Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Mid-term Assignment Summer 2020-21

Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose: The Forgotten Leader .

Introduction:
World has seen many leaders. Many of them fight for their country. Subhas Chandra Bose was
one of them whose defiant patriotism made him a hero in India. He was an Indian nationalist who
stood against British Raj byname ‘Netaji’ means respected leader.

Early Life:
Subhas Bose was born January 23, 1897, into wealth and privilege in a large Bengali family in
Orissa during the high noon of the British Raj. The early recipient of an unusually Anglocentric
education, his teenage and young adult years were interspersed with brilliant academic success,
oversize religious yearning, and stark rebellion against authority. In a college in which his five
brothers had preceded him, he was expelled for participating in an assault on a professor. He was
also rusticated from the University of Calcutta, but after reinstatement 18 months later he managed
to study blamelessly and excel academically. Sent to England at his father's urging to take the
Indian Civil Service examination, he succeeded with distinction in the vital first exam but
demurred at taking the more routine but clinching final exam. He cited nationalism to be a higher
calling than the civil service.

Political activity:
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 favor 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 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 centers 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

NETAJI SUBHAS CHANDRA BOSE | The Forgotten Leader

Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Mid-term Assignment Summer 2020-21

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.

Activity in exile:

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 Germany, he was attached to
the Special Bureau for India under Adam von Trott zu Solz which was responsible for
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.

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 boarded a German U-boat and left for Japan. This left the men he had
recruited leaderless and demoralized in Germany.

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 organized 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 liberated Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
The I.N.A. Headquarters 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.

NETAJI SUBHAS CHANDRA BOSE | The Forgotten Leader

Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Mid-term Assignment Summer 2020-21

Contributions of Subhas Chandra Bose:

Subhas Chandra Bose was an ardent believer of socialism and radical ideas. He believed that
freedom could not be gained until and unless India takes help of any foreign country. Bose formed
the Forward Bloc and one of its main objectives of the Forward Bloc was the independence of the
nation. He provided leadership to the Indian National Army after he went to Japan in 1943. Subhas
Chandra Bose also founded the Provisional Government of Free India at Singapore on 21 October
1943. The government was recognized by nine governments including Germany, Italy, Japan, and
Myanmar. The Provisional Government of Free India acquired its first territories when Japan
handed over the Andaman and Nicobar Islands to it. He provided an influential leadership and
kept the spirit of nationalism burning during the slack period of national movement in India. Till
the last day of his life as an active freedom fighter he kept the spirit of fighting the British – even
at the time of his death he was planning to migrate to Russia and find a new way to combat the
British.

Death of Subhas Chandra Bose:

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.

NETAJI SUBHAS CHANDRA BOSE | The Forgotten Leader

Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Mid-term Assignment Summer 2020-21

References:
[1]"Subhas Chandra Bose - Wikipedia", En.wikipedia.org, 2021. [Online]. Available:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subhas_Chandra_Bose#1937%E2%80%931940:_Indian_National_Congr
ess. [Accessed: 25- Jun- 2021].

[2]"Subhas Chandra Bose | Biography & Facts", Encyclopedia Britannica, 2021. [Online]. Available:
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Subhas-Chandra-Bose. [Accessed: 25- Jun- 2021].

[3]"Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose: Champion of freedom who inspired the world", Hindustan Times,
2021. [Online]. Available: https://www.hindustantimes.com/opinion/netaji-subhas-chandra-bose-
champion-of-freedom-who-inspired-the-world-101611363711511.html. [Accessed: 25- Jun- 2021].

[4]"Netaji Subhas Bose in Chattogram", The Daily Star, 2021. [Online]. Available:
https://www.thedailystar.net/in-focus/news/netaji-subhas-bose-chattogram-1774996. [Accessed: 25-
Jun- 2021].

NETAJI SUBHAS CHANDRA BOSE | The Forgotten Leader