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Subhash Chandra Bose (Bangla: সুভাষ চন্দ্র বসু, or, Ŝübhāŝ Chãndrâ Bâŝü) (January 23, 1897 – August 18, 1945?^note), also known as Netaji, was one of the two most prominent leaders of the Indian Independence Movement against the British Raj (the other most prominent leader was Mahatma Gandhi). Bose helped to organise, and later lead the Indian National Army, put together from Indian prisoners-of-war and plantation workers from Singapore and other parts of Southeast Asia, against British forces during the Second World War.

Early life

Subhas Chandra Bose was born to an affluent Bengali family in Cuttack, Orissa. His father, Janakinath Bose, was a public prosecutor who believed in orthodox nationalism, and later became a member of the Bengal Legislative Council. With eight brothers and six sisters, Bose's family was large but disciplined. He loved to read, and was fascinated with religion, discipline, and self-control. As a youth, he did volunteer work for the community and after reading Vivekananda's writings, "selfless service" became the motto guiding his life. Template:Inote

Recognizing his son's intellect, Bose's father was determined that Bose should become a high-ranking civil servant. He attended the Protestant European School and the Ravenshaw Collegiate School in Cuttack, and later joined Presidency College, Calcutta. He was rusticated from Presidency College after his violent reaction against racial comments made by the then rector, an Englishman named Otten. Bose later graduated with honours from the Scottish Church College, Calcutta. He was placed second in his university examination, and participated as a member of the India Defence Corps, then a newly-formed military training unit at the University of Calcutta. Template:Inote Afterwards he travelled to England and attended Fitzwilliam Hall at the University of Cambridge.

In 1920, Bose took the Indian Civil Service entrance examination and placed second. However, he resigned from the prestigious Indian Civil Service in April 1921 despite his high ranking in the merit list, and went on to become an active member of India's independence movement. He joined the Indian National Congress, and was particularly active in its youth wing. However, Bose's ideals did not match with that of Gandhi's belief in non-violence. He therefore returned to Calcutta to work under Chittaranjan Das, the Bengali freedom fighter and co-founder (with Motilal Nehru) of the Swaraj Party. In 1921, Bose organised a boycott of the celebrations to mark the visit of the Prince of Wales to India, which led to his imprisonment. In April 1924, Bose was elected to the post of Chief Executive Officer of the newly constituted Calcutta Corporation. Later, in October that year, Bose was arrested as a suspected terrorist. At first, he was kept in Alipore jail and later he was exiled to Mandalay in Burma. Template:Inote

In June 1925, Bose was deeply struck by the sudden loss of his mentor, Chittaranjan Das. At the end of 1926, he was nominated in absentia as a candidate for the Bengal Legislative Assembly. On May 16 1927 Bose was released from prison due to ill-health. The two years in Mandalay increased his confidence and strength. By December 1927, Bose, along with Jawaharlal Nehru became the General Secretary of the Indian National Congress. On January 23 1930, Bose was once again arrested for leading an "independence procession", protesting against British rule in India. After his release from jail on September 25, he was elected as the Mayor of the City of Calcutta.

Over a span of 20 years, Bose was incarcerated eleven times by the British, either in India or in Rangoon. He spent many years in various capacities as the Chief Executive Officer of the Calcutta Municipal Corporation (where Chittaranjan Das had previously been Mayor), and later as Mayor himself. Along with Jawaharlal Nehru, he was one of the radical left wing leaders of the Congress Party. He was exiled from India by the British during the mid 1930s to Europe, where he championed India's cause for self-rule before gatherings and conferences (like the Second Communist International).

