Subhas Chandra Bose ( listen (help·info); 23 January 1897 – unknown) also known

as Netaji (Respected Leader), was one of the most prominent Indian nationalist leaders who attempted to

gain India's independence from British rule by force during the waning years of World War II with the help

of the Axis powers.

Bose, who had been ousted from the Indian National Congress in 1939 following differences with the

more conservative high command,[1]

and subsequently placed under house arrest by the British, escaped

from India in early 1941.[2]

He turned to the Axis powers for help in gaining India's independence by

force.[3]

With Japanese support, he organised the Indian National Army (INA), composed largely of Indian

soldiers of the British Indian army who had been captured in the Battle of Singapore by the Japanese. As

the war turned against them, the Japanese came to support a number of countries to form provisional

governments in the captured regions, including those in Burma, the Philippines and Vietnam, and in

addition, the Provisional Government of Azad Hind, presided by Bose.[3]

Bose's effort, however, was short

lived; in 1944 the British army first halted and then reversed the Japanese U Go offensive, beginning the

successful part of the Burma Campaign. The INA was driven down the Malay Peninsula, and surrendered

with the recapture of Singapore in 1945. It was reported that Bose died soon thereafter from third degree

burns received after attempting to escape in an overloaded Japanese plane which crashed in

Taiwan,[4]

which is disputed.[5]

The trials of the INA soldiers at Red Fort, Delhi, in late 1945 caused huge

public response in India.[6][7]

Clement Attlee, the British Prime Minister during whose rule India became independent, mentioned that

INA activities of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose (which weakened the Indian Army – the very foundation of

the British Empire in India) and the Royal Indian Navy mutiny in 1946[8][9][10][11]

were major reasons that

made the British realise that they were no longer in a position to rule India.[12]

Contents

[hide]

1 Early life

2 National politics

o 2.1 Indian National Congress

o 2.2 All India Forward Bloc

3 Escape from British India to Germany and Japan

4 Leadership of Azad Hind Fauj and later events

5 Disappearance and alleged death

o 5.1 Bose mystery in contemporary India

o 5.2 Books on the mystery

6 Ideology and philosophy

o 6.1 Political philosophy

7 Desh Prem Divas

8 Legacy

o 8.1 Bose's chair at Red Fort

9 Artistic depictions

10 See also

11 References

o 11.1 Notes

o 11.2 Citations

o 11.3 Books cited

12 Further reading

13 External links

Early life[edit source | editbeta]

Bose as a student in England. Circa1920.

Subhas Chandra Bose was born on 23 January 1897 in Cuttack (presently in the Odisha state) then a

part of Bengal Presidency, to Janakinath Bose, anadvocate and Prabhavati Devi.[13]

His parents' ancestral

house was at Kodalia village (near Baruipur; now known as Shubhashgram, South 24 Parganas,West

Bengal).[14]

He was the ninth child of a total of fourteen siblings. He studied at the Stewart School,

Cuttack, an Anglo school, until the seventh standard and then shifted to the Ravenshaw Collegiate

School. After securing the second position in the matriculation examination of Calcutta province in 1911,

he got admitted to the Presidency College where he studied briefly.[15]

His nationalistic temperament

came to light when he was expelled for assaulting Professor Oaten for the latter's anti-India comments.

He later joined the Scottish Church College at the University of Calcutta and passed his B.A. in 1918 in

philosophy.[16]

Subhas Chandra Bose left India in 1919 for Great Britain with a promise to his father that

he would appear in the Indian Civil Services Examination (ICS). He went to study in Fitzwilliam College,

Cambridge, and matriculated on 19 November 1919. He came fourth in the ICS examination and was

selected but he did not want to work under an alien government which would mean serving the British. He

resigned from the civil service job and returned to India.[17]

He started the newspaper Swaraj and took

charge of publicity for the Bengal Provincial Congress Committee.[18]

His mentor was Chittaranjan

Das who was a spokesman for aggressive nationalism in Bengal. In the year 1923, Bose was elected the

President of All India Youth Congress and also the Secretary of Bengal State Congress. He was also

editor of the newspaper "Forward", founded by Chittaranjan Das.[19]

Bose worked as the CEO of

the Calcutta Municipal Corporation for Das when the latter was elected mayor of Calcutta in 1924.[17]

In a

roundup of nationalists in 1925, Bose was arrested and sent to prison in Mandalay, where he

contracted tuberculosis.[20]

National politics[edit source | editbeta]

Indian National Congress[edit source | editbeta]

Mohandas K. Gandhi at the Indian National Congress annual meeting 1938 when Bose was President of Congress Party.

In 1927, after being released from prison, Bose became general secretary of the Congress party and

worked with Jawaharlal Nehru for independence. Again Bose was arrested and jailed for civil

disobedience; this time he emerged to become Mayor of Calcutta in 1930.[20]

During the mid-1930s Bose

travelled in Europe, visiting Indian students and European politicians, including Benito Mussolini. He

observed party organisation and saw communism and fascism in action.[citation needed]

By 1938 Bose had

become a leader of national stature and agreed to accept nomination as Congress president.

He stood for unqualified Swaraj (self-governance), including the use of force against the British. This

meant a confrontation with Mohandas Gandhi, who in fact opposed Bose's presidency,[21]

splitting

the Indian National Congress party. Bose attempted to maintain unity, but Gandhi advised Bose to form

his own cabinet. The rift also divided Bose and Nehru. Bose appeared at the 1939 Congress meeting on

a stretcher. He was elected president again over Gandhi's preferred candidate Pattabhi

Sitaramayya.[22]

U. Muthuramalingam Thevar strongly supported Bose in the intra-Congress dispute.

Thevar mobilised all south India votes for Bose.[23]

However, due to the manoeuvrings of the Gandhi-led

clique in the Congress Working Committee, Bose found himself forced to resign from the Congress

presidency.[24]

All India Forward Bloc[edit source | editbeta]

Main article: All India Forward Bloc

On 22 June 1939 Bose organised the Forward Bloc,[25]

aimed at consolidating the political left, but its

main strength was in his home state, Bengal. U Muthuramalingam Thevar, who was disillusioned by the

official Congress leadership which had not revoked the Criminal Tribes Act (CTA), joined the Forward

Bloc. When Bose visited Madurai on 6 September, Thevar organised a massive rally as his reception.

