O P Sharma
Subash Chandra Bose, also popularly known as Netaji, was one of the most prominent Indian nationalist leaders who relentlessly fought for attainment of India’s independence.
This great visionary is still adorned by the youth of this country. His birth anniversary is celebrated on January 23 every year with fervour and enthusiasm as a valiant fighter of the freedom struggle.
Bose, during his long freedom struggle, was imprisoned 11 times and also remained twice Congress president but following some differences, he opted out from the party in 1939.
The story of his escapades in early 1941 from house arrest in Kolkata forms the stirring chapter of the history; he managed to escape on January 19, 1941 in disguise from India to Afghanistan and then onwards to some European countries seeking support for freedom struggle against the British rule in India.
Visionary Leader
He turned to the Axis powers for help in gaining India’s independence. Later, he organized the Indian National Army (INA) and experimented with setting up a Provisional Government of Azad Hind. Bose’s effort, however, was short lived. During 1945, the British army ultimately drove Bose’s INA to surrender in Singapore area. The trials of the INA soldiers at Red Fort, Delhi, in late 1945 caused huge public response in India.
Subash Chandra Bose was born in a Bengali family on January 23, 1897 in Cuttack, Orissa ( then a part of Bengal Presidency) to Janakinath Bose, an advocate and Prabhavati Devi.
Courage of Conviction
He was a bright student and secured second position in Matriculation during 1911 and then got admitted to the Presidency College where his nationalistic temperament came to light when he was expelled for assaulting Professor Oaten for the latter’s anti-India comments. He joined Scottish Church College under University of Calcutta and passed his B.A. in 1918, after a year Subash Chandra Bose left India in 1919 for England with a promise to his father that he would appear in the Indian Civil Services Examination (ICS). He fulfilled his word by standing fourth in the ICS examination but he declined to serve the alien British Government. After returning to India, he started a newspaper Swaraj and also associated himself with noted Congress leader Chittaranjan Das.
Bose was elected the President of All India Youth Congress and also the Secretary of Bengal State Congress in 1923 and became editor, ‘Forward’, founded by Chittaranjan Das. In a roundup of nationalists in 1925, Bose was arrested and sent to prison in Mandalay. After being released from prison during 1927, Bose became general secretary of the Congress party and worked with Jawaharlal Nehru. Again Bose was arrested and jailed for civil disobedience; this time he emerged to become Mayor of Calcutta in 1930. During the mid-1930s Bose travelled in Europe, visiting Indian students and European politicians.
Translating Dreams
He stood for unqualified Swaraj (self-governance), including even the use of force against the British. This meant a confrontation with Mahatma Gandhi, who in fact opposed Bose’s presidency in 1939. He was elected Congress president again but after a short while resigned.
Subsequently he established a separate political party, the All India Forward Bloc on June 22, 1939. Netaji always continued to call for the full and immediate independence of India from British rule.
However, when Bose met Hitler in May 1942, his suspicions were confirmed, and he came to believe that the Nazi leader was more interested in using his men to win propaganda victories than military ones. So, in February 1943, Bose turned his back on his venture and slipped secretly away aboard a submarine bound for Japan. Bose had spent almost three years in Berlin, Germany from 1941 until 1943.
His Legacy lives
The idea of a liberation army was mooted by Subash Chandra Bose in July, 1943 and the INA was reorganized with the massive support of the Indians on Bose’s calls for sacrifice for the national cause. INA had a separate women’s unit, the Rani of Jhansi Regiment (named after Rani Lakshmi Bai).
On July 6, 1944, in a speech broadcast by the Azad Hind Radio from Singapore, Bose addressed Mahatma Gandhi as the “Father of the Nation” and asked for his blessings and good wishes for the war he was fighting. This was the first time that Gandhi was referred to by this appellation. Netaji most famous quote was “Give me blood, and I shall give you freedom!”
His other famous quotes were Dilli Chalo (On to Delhi) and also Jai Hind (Glory to India) which Government of India has now adopted. Other slogan coined by Bose was Ittefaq, Etemad, Qurbani. INA also used the slogan Inquilab Zindabad.
It was reported that Bose “died” in a plane crash in Taiwan. But this has been disputed and the mystery of his death is still not fully solved or set at rest despite some
Commissions setup by the Indian Government to probe into his death. Bose was reported to have “died” in a plane crash at Taihoku (Taipei), Taiwan, on August 18, 1945. But a deep mystery surrounded about his death which could not be convincingly solved or put to rest despite some Enquiry Commissions set up by the Indian Government. But all said and done Subash Chander Bose still lives in the hearts of millions of people in India and across the globe for his outstanding contribution in attainment of freedom, his wide vision and matchless bravery as also sacrifices.
(Starline Syndicate Service)
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