Revision as of 11:16, 29 August 2016

Early life

India Today

Mridula Mukherjee

April 9, 2015

Unlike Nehru, Netaji believed that authoritarian rule was essential for achieving radical social goals

A misguided patriot

Subhas Chandra Bose fulfilled a promise to his father that he would sit for the Indian Civil Service examination in London. He secured the fourth position in 1920 but then went on to fulfil his own wish. He resigned from the coveted service the following year, saying "only on the soil of sacrifice and suffering can we raise our national edifice". Returning to India, he plunged into the national struggle and by 1923, was secretary of the Bengal State Congress and president of All India Youth Congress.

By 1927, he emerged, along with Jawaharlal Nehru, as leader of the new youth movement, which came into its own by playing a major role in the anti-Simon Commission agitation which swept India that year. He was also the chief organiser of the Calcutta session of the Indian National Congress (INC) in December 1928, which demanded that the goal of the Congress be changed to 'Purna Swaraj' or 'Complete Independence'.

Imprisonment in the Civil Disobedience movement followed by bad health in 1932 took him to Europe where he observed European politics, particularly Fascism under Mussolini and Communism in the Soviet Union. He was impressed by both and believed that authoritarian rule was essential for achieving radical social goals.

In fact, it is in this period that the political views of Nehru and Bose begin to diverge sharply, especially on the issue of Fascism and Nazism. Nehru was so vehemently opposed to Fascism that he refused to meet Mussolini even when the latter sought him out, whereas Bose not only met Mussolini but was impressed by him. Nehru was sharply critical of the growing danger to the world from the rise of Hitler. Bose, on the other hand, never expressed that kind of aversion to Fascism, and was quite willing to seek the support of Germany and later Japan against Britain. However, he was not happy with the German attack on Soviet Union in 1941, and that was one reason why he left Germany for Japan. For Bose, Socialism and Fascism were not polar opposites, as they were for Nehru.

In 1938, Bose was unanimously elected, with the full support of Gandhiji, as Congress president for the Haripura session. But the next year, he decided to stand again, this time as a representative of militant and radical groups. An election ensued which Bose won by 1,580 to 1,377 votes, but the battle lines were drawn. The challenge he threw by calling Gandhian leaders rightists who were working for a compromise with the British Government was answered by 12 members of the Working Committee resigning and asking Bose to choose his own committee. Nehru did not resign with other members but he was unhappy with Bose's casting of aspersions on senior leaders. He tried his best to mediate and persuade Bose not to resign.

The crisis came to a head at Tripuri in March 1939, with Bose refusing to nominate a new Working Committee and ultimately resigning. The clash was of policy and tactics. Bose wanted an immediate struggle led by Gandhiji, whereas Gandhiji felt the time was not ripe for struggle.

Having burnt his boats with the Congress, Bose went first to Germany in January 1941 and then to Japan in 1943 to seek help in the struggle against their common enemy, Britain. He finally went to Singapore to take charge of the Indian National Army (INA) which had been formed by Mohan Singh in 1941 from Indian prisoners of war captured by the Japanese. The INA was clear that it would go into action only on the invitation of the INC; it was not set up as a rival centre of power. Bose made this more explicit when on July 6, 1944, in a broadcast on Azad Hind Radio addressed to Gandhiji, he said, "Father of our Nation! In this holy war of India's liberation, we ask for your blessing and good wishes".

The INA was allowed to participate with the Japan Army only in the Imphal Campaign, and the experience was none too happy-discriminatory treatment, a painful retreat and surrender to the British. Captured soldiers were brought back to India and threatened with court martials. The Congress, led by Nehru, demanded leniency, calling the INA men patriots, albeit misguided. There was a wave of sympathy across the country, and Nehru, Bhulabhai Desai, Sapru, Katju and Asaf Ali donned lawyer's robes to defend the INA leaders in the Red Fort trials.

Meanwhile, Subhas Bose succumbed to burn injuries received in a plane crash in Taiwan on August 18, 1945. What Nehru said of the INA soldiers may well be said of him: a patriot, albeit misguided.

‘Samyavad': a mix of Fascism and Communism

The Times of India, Apr 20 2015

Netaji wanted dictatorship for 20 yrs

Manimugdha Sharma

Recent allegations of the Nehru government snooping on the relatives of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose have led to conspiracy theorists propounding that Netaji was a greater patriot than India's first Prime Minister. What is conveniently ignored is his treaty with the evil Nazi Germany and the Empire of Japan in raising the INA. By his own admission, in his book Indian Struggle (published in 1935 in London), Netaji said India needed a political system that was a mix of Fascism and Communism: something he called `samyavad'. Netaji made a special trip to Rome in 1935 to present a copy of his book to the Italian dictator Benito Mussolini, whom he greatly admired, and whose ideals he followed. Bose's reactionary views naturally brought him in conflict with the pacifist leaders of Congress, most notably Mahatma Gandhi and Pandit Nehru. But their friction didn't occur in 1935; it happened much earlier.