His correspondence reveals that despite his clear dislike for British subjugation, he was deeply impressed

by their methodical and systematic approach and their steadfastly disciplinarian outlook towards life. In

England, he exchanged ideas on the future of India with British Labour Party leaders and political thinkers

like Lord Halifax, George Lansbury, Clement Attlee, Arthur Greenwood, Harold Laski, J.B.S.

Haldane, Ivor Jennings, G.D.H. Cole, Gilbert Murray and Sir Stafford Cripps . He came to believe that a

free India needed socialist authoritarianism, on the lines of Turkey's Kemal Atatürk, for at least two

decades. Bose was refused permission by the British authorities to meet Atatürk at Ankara for political

reasons. During his sojourn in England, only the Labour Party and Liberal politicians agreed to meet with

Bose when he tried to schedule appointments. Conservative Party officials refused to meet Bose or show

him courtesy because he was a politician coming from a colony. In the 1930s leading figures in the

Conservative Party had opposed even Dominion status for India. It was during the Labour Party

government of 1945–1951, with Attlee as the Prime Minister, that India gained independence. On the

outbreak of war, Bose advocated a campaign of mass civil disobedience to protest against Viceroy Lord

Linlithgow's decision to declare war on India's behalf without consulting the Congress leadership. Having

failed to persuade Gandhi of the necessity of this, Bose organised mass protests inCalcutta calling for the

'Holwell Monument' commemorating the Black Hole of Calcutta, which then stood at the corner of

Dalhousie Square, to be removed.[26]

He was thrown in jail by the British, but was released following a

seven-day hunger strike. Bose's house in Calcutta was kept under surveillance by the CID.[27]

Escape from British India to Germany and Japan[edit source | editbeta]

Bose's arrest and subsequent release set the scene for his escape to Germany, via Afghanistan and the

Soviet Union. A few days before his escape, he sought solitude and on this pretext avoided meeting

British guards and grew a beard on the night of his escape, he dressed as a Pathan to avoid being

identified. Bose escaped from under British surveillance at his house in Calcutta. On 19 January 1941,

accompanied by his nephew Sisir K. Bose in a car that is now on display at his Calcutta home.[28][29]

The car Bose fled in on display at his house (now a museum) in Kolkata.

Subhas Chandra Bose (2nd from left) with Heinrich Himmler (right), 1942)

He journeyed to Peshawar with the help of the Abwehr, where he was met by Akbar Shah, Mohammed

Shah and Bhagat Ram Talwar. Bose was taken to the home of Abad Khan, a trusted friend of Akbar

Shah's. On 26 January 1941, Bose began his journey to reach Russia through British India's North West

frontier with Afghanistan. For this reason, he enlisted the help of Mian Akbar Shah, then a Forward Bloc

leader in the North-West Frontier Province. Shah had been out of India en route to the Soviet Union, and

suggested a novel disguise for Bose to assume. Since Bose could not speak one word of Pashto, it would

make him an easy target of Pashto speakers working for the British. For this reason, Shah suggested that

Bose act deaf and dumb, and let his beard grow to mimic those of the tribesmen. Bose's guide Bhagat

Ram Talwar, unknown to him, was a Soviet agent.[28][29][30]

Supporters of the Aga Khan III helped him across the border into Afghanistan where he was met by an

Abwehr unit posing as a party of road construction engineers from the Organization Todt who then aided

his passage across Afghanistan via Kabul to the border with Soviet Russia. After assuming the guise of

a Pashtun insurance agent ("Ziaudddin") to reach Afghanistan, Bose changed his guise and travelled to

Moscow on the Italian passport of an Italian nobleman "Count Orlando Mazzotta". From Moscow, he

reached Rome, and from there he travelled to Germany.[28][29][31]

Once in Russia the NKVD transported

Bose to Moscow where he hoped that Russia's traditional enmity to British rule in India would result in

support for his plans for a popular rising in India. However, Bose found the Soviets' response

disappointing and was rapidly passed over to the German Ambassador in Moscow, Count von der

Schulenburg. He had Bose flown on to Berlin in a special courier aircraft at the beginning of April where

he was to receive a more favorable hearing from Joachim von Ribbentrop and the Foreign Ministry

officials at the Wilhelmstrasse.[28][29][32]

The crew of Japanese submarine I-29 after the rendezvous with German submarine U-180 300 sm southeast

ofMadagascar; Bose is at bottom left (28 April 1943)

In Germany, he instituted the Special Bureau for India under Adam von Trott zu Solz, broadcasting on the

German-sponsored Azad Hind Radio. He founded the Free India Center in Berlin, and created the Indian

Legion (consisting of some 4500 soldiers) out of Indian prisoners of war who had previously fought for the

British in North Africa prior to their capture by Axis forces. The Indian Legion was attached to the

Wehrmacht, and later transferred to the Waffen SS. Its members swore the following allegiance to Hitler

and Bose: "I swear by God this holy oath that I will obey the leader of the German race and state, Adolf

Hitler, as the commander of the German armed forces in the fight for India, whose leader is Subhas

Chandra Bose". This oath clearly abrogates control of the Indian legion to the German armed forces

whilst stating Bose's overall leadership of India. He was also, however, prepared to envisage an invasion

of India via the USSR by Nazi troops, spearheaded by the Azad Hind Legion; many have questioned his

judgment here, as it seems unlikely that the Germans could have been easily persuaded to leave after

such an invasion, which might also have resulted in an Axis victory in the War.[31]

In all, 3,000 Indian prisoners of war signed up for the Free India Legion. But instead of being delighted,

Bose was worried. A left-wing admirer of Russia, he was devastated when Hitler's tanks rolled across the

Soviet border. Matters were worsened by the fact that the now-retreating German army would be in no

position to offer him help in driving the British from India. When he 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 legionnaires

and slipped secretly away aboard a submarine bound for Japan. This left the men he had recruited

leaderless and demoralised in Germany.[31][33]

Bose lived in Berlin from 1941 until 1943. During his earlier visit to Germany in 1934, he had met Emilie

Schenkl, the daughter of an Austrian veterinarian whom he married in 1937. Their daughter is Anita Bose

Pfaff.[34]

Bose's party, the Forward Bloc, has contested this fact.[35]

In 1943, After being disillusioned that Germany could be of any help in liberating India, he left for Japan.