After his father's death, the British authorities allowed him to land at Calcutta's airport only for the religious rites, which would be followed by his swift departure. During this time he traveled extensively in India and in Europe before stating his political opposition to Gandhi. He became the president of the Haripura Indian National Congress in 1938, against Gandhi's wishes. He was elected for a second term in 1939 in Tripuri Congress Session; Gandhi had supported Pattabhi Sitaramayya and commented "Pattabhi's defeat is my defeat" after learning the election results. Although Bose won the election, Gandhi's continued opposition led to the latter's resignation from the Working Committee. In the face of this gesture of no-confidence, Bose himself resigned. He then formed an independent party, the All India Forward Bloc. Bose also initiated the concept of the National Planning Committee in 1938.Template:Inote

Actions during the Second World War

Bose advocated the approach that the political instability of war-time Britain should be taken advantage of — rather than simply wait for the British to grant independence after the end of the war (which was the view of Gandhi, Nehru and a section of the Congress leadership) at the time. In this, he was influenced by the examples of Italian statesmen Giuseppe Garibaldi and Giuseppe Mazzini. During his stay in Europe from 1933 to 1936, he met several European leaders and thinkers, including Benito Mussolini, Eduard Beneš, Karl Seitz, Eamon de Valera, Romain Rolland and Alfred Rosenberg. He came to believe that India could achieve political freedom only if it had political, military and diplomatic support from outside, and that an independent nation necessitated the creation of a national army to secure its sovereignty. His correspondence reveals that despite his clear dislike for British subjugation, he was deeply impressed by their methodical and systematic approach and their steadfastedly disciplinarian outlook towards life. In England, he exchanged ideas 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 on the future of India. He came to accept the view that a free India needed Socialist authoritarianism, on the lines of Turkey's Kemal Atatürk, for at least two decades.

"The Great Escape"

At the beginning of the Second World War, Bose was released from jail following a hunger strike, but was kept under a watchful eye by the British. With two court cases pending, he felt the British would not let him leave the country before the end of the war. This inevitably set the scene for Bose's "Great Escape". Bose had never been to Afghanistan, and could not speak the local tribal language (Pashto). For this reason, he enlisted the help of Mian Akbar Shah, then a Forwad 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 which make him an easy target of Pashto speaking 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.

File:Subhas Bose.jpg

Bose as the leader of INA

On January 19 1941, Bose journeyed to Peshawar where he was met at Peshawar Cantonment station by Akbar Shah, Mohammed Shah and Bhagat Ram. Bose was taken to the home of Abad Khan, a trusted friend of Akbar Shah's. On the 26th January, 1941, Bose began his journey to reach Europe.

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Netaji poster in Thiruvananthapuram

In Germany

Having escaped incarceration at home by assuming the guise of a Pathan insurance agent ("Ziaudddin") to reach Afghanistan, Bose travelled to Moscow on the passport of an Italian nobleman "Count Orlando Mazzotta". From Moscow, he reached Rome, and from there he traveled to Germany, where 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 Centre 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 prio to their capture by Axis forces. The Azad Hind legion was attached to the Waffen SS, and they swore their allegiance to both Hitler and Bose to secure India's independence. At a time, when no one in Germany dared criticise Hitler, Bose was openly critical of Hitler's treatment of Jews, the destruction of democratic institutions in Germany and the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union.

Bose became disillusioned with Hitler after the invasion of the Soviet Union, and decided to leave Nazi Germany. The lack of interest shown by Hitler for the cause of Indian independence had frustrated Bose. He travelled by the German submarine U-180 around the Cape of Good Hope to Imperial Japan (via Japanese submarine I-29), which helped him raise his army in Singapore. This was the only civilian transfer across two submarines of two different navies in World War II.

In Japan

The Indian National Army (INA) consisted of some 85,000 regular troops, including a separate women's army unit named after Rani Lakshmi Bai (the women's combat army unit was the first of its kind in Asia). These troops were under the aegis of a provisional government, with its own currency, court and civil code, called the Provisional Government of Free India (or, the Arzi Hukumat-e-Azad Hind), and recognised by nine Axis states - Germany, Japan, Italy, the Independent State of Croatia, Reformed Government of the Republic of China, Thailand, a provisional government of Burma, Manchukuo and Japanese-controlled Philippines. Of those countries, five were states established by Axis occupation. This government participated as a delegate or observer in the so-called Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere.

En route to India, some of Bose's troops assisted in the Japanese victory over the British in the battles of Arakan and Meiktila, along with the Burmese National Army led by Ba Maw and Aung San. The Provisional Government and the INA were established in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands in the Bay of Bengal, part of the British Indian Empire under Japanese occupation. On the Indian mainland, an Indian Tricolour, modeled after that of the Indian National Congress, was raised for the first time in the town in Moirang, in Manipur, in northeastern India. The towns of Kohima and Imphal were placed under siege by divisions of the Japanese, Burmese and the Gandhi and Nehru Brigades of I.N.A. At the time of the Great Bengal Famine of 1943, during which millions died of starvation, Bose had offered (through radio) to provide Burmese rice to the victims of the famine. The British authorities in India (and in the UK) naturally refused the offer.

