Table of Contents
Introduction
In this article, we are going to discuss the mysterious deaths of these Indian Leaders.
1. Lal Bahadur Shastri
“Jai Jawan Jai Kisaan”
Birth Date – 2nd October 1904
Death Date– 11th January 1966
Cause of Death– Heart Attack
He was the first Indian Prime Minister to die while in office. Lal Bahadur Shastri and then Pakistan President Ayub Khan met in Tashkent for a summit that Soviet prime minister Alexei Kosygin organized. The Tashkent declaration was signed between India and between Pakistan at this summit, in which the two armies returned to their respective positions after the 1965 war, with India handing over the vital Haji Pir to Pakistan.
That night, Shastriji died of multiple heart attacks. His wife alleged that he was poisoned. Suspiciously, his body was blue after he died which points a finger at him for being poisoned and not dying of a heart attack. The butler who served Shahstri was arrested but was later freed due to lack of evidence.
In 2009, journalist Anuj Dhar requested the government to carry out a probe into the mysterious death of Shastri. A report was released after some days which said that the prime minister’s office has some documents related to Shastri’s death but they cannot be released in public as it would harm India’s foreign relations and create national unrest.
2. Subhash Chandra Bose
“Give me blood, and I shall give you freedom”
Birth Date – 23rd January 1897
Death Date – 18th August 1945
Cause of Death – A Plane Crash
The last days of one of India’s greatest sons Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose are still shrouded in mystery despite several commissions of inquiry. It was reported by the British government that Bose died in a plane crash in Taipei in 1945. He was charred to death. Another report said that he died in Siberia while he was taken captive by the Soviet army.
There are numerous tales spinning around Bose’s last days. One speculation is that Stalin and Molotov conversed over the decision to keep Bose in the Soviet Union or not.
Another series of rumors say that Bose was not in the plane that crashed in Taipei.
In 1956, the government set up the Shah Nawaz committee which visited Japan to investigate. But help from the Taiwanese was never sought. The ashes of Netaji are kept in the Renkoji monastery in Japan, but the Indian government is yet to bring them back fearing unrest in the country. The reports by Justice Mukherjee Commission were also termed irrelevant.
3. Sanjay Gandhi
Birth Date – 14th December 1946
Death Date – 23rd June 1980
Cause of Death – Air Crash
In the Delhi summer of 1980, Sanjay Gandhi, who had returned to power in the general elections, fresh from his victory in Amethi, and was wielding considerable clout in Indira Gandhi’s government died in an aircraft crash near Delhi’s Safdarjung airport. The trainer who was also flying with him died in the crash. Eyewitnesses said, Sanjay, a daredevil pilot, was doing acrobatics with his small aircraft when it plunged down. But there were others who smelled conspiracy behind this crash.
Conspiracy theorists say that Sanjay, who wielded unbelievable dominance over Indira Gandhi’s government, had his own set of enemies in politics, who plotted his death.
The aircraft plunged toward the ground and tailspin. The crash landing of the plane was an eyebrow-raising event. The plane did not catch fire or explode after hitting the ground, unlike any other crash landing.
Indira Gandhi was shell-shocked when she was told about her son’s death. She went to the crash site in search of Sanjay’s keyring and his wristwatch, but she could not find them. Conspiracy theorists say the keyrings and wristwatch were probably taken away by a relative.
These enthralling facts have drawn a cover of ambiguity over the causes behind Sanjay’s death.
4. Shyama Prasad Mookerjee
“Ek Vidhan, Ek Pradhan, Ek Nishan”
Birth Date – 6th July 1901
Death Date – 23rd June 1953
Cause of Death – Heart attack
Dr. Shyama Prasad Mukherjee was a political titan in his own right. A member of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru’s first cabinet, he left the government and founded the Bharatiya Jana Sangh, the political wing of RSS. Dr. Mookerjee’s death took place in inexplicable conditions. He was admitted to the hospital 90 days after his arrest due to his ailing condition. He was suffering from dry pleurisy and coronary problems and had already intimated doctors about his allergy to penicillin. Yet he was dispensed one.
He was against Congress’s decision over providing an independent status, a different emblem, and a separate Prime Minister to Kashmir under Article 370 of the Indian Constitution. “Ek desh me do nishan, do pradhan, nahin chalega, nahin chalega” was his slogan. Dr. Mookerjee was arrested in 1953 as soon as he entered Kashmir valley to stage protests. Due to his aggressive approach, it was rumored that the powers that be plotted to take away his life.
What raises eyebrows is the fact that no post-mortem was conducted on his body after his death. His body was directly flown to Kolkata and not sent to Delhi.
An inquiry commission was demanded to dig into the reasons behind Dr. Mookerjee’s death. But Nehru provided no heed to any such demands ignoring Mookerjee’s mother’s repeated requests.
The former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee even alleged that Dr. Mookerjee died due to negligence committed by Jawahar Lal Nehru.
5. Sardar Beant Singh
Birth Date – 1922
Death Date – 31st August 1995
Cause of Death – Assassinated via car bombing by a suicide bomber
The former Punjab Chief Minister, credited with the end of Khalistani terrorism in Punjab, was killed in a huge blast outside the state secretariat in 1995. There were 14 others including three commandos who died with the chief minister. Beant Singh was popular for bringing Punjab back to a peaceful state and putting an end to separatists. The militants who planted the bomb were later arrested.