Col J P Singh, Retd
The story of Netaji is the story of Indian freedom struggle. He was an Indian nationalist whose defiant patriotism made him an extraordinary hero in Indian freedom movement. He possessed a great initiative, determination, drive and charisma. Many had immensely contributed in the freedom movement but Netaji did something extraordinarily different from others. He planned to free India from British rule during WW II with the help of Russia, Germany and Japan. Indian National Congress praised Netaji’s nationalism but distanced itself from his ideology, especially his collaboration with fascism. This story should be cherished more enthusiastically on 70th anniversary of independence on 26 January 2017. Reading between the lines, we wilI find the story extraordinarily tragic because despite all his brilliant strategic planning, the execution fell short of expectations landing him in a no-win : no-win situation time and again. The tragedy of freedom movement was that despite extraordinary struggles by so many including Mahatma Gandhi, in their own ways; only Netaji carried it overseas from Hitler’s Germany to Imperial Japan and Stalin’s Soviet Union, with one resolute thought ie how to liberate India by defeating British militarily. Unfortunately, he did not succeed in his noble mission. Yet he remains our icon, a symbol of courage and an enigma that lives in our mind. Hence it is far more important to discuss his life, works and struggle on every appropriate occasion, particularly on this 120th birth anniversary. While thinking of Netaji’s struggle for freedom, I recollect a stanza of an American poet;
Lives of great men all remind us,
We can make our lives sublime,
And the departing leave behind us,
Foot prints on the sands of their time.
Miraculous stories of escape, adventure, military campaigns and death of Netaji, heard from Capt (INA) Gandharb Singh, my father-in-law, convince me that the last line of the above stanza will be appropriate title for a tribute to an extraordinary hero of Indian Republic on 67th Republic Day.
Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose was born on 23 January 1897 at Cuttack, Orissa. In 1920s, he started his political life as a leader of radical wing of Indian National Congress and rose to be elected as president of Congress twice in 1938 and 1939. However due to difference with Mahatma Gandhi, he was ousted from the Presidentship after which he raised his own party ‘All India Forward Block’. Like Mahatma Gandhi, he was a leading crusader of Indian Independence Movement. Netaji is perhaps best known for his advocacy and leadership of an armed struggle against the British empire. He was a prominent hero of Indian independence movement, whose attempt during WW II to rid India of British rule with the help of Nazi Germany and Japan, and final dream of Russian help, has left a troubled legacy which continues haunting the nation.
In 1941, while under house arrest, Netaji secretly escaped to Germany via Afghanistan where Nazi leadership offered him unexpected support for the cause of Indian independence. A ‘Free India Centre and Free India Radio’ were established in Berlin on which Netaji could broadcast daily. He went to Germany hoping that it would continue its collaboration with Russia & Italy and Japan would join the front. He hoped that this mighty alliance would defeat British which will make India free. When Germany attacked Russia, Netaji’s long cherished dream was shattered. He wished to leave Germany and join hands with Japan. Hitler offered him a submarine. He took this submarine upto Madagascar from where he boarded Japanese submarine to disembark at Japanese held Sumatra in May 1943. Even after Japanese defeat, being an eternal optimist, he hoped that Communist Russia would certainly intervene militarily to free India from Imperialist British. Did he reach Russia is a mystery. Had he reached, would he have got Russian military help, is left to speculations. However the ideas were strategically realistic though logically flawed because Netaji had failed to critically analyse the situation preceding WW II. He could not assess Hitler’s strategy. He was shocked to discover that Russia was Hitler’s main target, not Britain. Moreover he had not objectively evaluated Japan’s military might which was not enough to fight the combined might of Britain and America. Netaji himself was not militarily strong. 3000 out of 4500 Indian soldiers who surrendered to Gen Rommel’s Afrika Corps, joined Netaji to aid a future German land invasion of India which didn’t happen. In the East situation was better. His call ‘give me blood, I will get you independence’ was taken enthusiastically. All the Singapore prisoners and Indians living in South East Asia joined Indian National Army (INA). With Japanese support, he revamped INA out of these soldiers and civilians which included my father-in-law and an uncle Hav Sewa Singh. He led this force in military campaigns against British troops upto Imphal and Kohima via Burma and hoisted Indian Flag on the liberated territory. However the luck didn’t favour him further. His military effort was short lived. In early 1945, British Army under Filed Marshal Slim first halted the INA and later devastated it. The INA was driven back to Malaya where it surrendered with the fall of Singapore. Netaji chose not to surrender with his forces but to escape to Manchuria with a view to seeking future in Russia. But before reaching Manchuria his plane is said to have crashed. Netaji had earlier formed ‘provisional govt of free India’ in Andaman-Nicobar Islands which he himself presided. He also gave the nation an Indian slogan ‘JAI HIND’ which was adopted as its salutation by the Indian Army. Netaji was a model of pluralism as INA represented all regions, ethnicity, religion and gender. When we review the whole saga of Netaji’s life and struggle, one is amazed to find how a great leader such as he came to such an impasse despite all his master strokes.
Netaji’s death has been widely accepted world over which Netaji’s family and large section of Indian society refused to accept. The mystery surrounding his death continues to haunt countrymen because of many anomalies and varying claims in various commission reports. My father-in-law escorted Netaji to Taihoku Airport, as his security officer, for alleged ill fated last journey. He also did not accept plane crash story. Many believe that Netaji reached Russia because no aviation records on the alleged plane crash existed in Taiwan. It is true that before and after surrender of INA, Netaji had asked Japanese authorities to facilitate his journey to Russia. Netaji asked them to take him upto Manchurian border from where he would enter Russia. That was agreed and that is why he boarded that ill fated plane. But there is no concrete proof of his reaching and staying in Russia. The debate over his death has intensified further after a report appeared in a Hindi daily ‘Hindustan’ claiming that Netaji spent his last days as a saint in a cave in Kathy village on the Varanasi-Gazipur stretch as saint Sadanand. From the process of declassification of files, and more disclosures coming out, the rumors shrouding his mysterious escape to Russia or death before that have yet not been unraveled once and for all. Russian links to the mystery, which still are still undisclosed, are very crucial to Indian psyche.
Netaji’s vision of equality and justice are relevant today. We are in a situation where his vision is needed in every sphere of tolerance, secularism and nationalism. Our region today is facing internal subversions and religious terrorism unleashed by Pak ISI and the new Islamic State. India is alarmingly infected. India should therefore be a nation of those whose heart beats for India with the same robust nationalism as Netaji and his INA followed. Then only we can defeat internal and external dangers. If Netaji appears alive today, I am sure he will tell the present leadership that they are betraying the Nation by failing to create robust nationalism. India has not only wasted heroes like Netaji, Sardar Patel and Lal Bahadur Shastri but many golden opportunities have been lost in the past. Netaji, whether lost or won, died or lived, undeniably left his foot prints on the overseas sands, which ironically have been swayed away by the winds. Every day is an appropriate occasion for Indian nation to assert faith in Netaji’s belief. Emulating him, premier Modi should built a pyramid of nationalism in Secular-Social-Democratic-Indian-Republic.
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