10th August 2020

 Musings.......

Freedom Fighters - Part 10 

Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose 

Born in Cuttack, then in Bengal Province in 1897 into an affluent family, Bose was educated in Calcutta and attained a degree in philosophy.  

Bose was influenced by the teachings of Swami Vivekananda and Ramakrishna Paramahamsa after reading their works at the age of 16 years. 

Subhash Chandra Bose came fourth in the Indian Civil Service (ICS) examination in 1921,  which he wrote as his father wanted him to,  but did not join as he did not want to work under the alien British Government.

The same year he returned to India and joined the Indian National Congress (INC). He started the newspaper "Swaraj". His mentor in Congress was Chittaranjan Das who was Bengal provincial Congress president. 

In 1923, Bose was elected President of All India Youth Congress and Secretary of Bengal Congress. It was during this time in 1927 that Bose was deported to Mandalay for a short period by the British where he contracted Tuberculosis. 

After release from prison in 1927, Bose became the National General Secretary of Congress and worked with Nehru for Independence. He organized the Annual Meeting of INC in Calcutta in 1928 and organized the Congress Volunteer Corps which was memorable. 

Subhash Bose was arrested during the Civil Disobedience Movement. In 1930 he became the Mayor of Bengal. 

In mid 1930s he visited Europe and met with leaders including Benito Mussolini. During this time he wrote the book " The Indian Struggle" covering Independence movement from 1920-1934. The British Government banned the book subsequently. 

In 1937 after returning to India Bose was elected Congress President. He  stated his opinion that he stood for unqualified Swaraj, including the use of force against the British. 

This led to his confrontation with Mahatma Gandhi who was always against the use of force and violence. This drift also divided Bose and Nehru. 

In 1939, Bose was elected Congress President again after defeating Gandhis candidate Pattabhi Sitaramayya. 

The Congress Working Committee was however opposed to Bose and he resigned. 

There are accounts which seem to suggest that Subhash Bose was bewildered by the amount of support he received while he was Congress President. Also his re-election in 1939 made a false belief in him. He wanted Indian National Congress to officially take the path of Violence against the British which was not possible with Gandhi and Nehru alive. 

Subhash Chandra Bose organized the All India Forward Block in 1939 with the aim of consolidating the political left. It is history that Bose could not find resonance or traction among Indians politically. It seems Bose had misread his mass public support as Congress President as to be his own. 

Bose believed that an Independent India needed socialist authoritarianism, on the lines of Turkey's Kemal Ataturk. 

On the outbreak of World War, Bose tried to convince Gandhi for a mass civil disobedience movement against the British for Independence. The Allied powers headed by the British were fighting the Nazi Germany. Striking at a time when Britain was at war with a Fascist country was not accepted by Gandhi and Congress who believed the cause of war was just. 

Bose organized a mass protest in Calcutta for which he was jailed by the British and released when he started a hunger strike. His house was kept under CID surveillance. 

After his release from jail in 1941, Bose escaped to Germany via Afghanistan and the Soviet Union. 

In Germany he broadcast on the German sponsored Azad Hind Radio. He founded the Free India Centre in Berlin and created the Indian Legion ( of 4500 soldiers ) out of Indian prisoners who had fought for the British in North Africa before being captured by Germany. 

It was here that he was first called “Netaji” by the the Indian soldiers of Indian Legion. 

Netaji planned and believed in a German invasion of India after which an Independent India would be formed under his leadership. Many have doubted his judgement here as it would have been unlikely that the Germans would leave India, which also would have resulted in Germany winning the war. 

Netaji was disheartened when Germany attacked the Soviet union for two reasons. Firstly,  he was left wing admirer of Russia and secondly, that fact that now a German invasion of India was out of the question as the German army was retreating. 

His fears were confirmed after he met Hitler in person in 1942 when he got to.know that the Germans had no interest in invading India but was using him as a propaganda tool. 

In 1943, Bose left for Japan from Germany in a German U boat. 

The Indian National Army (INA) was initially a Japanese brainchild to raise an army which would fight alongside the Japanese Army. Pritam Singh Dhillon and Mohan Singh along with Japanese formed the INA in 1942. 

In 1943 after the arrival of Bose to the Far East,  Rash Behari Bose heading the India Independence League, gave the reigns of the organization to Netaji in Singapore. 

In 1943, Netaji revived his Azad Hind Fauj (INA) with recruitment of 60000 Indians from Burma, Malaya and other Southeast Asian countries. 

In a motivational speech in 1944 to INA recruits Netaji said the now famous quote " Give me blood and I shall give you freedom!". 

The troops of INA were under the Azad Hind Government, which produced it's own currency, postage stamps, court and civil code with Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose at its helm. 

The Azad Hind Government was recognized at one time by nine Axis states(  Germany, Japan, Italy, Croatia, Wang Jingwei regime in Nanjing,China, Burma, Manchuko and Japanese controlled Philippines). 

The INAs Bahadur group fought along with the  Japanese in Manipur and Indias North-East. 

The Japanese took control of Andaman and Nicobar islands in 1942 and INA Provincial Government was formed. The islands were renamed Shaheed and Swaraj. 

The Indian Tricolour was raised for thr first time in Moirang, in Manipur. 

In 1944 in a speech broadcast by Azad Hind Radio from Singapore, Netaji addressed Mahatma Gandhi as the " Father of the Nation". 

After the Japanese lost Rangoon to  British led Allied forces, Subhash Chandra Bose dream of capturing India with Japanese help faded. 

Subhash Chandra Bose died apparently in a plane crash in present day Taiwan on 18th August 1945, though his supporters believed he was alive and many conspiracy theories have appeared. 

His famous quote "Dilli Chalo" was used to motivate the INA. "Jai Hind" was another one of his famous slogans. "Ittehad, Etemad, Qurbani" ( Urdu for Unity,Aggrement, Sacrifice). 

Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose was a great freedom fighter. Many political analysts and historians have noted that his association with fascist Germany and Imperial Japan to have left a complicated legacy for Netaji. 

Others have been sympathetic towards the realpolitik that guided his social and political choices. 

Food for Thought.......

RC