belongings along with photographs and videography of the proceedings.
According to Adheer Som, lucknow representative and researcher with the Delhi-based “Mission Netaji” group, several news items in The Pioneer’s editions were underlined with remarks written on them. “While other newspapers were also there in the box, the largest number of copies were from The Pioneer and it seems this newspaper was his favourite,” Som told The Pioneer over telephone from lucknow.
After making an inventory of the Baba’s belongings, they will be sent for chemical treatment and later placed in Ram Katha Sangrahalaya in Ayodhya.
According to a list and pictures posted by ‘Mission Netaji’ on Facebook, the boxes revealed that Baba had an amazing collection of books and periodicals.
Among the things found over the last two days are a copy of a 1973 July edition of Rashtra Dharam magazine, Book The last days of the British Raj (in English) by leonard Mosley, History of the Freedom Movement in India Part 1, 2 and 3 (English) by RC Majumdar, The Speeches of Charles Dickens (English) by R H Shepherd, copy of Hindi version of book Shiv and Shivling, copies of Atharv Ved Samhita in Bengali by Durgadas lahiri, Vivekananda Bani (Bengali) by Kumar Krishna Nandi, Sadhak Ramprasad by Swami Vivekananda, Bulletin of Netaji Research Bureau of January 1966, Freedom and after by Rabindranath Khan, Hindi copy of 30 years in Jail by Trailokya Nath Chakrovarty, Umar Khaiyyam ki Rubaiyan by Harivansh Rai Bachchan, Police manual in Hindi.
Apart from books, currency notes of Rs 1,2,5,10 stored in several packets, a copper kamandal (water pot), a big size magnifying glass, three foreign lighters and three thermometers kept in boxes, a Stove Burner Primus (Made in Sweden) and other parts, a pen (Made in USA), Jetter Refill, and a copying pencil were also found.