He travelled with the German submarine U-180around the Cape of Good Hope to the southeast of

Madagascar, where he was transferred to the I-29 for the rest of the journey to Imperial Japan. This was

the only civilian transfer between two submarines of two different navies in World War II.[28][29]

Leadership of Azad Hind Fauj and later events[edit source | editbeta]

Main articles: Azad Hind Fauj and Arzi Hukumat-e-Azad Hind

The Indian National Army (INA) was originally founded by Captain General Mohan Singh in Singapore on

1 September 1942[36]

with Japan's Indian POWs in the Far East. This was along the concept of—and with

support of—what was then known as the Indian Independence League, headed by expatriate nationalist

leader Rash Behari Bose. The first INA was however disbanded in December after disagreements

between the Hikari Kikan and Mohan Singh, who came to believe that the Japanese High Command was

using the INA as a mere pawn and propaganda tool. Mohan Singh was taken into custody and the troops

returned to the prisoner-of-war camp. However, the idea of a liberation army was revived with the arrival

of Subhas Chandra Bose in the Far East in 1943. In July, at a meeting in Singapore, Rash Behari Bose

handed over control of the organisation to Subhas Chandra Bose. Bose was able to reorganise the

fledgling army and organise massive support among the expatriate Indian population in south-east Asia,

who lent their support by both enlisting in the Indian National Army, as well as financially in response to

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) headed by Capt. Lakshmi Swaminathan, which is seen as a

first of its kind in Asia.[37][38]

Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose and Members of the Azad Hind Fauj in 1940's

Even when faced with military reverses, Bose was able to maintain support for the Azad Hind movement.

Spoken as a part of a motivational speech for the Indian National Army at a rally of Indians in Burma on 4

July 1944, Bose's most famous quote was "Give me blood, and I shall give you freedom!" In this, he

urged the people of India to join him in his fight against the British Raj. Spoken in Hindi, Bose's words are

highly evocative. The troops of the INA were under the aegis of a provisional government, the Azad Hind

Government, which came to produce its own currency, postage stamps, court and civil code, and was

recognised by nine Axis states—Germany, Japan, Italy, the Independent State of Croatia, Wang Jingwei

regime in Nanjing, China, a provisional government of Burma, Manchukuo and Japanese-

controlled Philippines. Recent researches have shown that the USSR too had diplomatic contact with the

"Provisional Government of Free India". Of those countries, five were authorities established under Axis

occupation. This government participated in the so-called Greater East Asia Conference as an observer

in November 1943.

Greater East Asia Conference in November 1943, Participants Left to right: Ba Maw, Zhang Jinghui, Wang Jingwei, Hideki

Tōjō, Wan Waithayakon, José P. Laurel, Subhas Chandra Bose

The INA's first commitment was in the Japanese thrust towards Eastern Indian frontiers of Manipur. INA's

special forces, the Bahadur Group, were extensively involved in operations behind enemy lines both

during the diversionary attacks in Arakan, as well as the Japanese thrust towards Imphal and Kohima,

along with the Burmese National Army led by Ba Maw and Aung San.

Japanese also took possession of Andaman and Nicobar Islands in 1942 and a year later, the Provisional

Government and the INA were established in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands with Lt Col. A.D.

Loganathan appointed its Governor General. The islands were renamed Shaheed (Martyr)

andSwaraj (Independence). However, the Japanese Navy remained in essential control of the island's

administration. During Bose's only visit to the islands in early 1944, when he was carefully screened, by

the Japanese authorities, from the local population who at that time were torturing the leader of the Indian

Independence League on the Islands, Dr. Diwan Singh, who later died of his injuries, in the Cellular Jail.

The islanders made several attempts to alert Bose to their plight, but apparently without success.

Enraged with the lack of administrative control, Lt. Col Loganathan later relinquished his authority and

returned to the Government's headquarters in Rangoon.[39][40]

On the Indian mainland, an Indian Tricolour, modelled after that of the Indian National Congress, was

raised for the first time in the town in Moirang, inManipur, in north-eastern India. The towns of Kohima

and Imphal were placed under siege by divisions of the Japanese, Burmese and the Gandhi and Nehru

Brigades of INA during the attempted invasion of India, also known as Operation U-GO. However,

Commonwealth forces held both positions and then counter-attacked, in the process inflicting serious

losses on the besieging forces, which were then forced to retreat back into Burma.

When Japanese funding for the army diminished, Bose was forced to raise taxes on the Indian

populations of Malaysia and Singapore . When the Japanese were defeated at the battles of Kohima and

Imphal, the Provisional Government's aim of establishing a base in mainland India was lost forever. The

INA was forced to pull back, along with the retreating Japanese army, and fought in key battles against

the British Indian Army in its Burma campaign, notable in Meiktilla, Mandalay, Pegu, Nyangyu and Mount

Popa. However, with the fall of Rangoon, Bose's government ceased to be an effective political entity. A

large proportion of the INA troops surrendered under Lt Col Loganathan . The remaining troops retreated

with Bose towards Malaya or made for Thailand. Japan's surrender at the end of the war also led to the

eventual surrender of the Indian National Army, when the troops of the British Indian Army were

repatriated to India and some tried for treason.

