SUBASH CHANDRA BOSE
Born: January 23, 1897
Died: August 18, 1945
Achievements:
Passed Indian Civil Services Exam; elected Congress President in 1938
and 1939; formed a new party All India Forward block; organized Azad
Hind Fauj to overthrow British Empire from India. Subhas Chandra Bose, affectionately
called as Netaji, was one of the most prominent leaders of Indian
freedom struggle. Though Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru have
garnered much of the credit for successful culmination of Indian freedom
struggle, the contribution of Subash Chandra Bose is no less. He has
been denied his rightful place in the annals of Indian history. He
founded Indian National Army (Azad Hind Fauj) to overthrow British
Empire from India and came to acquire legendary status among Indian
masses.
Subhas Chandra Bose was born on January
23, 1897 in Cuttack, Orissa. His father Janaki Nath Bose was a famous
lawyer and his mother Prabhavati Devi was a pious and religious lady.
Subhas Chandra Bose was the ninth child among fourteen siblings. Subhas
Chandra Bose was a brilliant student right from the childhood. He topped
the matriculation examination of Calcutta province and graduated with a
First Class in Philosophy from the Scottish Churches College in
Calcutta. He was strongly influenced by Swami Vivekananda’s teachings
and was known for his patriotic zeal as a student. To fulfill his
parents wishes he went to England in 1919 to compete for Indian Civil
Services. In England he appeared for the Indian Civil Service
competitive examination in 1920, and came out fourth in order of merit.
However, Subhas Chandra Bose was deeply disturbed by the Jallianwalla
Bagh massacre, and left his Civil Services apprenticeship midway to
return to India in 1921
After returning to India Netaji Subhash
Chandra Bose came under the influence of Mahatma Gandhi and joined the
Indian National Congress. On Gandhiji’s instructions, he started working
under Deshbandhu Chittaranjan Das, whom he later acknowledged his
political guru. Soon he showed his leadership mettle and gained his way
up in the Congress’ hierarchy. In 1928 the Motilal Nehru Committee
appointed by the Congress declared in favour of Domination Status, but
Subhas Chandra Bose along with Jawaharlal Nehru opposed it, and both
asserted that they would be satisfied with nothing short of complete
independence for India. Subhas also announced the formation of the
Independence League. Subhas Chandra Bose was jailed during Civil
Disobedience movement in 1930. He was released in 1931 after
Gandhi-Irwin pact was signed. He protested against the Gandhi-Irwin pact
and opposed the suspension of Civil Disobedience movement specially
when Bhagat Singh and his associates were hanged.
Subash Chandra Bose was soon arrested
again under the infamous Bengal Regulation. After an year he was
released on medical grounds and was banished from India to Europe. He
took steps to establish centres in different European capitals with a
view to promoting politico-cultural contacts between India and Europe.
Defying the ban on his entry to India, Subash Chandra Bose returned to
India and was again arrested and jailed for a year. After the General
Elections of 1937, Congress came to power in seven states and Subash
Chandra Bose was released. Shortly afterwards he was elected President
of the Haripura Congress Session in 1938. During his term as Congress
President, he talked of planning in concrete terms, and set up a
National planning Committee in October that year. At the end of his
first term, the presidential election to the Tripuri Congress session
took place early 1939. Subhas Chandra Bose was re-elected, defeating Dr.
Pattabhi Sitaramayya who had been backed by Mahatma Gandhi and the
Congress Working Committee. Clouds of World War II were on the horizon
and he brought a resolution to give the British six months to hand India
over to the Indians, failing which there would be a revolt. There was
much opposition to his rigid stand, and he resigned from the post of
president and formed a progressive group known as the Forward Block.
Subhas Chandra Bose now started a mass
movement against utilizing Indian resources and men for the great war.
There was a tremendous response to his call and he was put under house
arrest in Calcutta. In January 1941, Subhas Chandra Bose disappeared
from his home in Calcutta and reached Germany via Afghanistan. Working
on the maxim that “an enemy’s enemy is a friend”, he sought cooperation
of Germany and Japan against British Empire. In January 1942, he began
his regular broadcasts from Radio Berlin, which aroused tremendous
enthusiasm in India. In July 1943, he arrived in Singapore from Germany.
In Singapore he took over the reins of the Indian Independence Movement
in East Asia from Rash Behari Bose and organised the Azad Hind Fauj
(Indian National Army) comprising mainly of Indian prisoners of war. He
was hailed as Netaji by the Army as well as by the Indian civilian
population in East Asia. Azad Hind Fauj proceeded towards India to
liberate it from British rule. Enroute it lliberated Andeman and Nicobar
Islands. The I.N.A. Head quarters was shifted to Rangoon in January
1944. Azad Hind Fauj crossed the Burma Border, and stood on Indian soil
on March 18 ,1944.
However, defeat of Japan and Germany in
the Second World War forced INA to retreat and it could not achieve its
objective. Subhas Chandra Bose was reportedly killed in an air crash
over Taipeh, Taiwan (Formosa) on August 18, 1945. Though it is widely
believed that he was still alive after the air crash not much
information could be found about him.
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