"Patriot of Patriots", this is what Mahatma Gandhi described
Subhash Chandra Bose. Subhash Chandra Bose was a brilliant young man set
for a glittering future in the Indian Civil Services when he chose to
dedicate himself to the Indian National movement instead. Beginning as
youth Congressman, Bose tired of Gandhian politics and organised the Azad
Hind Fauj to defeat the British during World War II. Inspite of the defeat
of the Azad Hind Fauj, Subhash Chandra Bose won an immortal place in
Indian History. "Jai-Hind" was his battle cry and he roused the
nation to a great patriotic heights.
Early Life of Subhash
Chandra Bose
Born in a Bengali family on January 23,
1897, at Cuttak in Orissa, Subhash Chandra Bose spent sixteen years of his
life there. His father Jankinath Bose was an able public lawyer and
believed in orthodox nationalism. He was a public prosecutor in Cuttak and
later became a member of the Bengal Legislative Council. With eight
brothers and six sisters, Subhash's family was large bust a disciplined
one. Subhash loved to read and was fascinated with religious truth and
self-control. He used to do social service. After reading Vivekananda's
writings, selfless service became his motto.
Subhash Chandra Bose was even expelled
from the college which at it turned out was the turning point of his
career. Recognising his son's intellect, Subhash Chandra Bose's father was
determined that Bose should become a high ranking Indian Civil Servant. He
went to England for further studies. In 1920, Bose passed the Civil
Service open examination and stood fourth. Though Bose excelled at all the
prescribed courses in India and England, he was determined to join the
struggle for India's freedom. Bose joined the Congress and was
particularly active in its youth wing. He resigned from the Indian Civil
Service in April 1921.
After returning to India, Subhash went to
Gandhiji. But his ideas did not match with that of Gandhiji's belief in
non-violence. So he left and returned to Calcutta to work under CR Das,
the Bengali freedom fighter. In 1921, Bose organised a boycott of the
celebrations to mark the Prince of Wales' visit to India. This led to his
being imprisoned. In April 1924, Bose was elected the Chief Executive
Officer of the newly constituted Calcutta Corporation. Later, in October,
Bose was arrested as one of the suspected terrorist. First, he was in
Alipore jail and later exiled to Mandalay in Burma.
In June 1925, Bose was deeply struck by
the sudden loss of his leader CR Das. In end-1926, he was nominated as a
candidate for the Bengal Legislative Assembly. On May 16, 1927 he was
released from jail due to ill-health. The two years in Mandalay gave him
lot of confidence and strength. By December 1927, Bose with Jawaharlal
Nehru became the the General Secretary of the Congress. In January 23,
1930, Bose was once again arrested for leading an "Independence
" procession. After released from jail on September 25, he was Mayor
of Calcutta.
In 1932, Bose visited Vienna for medical
reasons and there he was deeply influenced by Vithaldas Patel, another
Indian freedom fighter. They recognised the need for collaboration between
Indian nationalists and countries opposed to Britain and in their joint
manifesto they proclaimed, "Non-co-operation cannot be given up but
the form of non-co-operation will have to be changed into a more militant
one and the fight for freedom waged on all fronts." In October 1933,
Vithalbhai Patel died and left Bose with lot of money for spreading the
knowledge of India abroad.
| After the death of Vithalbhai
Patel, Subhash Chandra Bose's aim was to spread India's message
abroad. He wrote of India's rights and asking people to help him
fight against the injustices. He organised Students' Association
which was to help Indians all over the continent. In November
1934, Bose published his own account of Indian nationalism in a
book called "The Indian Struggle".
In March 1936, Bose announced
that he was returning back and on April 8, 1936, when he reached
Bombay, he was arrested and was released on March 17, 1937.
Gandhiji proposed him to become the President of the Congress. In
1938 ad 1939 Bose became President of the Indian National
Congress, but his views were increasingly more militant than
anything the Gandhians envisioned. Finally, Bose left the Congress
with the Forward Bloc. The "Forward Bloc" was organised
on Bose's own militaristic lines: it proclaimed his revolutionary
ideas. He used to openly speak against the Congress and that the
Congress was a dictatorship not very different from Hitler's.
Bose Escapes From India
Bose was arrested again on July
2, 1940. Later he was allowed to go home (under house-arrest) for
he had refused to live if not released. On January 17, 1941, a car
drew up near Bose's home in Calcutta and while everyone was
asleep, Bose slipped out of his house. Disguised as a Muslim
religious teacher, Bose moved away unnoticed with his nephew Sisir
Kumar Bose.
He went to Kabul and then to
Afghanistan. Bose's disappearance became known in Calcutta on
January 26, 1941, the day of his trial. On March 18, he got his
false passport done in the name of Orlando Massota and set out for
Russia. and finally on March 28, 1941 Bose flew to Berlin. The
Azad Hind Army and Azad Hind Government : Subhash Chandra Bose
believed that by allying with the Germans and Japanese during
World War II, the Indian nationalists would be able to topple the
British regime in India. Receiving assurances of German support,
Bose then went to Japan and finally Singapore where he established
the Azad Hind government. This Provisional Government of Oct 1943
received recognition from Japan, Italy and Germany. Bose also took
charge of the Azad Hind Army which had been organised by
Rashibihari Bose.
As per plan, the Azad Hind Army
attacked the North Eastern Frontiers of British India, but by 1944
the Axis powers were losing the war and the Azad Hind Army lost
the Imphala Campaign. This was a tremendous blow to Bose, who
"Chalo Delhi" slogan had caused much hope of the INA
liberating India.
Death and Legacy In August
1945, Bose boarded a Japanese military plane to travel from
Singapore to Japan. But somewhere over Formosa his plane crashed
and Bose was presumed dead. Since then, numerous theories have
been proposed about his disappearance -- that he remained in
cognito in exile, that he was captured by the Russian army and
more recently that he survived for a few days but died and was
cremated in Japan.
Much controversy surrounds Bose's
tactic of garnering German support during the war, given the
atrocities committed by German and Japanese forces. But given his
fervour for Indian Independence, perhaps Bose's actions can be
understood as that of a patriot using any available measure to
fight imperialism. The staunch support that INA members received
from the Indian public during their trials in Delhi only
reinforced the widespread deep admiration for Bose's bravery. His
untimely disappearance only escalated the high esteem in which
Netaji was held
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