On 6 July 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.[41]

His most famous quote/slogan was Give me blood and I will give you freedom. Another famous quote

was Dilli Chalo ("On to Delhi)!" This was the call he used to give the INA armies to motivate them. Jai

Hind, or, "Glory to India!" was another slogan used by him and later adopted by the Government of India

and the Indian Armed Forces. Another slogan coined by him was "Ittefaq, Etemad, Qurbani" (Urdu for

"Unity, Agreement, Sacrifice"). INA also used the slogan Inquilab Zindabad, which was coined

by Maulana Hasrat Mohani.[42]

Disappearance and alleged death[edit source | editbeta]

Main article: Disappearance of Subhas Chandra Bose

Bose is alleged to have died in a plane crash at Taipei, Taiwan, on 18 August 1945 while en route to

Tokyo and possibly then the Soviet Union. The Imperial Japanese Army Air Force Mitsubishi Ki-

21 bomber he was travelling on had engine trouble and when it crashed Bose was badly burned, dying in

a local hospital four hours later. His body was then cremated, and a Buddhist memorial service was held

at Nishi Honganji Temple in Taihoku. His ashes were taken to Japan and interred at the Renkōji

Temple in Tokyo.[43]

This version of events is supported by the testimonies of a Captain Yoshida

Taneyoshi, and a British spy known as "Agent 1189."[44]

However, his alleged disappearance on August 18, i.e. just 3 days after the Japanese surrendered to the

British fructifies the possibility of a rumour. This may have been to ward off his British pursuers, or may be

at their instance. The latter is more probable, as had it been otherwise we'd have seen his political

resurgence in some form or the other.[45]

The absence of his body has led to many theories being put forward concerning his possible survival.

One such claim is that Bose actually died later in Siberia, while in Soviet captivity. Several committees

have been set up by the government of India to probe into this matter.[46]

In May 1956, a four-man Indian team known as the Shah Nawaz Committee visited Japan to probe the

circumstances of Bose's alleged death. However, the Indian government did not then request assistance

from the government of Taiwan in the matter, citing their lack of diplomatic relations with Taiwan.[47]

However, the Inquiry Commission under Justice Mukherjee, which investigated the Bose disappearance

mystery in the period 1999–2005, did approach the Taiwanese government, and obtained information

from the Taiwan government that no plane carrying Bose had ever crashed in Taipei, and there was, in

fact, no plane crash in Taiwan on 18 August 1945 as alleged.[48]

The Mukherjee Commission also

received a report originating from the U.S. Department of State supporting the claim of the Taiwan

Government that no such air crash took place during that time frame.[49]

Bust of Bose in Renkoji temple(Japan)

The Justice Mukherjee Commission of Inquiry submitted its report to the Indian government on 8

November 2005. The report was tabled in Parliament on 17 May 2006. The probe said in its report that

Bose did not die in the plane crash, and that the ashes at the Renkoji Temple (said to be of Bose's) are

not his. However, the Indian Government rejected the findings of the Commission, though no reasons

were cited.

Recently Netaji's grand nephew Sugata Bose in his book His Majesty's Opponent claimed that the

founder of the Indian Independence League in Tokyo, Rama Murti, had hidden a portion of alleged

cremated remains of Bose as "extra precaution" in his house and secondly, this portion has been brought

to India in 2006 and the Prime Minister was informed about the development. But the Prime Minister's

Office refused this claim in a statement issued in response to an RTI application, as "As per records, no

such information exists."[50]

On the other hand in February 2012 Dr Purabi Roy, an expert on Russia and research scholar who also

held a Chair in St Petersburg University, claimed that Bose was in USSR during Second World War. Roy

claims to have found "a unique photograph of Subhas Chandra Bose taken during Second World War"

that might have been taken in Siberia.[51][52]

Mystery over Netaji’s disappearance was first revealed by Satyendra Narain Sinha, who went to Japan,

Taipei and China to follow the missing links. His article were published in a national daily in 1960s. But,

Dr. Roy is the first who is claiming that Bose was in Russia. Reportedly Khrushchev had told an

interpreter during his New Delhi visit that Bose can be produced within 45 days if Nehru wishes. But, that

never happened. the Third Enquiry Commission on Netaji Disappearance, led by Justice Mukherjee,

categorically announced Bose did not die at the Taihoku plane crash in 1945 as there was no plane crash

during that period in an around the air strip, now in Taipei. Thus the Commission had quashed the so-

called urn of Netaji at Renkoji Temple in Tokyo, Japan.

In 1992, Bose was posthumously awarded the Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian award, but it was

later withdrawn in response to a Supreme Courtdirective following a Public Interest Litigation filed in the

Court against the "posthumous" nature of the award. The Award Committee could not give conclusive

evidence on Bose's death and thus the "posthumous" award was invalidated. No headway was made on

this issue however.[53]

Bose's portrait hangs in the Indian Parliament, and a statue of him has been

erected in front of the West Bengal Legislative Assembly.

Bose mystery in contemporary India[edit source | editbeta]

Main article: Mission Netaji

Mission Netaji is a Delhi-based Indian non-profit trust that conducts research on Bose's disappearance.

Indian ministries, including the Indian Prime Minister's Office, have refused to make public the documents

under the Right to Information Act campaign launched by Mission Netaji, on the ground that their

disclosure will affect India's relations with foreign countries.[citation needed]

On 31 January 2013 the Allahabad High Court has asked the Uttar Pradesh Government to investigate

the identity of Gumnami Baba, a man who some people claimed was Bose; he died and was cremated in

18 September 1985.[54]

Books on the mystery[edit source | editbeta]

Main article: India's Biggest Cover-up

Many books have been published in independent India, dealing with the subject of Bose death mystery.