Bose had organized the annual session of the Indian National Congress in 1928 in Calcutta. There, he organized a guard of honour in full military style: over 2,000 volunteers were drilled in military fashion and arranged into battalions; half of them wore military uniforms with “officers“ wearing metal epaulettes.

For himself, Bose got a British military officer's dress tailored by Calcuttabased British firm, Harman's, complemented by an aiguillette and a field marshal's baton. He also assumed the title of general officer commanding, much to the chagrin of Gandhi, who described the whole thing as `Bertram Mills circus'. But Bose's love for militarism continued.

In 1938, at the 51st session of the Congress at Haripura, Bose was the president. He organized for himself a grand ceremony that was no less than the march of a triumphant ancient Indian king returning from conquest. He is said to have entered the venue in a chariot drawn by 51 bullocks, accompanied by 51 girls in saffron saris, after a two-hour procession through 51 gates that also had 51 brass bands playing. He would do similar shows in Southeast Asia when he helmed the INA and Indian Independence League.

In October 1943, Bose announced the formation of the provisional government of free India , assuming the titles of head of state, prime minister, and minister for war and foreign affairs. He demanded total submission from his countrymen; anybody who opposed him, his army or government could be executed.

The INA proclamation stated: “If any person fails to understand the intentions of the Provisional Government of Azad Hind and the Indian National Army , or of our Ally , the Nippon Army , and dares to commit such acts as are itemized hereunder which would hamper the sacred task of emancipating India, he shall be executed or severely punished in accordance with the Criminal Law of the Provisional Government of Azad Hind and the INA or with the Martial Law of the Nippon Army .“

In a speech the same year in Singapore, Bose spoke about India needing a ruthless dictator for 20 years after liberation. The now-defunct Singapore daily , Sunday Express, printed his speech in which he said, “So long as there is a third party , ie the British, these dissensions will not end. They will disappear only when an iron dicta tor rules over India for 20 years. For a few years at least, after the end of British rule in India, there must be a dictatorship...No other constitution can flourish in this country and it is so to India's good that she shall be ruled by a dictator, to begin with.“

By this time, Netaji seems to have preferred Nazism more than Fascism. In a speech to Tokyo University students in 1944, Netaji said India needs a philosophy that “should be a synthesis between National Socialism (Nazism) and Communism“. Around this time, of course, any form of cordiality that existed between Bose and Nehru had evaporated.

Nonetheless, Nehru's tribute to his former colleague read, “He was not only brave but had deep love for freedom.He believed, rightly or wrongly, that whatever he did was for the independence of India.... Although I personally did not agree with him... nobody can doubt his sincerity .He struggled throughout his life for the independence of India, in his own way .“

Netaji in the Chinese Liberation Movement

The Times of India, Sep 19 2015

Did Bose play a role in Mao's revolution? 

Did Netaji take part in the Chinese Liberation Movement against Kuomintang forces? Was he hiding in China in 1949? The files declassified on Friday reveal several intelligence agency inputs that hint at Subhas Chandra Bose's refuge in China in 1949. In a note dated January 26, 1949, agencies tracked developments after Subhas's brother Sarat Bose's return from Europe where he'd organized several meetings. On his return, he held crucial meetings with Forward Bloc and Socialist Republican Party leaders.

Bose, who led Forward Bloc, later formed the Socialist Republican Party, advocating a socialist system for Bengal and India.

During a meeting with key party functionaries including Leela Roy, Jyotish Joardar, Anil Roy and Satya Bakshi, Sarat said he'd gathered information in Europe that suggested Subhas Chandra Bose took part in the Chinese Liberation Movement against the Kuomington forces. He believed Netaji was alive and continued to be in China.

At the time, China was wracked by civil war between forces loyal to the Kuomintang-led government and the Communist Party of China. The war came to a close in 1949 after Mao Tsetung declared creation of the People's Republic of China.

In a January 26, 1949 note, an intelligence agency quoted Sarat Bose claiming Subhas Chandra Bose played a role in the Communist Party's victory in China.

This unfolded at a time when Sarat Bose was trying to unite Leftist parties, including Forward Bloc and Socialist Republican Party, to find a common formula and work on a single platform against the Congress.

The intelligence agency inputs claim that Sarat Bose was also trying to unite those who believed in Netaji's ideologies.

The files report Sarat Bose being quoted saying that initially he was surprised by the news, but looking at it in the backdrop of world events, the move by Netaji seemed “sound“.

See also

Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose: Biography

Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose: Ideology

Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose: After-1945

Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose: Declassified papers

Azad Hind Fauj (Indian National Army)