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 defeated Japanese Army. Japan's surrender after the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki also led to the eventual surrender of the Indian National Army.

Political views

Even though Bose and Gandhi had differing ideologies, the latter called Bose the "Patriot of Patriots" (Bose had called Gandhi "Father of the Nation").

He has been given belated recognition in India, and especially in West Bengal; Kolkata's civil airport and a university have been named after him. Unfortunately however, this recognition has been limited to West Bengal.

Many of the symbols of Bose's provisional government, which were also associated with the Congress, have been adopted in independent India - Rabindranath Tagore's Jana Gana Mana, which was the national song of the Provisional Government of Azad Hind is independent India's National Anthem, and the tricolour as India's national flag. His cry of "Jai Hind" has become India's national slogan.

His alliance with the Axis continues to be controversial for some. The generally accepted view in India is that he was a hero because of his forceful stance against British rule in India and for Indian independence. In working with the Japanese, however, he was forced to fight against a small section of his own countrymen, who, brainwashed as they were by the British propaganda that also suppressed Bose's radio broadcasts from the Azad Hind Radio, defended India within the unpoliticised British Indian Army against the INA & Japanese forces.

At the time the Second World War began, great divisions existed in the Indian independence movement about whether to exploit the weakness of the British to achieve independence. Some felt that any distinctions between the political allegiances and ideologies of the warring factions of Europe were inconsequential in the face of the possibility of Indian independence, and that it was hypocritical of the British to condemn pro-democracy Indians for allying themselves with anti-democratic Axis forces when the British themselves showed so little respect for democracy or democratic reforms in India. Others felt that it was inappropriate to seek concessions when Britain itself was in peril, and found their distaste for Nazi Germany and Japan outweighed their concerns about independence.

Bose, in particular, was accused of 'collaborating' with the Axis. He criticized the British during World War II, saying that while Britain was allegedly fighting for the freedom of the European nations under Nazi control, it would not grant independence to its own colonies, including India. It may be observed that along with Nehru, Bose had organized and led protest marches against the Japanese invasion of Manchuria in 1931, and of China itself in 1938, when he was Congress president. During that period, Chinese leader Chiang Kai Shek was feted in India and medical aid and food supplies were sent to Chinese areas which suffered the worst brunt of Japanese imperialism. That he eventually abandoned his political stance (which initially was that of Gandhi and Nehru) reflects his deep discontent with the nature of the British rule, and a growing belief that the formation of an Indian free state was nowhere on the British political roadmap. At the Tripura Congress session, he made his views quite explicit - Britain had forced a war on India, without bothering to consult Indians and in the (then largely Tory dominated) British world view, the opinions and aspirations of people of non-white "subject races" did not count [1].

It is interesting to note that Bose's earlier correspondence (prior to 1939) reflects his deep disapproval of the racist practices of, and annulment of democratic institutions in Nazi Germany. Though Bose did ally himself with the Axis powers, there is little to suggest he shared any of their doctrines of racial superiority; instead it appears he was motivated to join them largely out of political pragmatism. It may be noted that his tenure as Congress Party President (1938-39) hardly reflected any anti-democratic or authoritarian attributes. Rather, his role then was more that of a negotiator, and a consensus-builder within the ranks of the senior Congress leadership (led by Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru and others) on the one hand, and the Muslim League (led by Mohammed Ali Jinnah) on the other. Nirad C. Chaudhuri, Anton Pelinka and Leonard Gordon have remarked that Bose's skills were best illustrated at the negotiating table, rather than on the battlefield.

Although Bose has been branded as a fascist in some quarters, it is mostly the result of malicious propaganda. Bose had clearly expressed his belief that democracy was the best option for India. His authoritarian tendencies were based out of political pragmatism and post-colonial recovery doctrine rather than any anti-democratic belief.