This includes books such as Netaji: Dead or Alive? by Samar Guha and Back from Dead: Inside the

Subhas Bose Mystery by Anuj Dhar. Dhar's India's Biggest Cover-up contains many allegations and uses

many "top secret" documents and photographs to argue that Bose was alive at least until 1985. The book

accuses Pranab Mukherjee and the Indian Intelligence Bureau of foul play to prevent the truth from being

revealed.[55]

Ideology and philosophy[edit source | editbeta]

Bose advocated complete unconditional independence for India, whereas the All-India Congress

Committee wanted it in phases, through Dominion status. Finally at the historic Lahore Congress

convention, the Congress adopted Purna Swaraj (complete independence) as its motto. Gandhi was

given rousing receptions wherever he went after Gandhi-Irwin pact. Subhas Chandra Bose, travelling with

Gandhi in these travels, later wrote that the great enthusiasm he saw among the people enthused him

tremendously and that he doubted if any other leader anywhere in the world received such a reception as

Gandhi did during these travels across the country. He was imprisoned and expelled from India. Defying

the ban, he came back to India and was imprisoned again.

Bose was elected president of the Indian National Congress for two consecutive terms, but had to resign

from the post following ideological conflicts with Mohandas K. Gandhi and after openly attacking the

Congress' foreign and internal policies. Bose believed that Gandhi's tactics of non-violence would never

be sufficient to secure India's independence, and advocated violent resistance. He established a separate

political party, the All India Forward Bloc and continued to call for the full and immediate independence of

India from British rule. He was imprisoned by the British authorities eleven times. His famous motto was:

"Give me blood and I will give you freedom".

His stance did not change with the outbreak of the Second World War, which he saw as an opportunity to

take advantage of British weakness. At the outset of the war, he left India, travelling to the Soviet

Union, Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan, seeking an alliance with each of them to attack the British

government in India. With Imperial Japanese assistance, he re-organised and later led the Azad Hind

Fauj or Indian National Army (INA), formed with Indian prisoners-of-war and plantation workers

from British Malaya, Singapore, and other parts of Southeast Asia, against British forces. With Japanese

monetary, political, diplomatic and military assistance, he formed the Azad Hind Government in exile, and

regrouped and led the Indian National Army in failed military campaigns against the allies at Imphal and in

Burma.

His political views and the alliances he made with Nazi and other militarist regimes at war with Britain

have been the cause of arguments among historians and politicians, with some accusing him of fascist

sympathies, while others in India have been more sympathetic towards the realpolitik that guided his

social and political choices. It is also believed[by whom?]

among a section of people in India that if Subhas

Ch. Bose could win the freedom of India himself the face of today's Indian sub-continent would have been

different.

Political philosophy[edit source | editbeta]

Subhas Chandra Bose believed that the Bhagavad Gita was a great source of inspiration for the struggle

against the British.[56]

Swami Vivekananda's teachings on universalism, his nationalist thoughts and his

emphasis on social service and reform had all inspired Subhas Chandra Bose from his very young days.

The fresh interpretation of the India's ancient scriptures had appealed immensely to him.[note 1]

Many

scholars believe that Hindu spirituality formed the essential part of his political and social thought

throughout his adult life, although there was no sense of bigotry or orthodoxy in it.[57]

Subhas who called

himself a socialist, believed that socialism in India owed its origins to Swami Vivekananda.[58]

As historian

Leonard Gordon explains "Inner religious explorations continued to be a part of his adult life. This set him

apart from the slowly growing number of atheistic socialists and communists who dotted the Indian

landscape.".[59]

But, writes Sailen Debnath, ―Subhas Chandra Bose along with Indian philosophy derived

ideas heavily from Western philosophy; but the way he commingled the thoughts of the East and of the

West laid the path of a new philosophy in itself worthy of discussion and criticism in the domain of original

philosophical thoughts. In his own field of thought Bose was inherently influenced by the philosophical

thoughts of Francis Bacon, Immanuel Kant, Hegel, Henry Bergson and Karl Marx. There were others

including Silvio Gessel to have moulded his world of thought and understanding.‖[60]

Bose's correspondence (prior to 1939) reflects his deep disapproval of the racist practices of, and

annulment of democratic institutions in Nazi Germany.[61]

However, he expressed admiration for the

authoritarian methods (though not the racial ideologies) which he saw in Italy and Germany during the

1930s, and thought they could be used in building an independent India.[26]

Bose had clearly expressed his belief that democracy was the best option for India.[62]

The pro-Bose

thinkers believe that his authoritarian control of the Azad Hind was based on political pragmatism and a

post-colonial recovery doctrine rather than any anti-democratic belief.[citation needed]

However, during the war

(and possibly as early as the 1930s), Bose seems to have decided that no democratic system could be

adequate to overcome India's poverty and social inequalities, and he wrote that a socialist state similar to

that of Soviet Russia (which he had also seen and admired) would be needed for the process of national

re-building.[63]

Accordingly, some suggest that Bose's alliance with the Axis during the war was based on

more than just pragmatism, and that Bose was a militant nationalist, though not a Nazi nor a Fascist, for

he supported empowerment of women, secularism and other liberal ideas; alternatively, others consider

he might have been using populist methods of mobilisation common to many post-colonial

leaders.[26]

Bose never liked the Nazis, but when he failed to contact the Russians for help in Afghanistan,

he approached the Germans and Italians for help. His comment was that if he had to shake hands with

the devil for India's independence he would do that.[citation needed]

On 23 August 2007, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe visited the Subhas Chandra Bose memorial

hall in Kolkata.[64][65]

Abe said to Bose's family "The Japanese are deeply moved by Bose's strong will to

have led the Indian independence movement from British rule.[64]

Netaji is a much respected name in

Japan."[65]

However, in India, many believe that Netaji was not given the due respect that he deserved.

Infosys Technologies founder-chairman N. R. Narayana Murthy, delivering the annual Netaji oration, said,

"We have not paid him due respect. It is time this is corrected." Adding, "If only Netaji had participated in

post-independence nation building."[66]

Desh Prem Divas[edit source | editbeta]

The West Bengal government decided in 2011 to observe Bose's birth anniversary (23 January) as Desh

Prem Divas which means Day of Patriotism.[67]

Though the Forward Bloc requested the Indian

government to declare Bose's birth anniversay as Desh Prem Divas at a national level, the government

did not approve of it, citing that "Many eminent personalities took part in the freedom struggle of India and

the immense contribution made by them cannot be judged relatively. If at all a day is to be declared as

Desh Prem Divas, it does not appear to be appropriate to be so declared on the birth anniversary of any

particular personality. Even the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi has not been declared as any

special day relating to the freedom movement of India."[68]

Legacy[edit source | editbeta]

Michael Edwardes, a British historian of the Raj, wrote of Bose that, "Only one outstanding personality of

India took a different and violent path, and in a sense India owes more to him than to any other man even

though he seemed to be a failure."[69]

An example of the enduring legacy of Subash Chandra Bose in Arunachal Pradesh, India

After reviewing INA parade at Singapore on 5 July 1943 Bose's concluding words were:

"I have said that today is the proudest day of my life. For an enslaved people, there can be no greater

pride, no higher honour, than to be the first Soldier in the Army of Liberation. But this honour carries with

it a corresponding responsibility and I am deeply conscious of it. I assure you that I shall be with you in

darkness and in sunshine, in sorrow and in joy, in suffering and in victory. For the present, I can offer you

nothing except hunger, thirst, privation, forced marches and death. But if you follow me in life and in

death, as I am confident you will, I shall lead you to victory and freedom. It does not matter who among us

will live to see India free. It is enough that India shall be free and that we shall give our all to make her

free. May God now bless our Army and grant us victory in the coming fight."

Mahatma Gandhi described Bose as the "Patriot of patriots".[70]

Bose's chair at Red Fort[edit source | editbeta]

The following words are inscribed on a brass shield in front of the chair which is symbolic to the

sovereignty of the Republic of India, and also add to enthusiasm of the Armed Forces of India. The chair

rests in a glass case and is a symbol of pride as well as national heritage.[citation needed]

"Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose in order to free India from the shackles of British imperialism organized the

Azad Hind Government from outside the country on October 21, 1943. Netaji set up the Provisional

Government of Independent India (Azad Hind) and transferred its head-quarter at Rangoon on January 7,

1944. On the 5th April, 1944, the "Azad Hind Bank" was inaugurated at Rangoon. It was on this occasion

that Netaji used this chair for the first time. Later the chair was kept at the residence of Netaji at 51,

University Avenue, Rangoon, where the office of the Azad Hind was also housed. Afterwards, at the time

of leaving Burma, the British handed over the chair to the family of Mr. A.T. Ahuja, a well-known

businessman of Rangoon. The chair was officially handed over to the Government of India in January

1979. It was brought to Calcutta on the 17th July, 1980. It has now been ceremonially installed at the Red

Fort on July 7, 1981."

Artistic depictions[edit source | editbeta]

Films

1950: Bose is a minor character in the successful 1950 Hindi film Samadhi, which is set in colonial

Singapore against the backdrop of the second INA rising. The film also features the famous

regimental quick march song Kadam Kadam Badaye Ja of INA.[citation needed]

1966: Subash Chandra was a Bengali film portraying his life.

2002: Bose is portrayed by Keneth Desai in the film The Legend of Bhagat Singh directed

by Rajkumar Santoshi. It is a historical biographical film about the Indian freedom fighter Bhagat

Singh.

2005: Sachin Khedekar stars as Subhas Chandra Bose in Shyam Benegal's biopic Netaji Subhas

Chandra Bose: The Forgotten Hero which deals with the last five years of Bose's leadership as well

as some aspects of his personal life.[71]

2005: Subash Chandra Bose, a poorly-received action film concerning an Indian warrior figure,

played by Daggubati Venkatesh, during the time of the INA. He worships Bose and adopts his name

for the purpose of his image.[72]

Books

Further information: Bibliography of Subhas Chandra Bose

1986: Netaji Kaaviyam (Epic on Netaji) was a poetic book written by Vaaymainaathan

in Tamil published by New Century Book House

1989: In a satirical novel The Great Indian Novel by Shashi Tharoor, the character of Pandu is

simultaneously based on Bose as well as the mythological character Pandu.[citation needed]

2005: Back from Dead: Inside the Subhas Bose Mystery by Anuj Dhar.

1994: Netaji: Dead or Alive by Samar Guha.

2005: Mrityu Se Vapsi: Netaji Ka Rahasya (Hindi translation of Back from Dead: Inside the Subhas

Bose Mystery).

2008: CIA's Eye on South Asia by Anuj Dhar.

2012: India's Biggest Cover-up by Anuj Dhar.

Educational Institute

Celebrating the birth centenary of Bose, in 1997, the Government of Delhi renamed the Delhi Institute

of Technology to Netaji Subhas Institute of Technology

See also[edit source | editbeta]

World War II portal

Biography portal

India portal

Netaji Subhas Institute of Technology

Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport

"Ekla Chalo Re" – A song by Rabindranath Tagore and publicised by Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose.

Bhagwanji

Disappearance of Subhas Chandra Bose

References[edit source | editbeta]

Notes[edit source | editbeta]

1. ^ Sisir Kumar Bose, Alexander Werth, Narayan Gopal Jog, Subbier Appadurai Ayer, Beacon Across Asia: A

Biography of Subhas Chandra Bose, published by Orient Blackswan, 1996

Citations[edit source | editbeta]

1. ^ Low 2002, p. 297.

2. ^ Low 2002, p. 313.

3. ^ a b Low 1993, pp. 31–31.

4. ^ Wolpert 2006, p. 69.

5. ^ Bandyopādhyāẏa, Śekhara (2004). From Plassey to Partition: A History of Modern India. Orient

Blackswan. p. 427. ISBN 978-81-250-2596-2. Retrieved 28 July 2012

6. ^ Sarkar 1983, p. 411.

7. ^ Hyam 2007, p. 115.

8. ^ Unpublished, Public Relations Office, London. War Office. 208/761A; James L. Raj; Making and

unmaking of British India. Abacus. 1997. p598.