Assassination Attempts

In 1941, when the British learned that Bose had sought the support of the Axis Powers, they ordered their agents to assassinate Bose. This remarkable claim comes from Irish historian, Dr. Eunan O'Halpin, who is the author of several books on British intelligence and teaches at Trinity College, Dublin.

According to O'Halpin, British agents were instructed to intercept and kill Bose before he reached Germany via the Middle East. O'Halpin says a recently declassified intelligence document refers to a top-secret instruction to the Special Operations Executive (SOE) of British intelligence to murder Bose.

Initially thought to be in the Far East, Bose's whereabouts were discovered from an Italian diplomatic communication, and the British came to know that Bose was in Kabul, planning to reach Germany through the Middle East. Two SOE operatives in Turkey were instructed by their headquarters in London to intercept Bose and kill him before he reached Germany. They failed because Bose reached Germany through Central Asia and the Soviet Union.

According to Mr O'Halpin, the decision was extraordinary, unusual and rare, and it seemed that the British took Bose much more seriously than many had thought. In fact, the plan to liquidate Bose has few parallels, and appears to be a last desperate measure against a man who had thrown the British Empire into complete panic.

Re-evaluation of Netaji

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Netaji mural in Kolkata

The INA is fondly remembered by some Japanese historians, who see the Japanese efforts to support Bose as proof of their view that Japan really was fighting on behalf of the oppressed peoples of Asia. In addition, the INA is seen by some as an organisation devoid of the divisive energies of parochialism that have since plagued Indian politics.

Bose's portrait hangs in the Indian Parliament, and a statue has been erected in front of the West Bengal Legislative Assembly.

Bose was posthumously awarded the Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian award in 1992, but was later withdrawn in response to a Supreme Court directive following a Public Interest Litigation filed in the Court against the "posthumous" nature of the award. The Award Committee could not give conclusive evidence of Bose's death and thus it invalidated the "posthumous" award.

Death

Bose is said to have died in a plane crash over Taiwan, while flying to Tokyo in August 1945. However, his body was never recovered, and conspiracy theories concerning his possible survival abound. One such claim is that Bose actually died in Siberia, while in Soviet captivity. Harin Shah, an Indian journalist, visited Taipei, and was shown a plane crash site (supposedly of Bose's plane [2].

In May 1956, a four-man Indian team visited Japan to probe the circumstances of Bose's alleged death in the crash of a military aircraft at Taipei on August 18, 1945. Supposedly, a "veil of secrecy" cloaked the "mysterious" tragedy (including some bizarre tales of murder and gems). But Japanese eyewitnesses (including Army surgeons who said they actually conducted blood transfusions for the dying Indian leader) state that Bose's death from injuries sustained in the air crash is indisputably authenticated.

An important point to note is that nobody in India had ever asked the government of Taiwan, the country where the air crash allegedly took place, for any assistance in the matter. India has never had any diplomatic relations with the Republic of China, and the Indian Government has consistently used this as a excuse not to do so. However, as far back as 1956, the Government of Formosa, as Taiwan was then called, informed a British investigation, that no air crash had occured in that country between August and October 1945. These details are available in the book "Netaji - Dead or Alive?" by Indian ex-MP, late Shri Samar Guha, which is the first-ever and easily the most comprehensive compilation on the Netaji disappearance mystery, which effectively trashes the Taihoku air crash story.

The Inquiry Commission under Justice Mukherjee, which investigated the Bose disappearance mystery in the period 1999-2005, did approach the Taiwanese government after a journalist Anuj Dhar (with the Hindustan Times) obtained information from the Taiwan Government that no plane carrying Bose had ever crashed in Taipei [3] [4]. Dhar also a wrote a book Back from Dead: Inside the Subhas Bose Mystery [5] discrediting the plane crash theory.

The Taiwanese government confirmed to the Mukherjee Commission as well in January 2005, that Bose could not have died in a plane crash in that country, stating that there "were no plane crashes at Taipei between 14 August and 20 September 1945." [6]. Shortly afterwards, the Mukherjee Commission also received a report originating from the US State Department, supporting the claim of the Taiwan Government that no such air crash took place during that time frame [7].