9. ^ James L. Raj; Making and unmaking of British India. Abacus. 1997. p571, p598 and; Unpublished, Public

Relations Office, London. War Office. 208/819A 25C

10. ^ Ends of British Imperialism: The Scramble for Empire, Suez, and Decolonization. By William Roger

Louis.pp405

11. ^ Britain Since 1945: A Political History By David Childs.pp 28

12. ^ Dhanjaya Bhat (12 February 2006). "Which phase of our freedom struggle won for us Independence?".

The Tribune. Archived from the original on 12 October 2012. Retrieved 23 January 2013.

13. ^ Marshall J. Getz (2002). Subhas Chandra Bose: A Biography. McFarland. pp. 7–. ISBN 978-0-7864-1265-

5. Retrieved 13 June 2012.

14. ^ Kanailal Basu (20 January 2010). Netaji: Rediscovered. AuthorHouse. pp. 262–. ISBN 978-1-4490-5567-

7. Retrieved 13 June 2012.

15. ^ Yasmine Jesudasen. Voices of Freedom Movement. Sura Books. pp. 57–. ISBN 978-81-7478-555-8.

Retrieved 16 July 2012.

16. ^ V. S. Patil (1988). Subhas Chandra Bose, his contribution to Indian nationalism. Sterling Publishers.

Retrieved 16 July 2012.

17. ^ a b Eric A. Vas (19 May 2008). Subhas Chandra Bose: The Man and His Times. Lancer Publishers.

pp. 27–.ISBN 978-81-7062-243-7. Retrieved 16 July 2012.

18. ^ Hugh Toye (2007). Subhas Chandra Bose. Jaico Publishing House. ISBN 978-81-7224-401-9. Retrieved

16 July 2012.

19. ^ Phani Bhusan Chakraborty; Brajendrakumāra Bhaṭṭācārya (1989). News behind newspapers: a study of

the Indian press. Minerva Associates (Publications). ISBN 978-81-85195-16-2. Retrieved 16 July 2012.

20. ^ a b Singh Vipul (1 September 2009). Longman History & Civics Icse 10. Pearson Education India. pp. 116–

.ISBN 978-81-317-2042-4. Retrieved 13 June 2012.

21. ^ Bhagwan Josh (1992). Struggle for hegemony in India, 1920–47: the colonial state, the left, and the

national movement. 1934–41. Sage. ISBN 978-81-7036-295-1. Retrieved 17 July 2012.

22. ^ Subhas Chandra Chattopadhyay (1989). Subhas Chandra Bose: man, mission, and means. Minerva

Associates. Retrieved 17 July 2012.

23. ^ Aditi Phadnis (2009). Business Standard Political Profiles of Cabals and Kings. Business Standard Books.

pp. 185–. ISBN 978-81-905735-4-2. Retrieved 17 July 2012.

24. ^ DesaiMeghnad

25. ^ K.S. Padhy. Indian Political Thought. PHI Learning Pvt. Ltd. pp. 234–. ISBN 978-81-203-4305-4.

Retrieved 17 July 2012.

26. ^ a b c Sen, S. 1999. Subhas Chandra Bose 1897–1945. From webarchive of this URL

[dead link].

27. ^ Durga Das Pvt. Ltd (1985). Eminent Indians who was who, 1900–1980, also annual diary of events.

Durga Das Pvt. Ltd. Retrieved 13 June 2012.

28. ^ a b c d e The Talwars of Pathan land and Subhas Chandra's great escape.

29. ^ a b c d e Subhas Chandra Bose: Netaji's passage to im[m]ortality

30. ^ James, L (1997) Raj, the Making and Unmaking of British India, Abacus, London P554

31. ^ a b c "Hitler's secret Indian army" by Mike Thomson, BBC News, 23 September 2004.

32. ^ Subhas Chandra Bose in Nazi Germany

33. ^ Hauner, M (1981) India in Axis Strategy: Germany, Japan, and Indian Nationalists in the Second World

War, Klett-Cotta, Stuttgart pp. 28–29

34. ^ Memories of a brave heart. The Hindu. 25 February 2001. Retrieved 07/08/2012.

35. ^ World believes Netaji was married, but not his party. The Sunday Indian. 23 January 2012. Retrieved

08/04/2013.

36. ^ New ICSE History and Civics. Frank Brothers. pp. 8–.ISBN 978-81-8409-587-6. Retrieved 20 July 2012.

37. ^ Azad Hind: writings and speeches, 1941–1943 by Subhas Chandra Bose

38. ^ Modern Indian History by Mohammad Tarique

39. ^ Iqbal Singh The Andaman Story p249

40. ^ C.A. Bayly & T. Harper Forgotten Armies. The Fall of British Asia 1941-5 (London) 2004 p325

41. ^ "Father of Our Nation" (Address to Mahatma Gandhi over the Rangoon Radio on 6 July 1944) The

Essential Writings of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Edited by Sisir K Bose & Sugata Bose (Delhi: Oxford

University Press) 1997 pp301-2

42. ^ Meenu Roy (1 January 1996). India Votes, Elections 1996: A Critical Analysis. Deep & Deep Publications.

pp. 51–.ISBN 978-81-7100-900-8. Retrieved 13 June 2012.

43. ^ Mitchell, Jon, "Japan's unsung role in India's struggle for independence", Japan Times, 14 August 2011,

p. 7.

44. ^ James, L (1997) Raj, the Making and Unmaking of British India, Abacus, London P575

45. ^ Netaji died in India, not Taiwan George, T.J.S. (15 July 2012). "Netaji died in India, not Taiwan". The New

Indian Express (Chennai).

46. ^ "Probe told Netaji was seen in Siberian camp in '48–49". Indian Express. 5 October 2000. Retrieved 30

July 2012.

47. ^ "MEA didn't let Shah Nawaz visit Formosa". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 30 July 2012.

48. ^ No crash at Taipei that killed Netaji: Taiwan govt. Outlook India

49. ^ "Netaji case: US backs Taiwan govt". Times of India. 19 Sep 2005, 09.21 pm IST. Retrieved 12 June

2012.

50. ^ PTI 16 Aug 2011, 04.16 pm IST. "Remains of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose brought back from Japan? –

Economic Times". Articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com. Retrieved 14 October 2012.

51. ^ Roy, Purabi. The Search for Netaji: New findings.

52. ^ "Photo triggers questions on Netaji's confinement in Russia". The Sunday Indian.

53. ^ "SC cancels note on Bharat Ratna for Subhas Bose".The Indian Express (New Delhi). 5 August 1997.

Retrieved 31 May 2011.

54. ^ "HC directs UP government to form a panel to find out if Gumnami Baba was Netaji Subhash Chandra

Bose".Times of India. 13 January 2013. Retrieved 14 August 2013.

55. ^ Dhawan, Himanshi (26 June 2012). "Pranab Mukherjee behind 'cover-up' on Netaji's air-crash, alleges

book". The Times of India. Retrieved 3 August 2012. Unknown parameter |unused_data= ignored

(help)

56. ^ Li Narangoa, R. B. Cribb, Imperial Japan and National Identities in Asia, 1895–1945, Published by

Routledge, 2003

57. ^ Nirad C. Chaudhuri, Thy Hand, Great Anarch!: India, 1921–1952, published by Chatto & Windus, 1987

58. ^ P. R. Bhuyan, Swami Vivekananda, Published by Atlantic Publishers & Distributors, 2003

59. ^ Leonard A. Gordon, Brothers Against The Raj: A Biography of Indian Nationalist Leaders Sarat and

Subhas Chandra Bose, published by Columbia University Press, 1990

60. ^ Sailen Debnath , Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose: His Philosophy, Political Thought and Contribution,

Abhijeet Publications, New Delhi, ISBN 978-93-5074-085-9

61. ^ Bose to Dr. Thierfelder of the Deutsche Academie, Kurhaus Hochland, Badgastein, 25 March 1936

"Today I regret that I have to return to India with the conviction that the new nationalism of Germany is not

only narrow and selfish but arrogant." The Essential Writings of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose edited by Sisir

K. Bose & Sugata Bose (Delhi: Oxford University Press) 1997 p155

62. ^ Roy, Dr. R.C. 2004. Social, Economic and Political Philosophy of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose. pp. 7–8.

Orissa Review. URL accessed on 6 April 2006

63. ^ "The Fundamental Problems of India" (An address to the Faculty and students of Tokyo University,

November 1944): "You cannot have a so-called democratic system, if that system has to put through

economic reforms on a socialistic basis. Therefore we must have a political system – a State – of an

authoritarian character. We have had some experience of democratic institutions in India and we have also

studied the working of democratic institutions in countries like France, England and United States of

America. And we have come to the conclusion that with a democratic system we cannot solve the problems

of Free India. Therefore, modern progressive thought in India is in favour of a State of an authoritarian

character" The Essential Writings of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Edited by Sisir K. Bose & Sugata

Bose (Delhi: Oxford University Press) 1997 pp319-20

64. ^ a b "訪印中の安倍首相、東京裁判のパール判事の息子らと面会". Elizabeth Roche. AFPBB News. 24

August 2007. Retrieved 2 October 2009.

65. ^ a b "Shinzo Abe visits Netaji Bhavan, sees notion of a 'Broader Asia'". The Hindu. 24 August 2007.

Retrieved 16 October 2009.

66. ^ "Netaji not given due respect: Narayana Murthy". Indo-Asian news service. 25 January 2011.

67. ^ TNN 18 Jan 2011, 07.15 am IST (18 January 2011)."Bengal will observe Desh Prem Divas on Netaji

b'day – Times of India". Articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com. Retrieved 14 October 2012.

68. ^ TNN 6 Apr 2010, 03.18 am IST (6 April 2010). "Govt's no to Netaji birthday as Desh Prem Divas – Times

of India". Articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com. Retrieved 14 October 2012.

69. ^ The last years of British India (1963), Michael Edwardes, Cassell, p. 45

70. ^ "Patriot of Patriots". The Hindu. 21 April 2003. Retrieved 26 June 2013.

71. ^ rediff. "Bose the Forgotten Hero". Retrieved 28 July 2012.

72. ^ sifymovies. "Bose the Forgotten Hero film review". Retrieved 28 July 2012.

Books cited[edit source | editbeta]

Copland, Ian (2001). India 1885–1947: The Unmaking of an Empire (Seminar Studies in History

Series). Harlow and London: Pearson Longmans. Pp. 160. ISBN 0582381738.

Low, D. A. (1993). Eclipse of Empire. Cambridge and London: Cambridge University Press. Pp. xvi,

366. ISBN 0521457548.

Low, D. A. (2002). Britain and Indian Nationalism: The Imprint of Amibiguity 1929–1942. Cambridge

and London: Cambridge University Press. Pp. 374. ISBN 0521892619.

Wolpert, Stanley (2006). Shameful Flight: The Last Years of the British Empire in India. Oxford and

New York: Oxford University Press. Pp. 272. ISBN 0195151984.

Metcalf, Barbara; Metcalf, Thomas R. (2006). A Concise History of Modern India (Cambridge Concise

Histories). Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press. Pp. xxxiii, 372.ISBN 0521682258.

Further reading[edit source | editbeta]

Main article: Books on Subhas Chandra Bose

His Majesty's Opponent: Subhas Chandra Bose and India's Struggle against Empire; Sugata Bose,

The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, and London, England,

2011 ISBN 978-0-674-04754-9

Indian Pilgrim: an unfinished autobiography Subhash Chandra Bose; edited by Sisir Kumar Bose and

Sugata Bose, Oxford University Press, Calcutta, 1997 ISBN 978-0-19-564148-6

The Indian Struggle, 1920–1942 Subhash Chandra Bose; edited by Sisir Kumar Bose and Sugata

Bose, Oxford University Press, Calcutta, 1997 ISBN 978-0-19-564149-3

External links[edit source | editbeta]

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"Mystery over India freedom hero". BBC News. 17 May 2006. Retrieved 10 August 2008.

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