It has been reported that a conversation reportedly took place between Josef Stalin and Vyacheslav Molotov in 1946 about whether Bose should remain in the Soviet Union, although he is supposed to have died the year before. There are theories that Bose had kept contact with the Soviets after the defeat of the Axis powers became apparent, and travelled to Manchuria instead of Taiwan (Manchuria was occupied by the Soviets in the final days of the war). Documents to this effect are claimed to be in existence.

Very recently, on November 8, 2005, the Mukherjee Commission has submitted its report to the Indian Government. The report is to be tabled in the budget session of the Parliament in early 2006.

In media

Cinema

Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose: The Forgotten Hero [8], was a 2005 film made in Hindi and English, directed by Shyam Benegal.
Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose was a 1966 Hindi film directed by Hemen Gupta.
Subhas Ghare Fere Nai(Subhas Did Not Return Home) was a 1958 Bengali film.
Pehla Aadmi(The First Man) was a 1950 Hindi film directed by Bimal Roy.

Documentary / Television

The Century of Warfare, was a 1994 English language documentary in made in the USA shows archival footage of Netaji.
War of the Springing Tiger was a 1984 English language documentary made in the UK for Channel 4 which examines the role of the Indian National Army during the Second World War.

Reading List

Brothers Against the Raj -- A biography of Indian Nationalists Sarat and Subhas Chandra Bose / Leonard A. Gordon, Princeton University Press, 1990

Lost hero: a biography of Subhas Bose / Mihir Bose, Quartet Books, London ; 1982

Democracy Indian style: Subhas Chandra Bose and the creation of India's political culture / Anton Pelinka ; translated by Renée Schell, New Brunswick, NJ : Transaction Publishers (Rutgers University Press), 2003

Subhas Chandra Bose: a biography / Marshall J. Getz, Jefferson, N.C. : McFarland & Co., USA, 2002

The Springing Tiger: Subhash Chandra Bose / Hugh Toye : Cassell, London, 1959

Netaji and India's freedom: proceedings of the International Netaji Seminar, 1973 / edited by Sisir K. Bose. International Netaji Seminar (1973: Calcutta, India), Netaji Research Bureau, Calcutta, India, 1973

Indian Pilgrim: an unfinished autobiography / Subhas Chandra Bose ; edited by Sisir Kumar Bose and Sugata Bose, Oxford University Press, Calcutta, 1997

Indian Struggle, 1920-1942 / Subhas Chandra Bose ; edited by Sisir Kumar Bose and Sugata Bose, Oxford University Press, Calcutta, 1997

Correspondence and Selected Documents, 1930-1942 / Subhas Chandra Bose ; edited by Ravindra Kumar, Inter-India, New Delhi, 1992.

Letters to Emilie Schenkl, 1934-1942 / Subhash Chandra Bose; edited by Sisir Kumar Bose and Sugata Bose, Permanent Black : New Delhi, 2004

Japanese-trained armies in Southeast Asia: independence and volunteer forces in World War II / Joyce C. Lebra, New York : Columbia University Press, 1977

Jungle alliance, Japan and the Indian National Army / Joyce C. Lebra, Singapore, Donald Moore for Asia Pacific Press,1971

The Forgotten Army: India's Armed Struggle for Independence / Peter Ward Fay, Calcutta: Rupa & Co., 1994

External links

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@@ Line 23: / Line 23: @@
 At the beginning of the Second World War, Bose was released from jail following a hunger strike, but was kept under a watchful eye by the British. With two court cases pending, he felt the British would not let him leave the country before the end of the war. This inevitably set the scene for Bose's "Great Escape". Bose had never been to Afghanistan, and could not speak the local tribal language ([[Pashto]]). For this reason, he enlisted the help of Mian Akbar Shah, then a Forwad 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 which make him an easy target of Pashto speaking 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.
+[[Image:Subhas_Bose.jpg|thumb|280px|right|Bose as the leader of [[INA]]]]
 On [[January 19]] [[1941]], Bose journeyed to Peshawar where he was met at Peshawar Cantonment station by Akbar Shah, Mohammed Shah and Bhagat Ram. Bose was taken to the home of Abad Khan, a trusted friend of Akbar Shah's. On the 26th January, 1941, Bose began his journey to reach Europe.