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SUBASH CHANDRA BOSE

Early Life of Subash Chandra Bose

Subash Chandra Bose was more popularly known as Netaji and was one of the most energetic and vigorous leaders of the India who participated in India's struggle for independence. Subash Chandra Bose led the team of Bengal Congress and then he slowly step his foot into the Indian National Congress. He was one of the renowned freedom fighter of India.

Subash Chandra Bose played a major role in calling for the industrialization and to put an end to the British rule in India. But however his views on politics were more like a serious disagreement or argument with the ideas followed by Mahatma Gandhi. So Subash Chandra Bose confederated in league with Japan so as to create the Indian National Army. Subash Chandra Bose was born in Cuttack in the state of Orissa on January 23, 1897 to Janaki Nath Bose and Prabhavati Devi.

His father Janaki Nath Bose was a very famous and affluent lawyer who even received the title of Rai Bahadur. Janaki Nath Bose later became the member of Bengal Legislative Councli. Subash Chandra Bose was the ninth son to his parents among the fourteen siblings of eight brothers and six sisters. Subash Chandra Bose was married in the year 1937 to the daughter of an Austrian veterinarian, Emilie Schenkl and the couple gave birth to a girl child in the year 1942 who was named as Anita Bose Pfaff.

Subash Chandra Bose had always been a very bright student and secured the highest mark in the matriculation exam in the whole of Calcutta province. Subash Chnadra Bose was graduated in philosophy with a First Class degree from the Scottish Church College in Kolkata, West Bengal. Apart from being influenced by his mother who was a very religious lady he was also affected by the teachings of Swami Vivekananda. He worshiped him as his spiritual Guru. Even as a student Netaji was noted for his nationalistic passion.

Subash entry into the Freedom Fight Movement

Subash Chandra Bose was always very much against the idea of Indians being exploited by the British. During his study in the Presidency College of Calcutta University he beat up one of his teacher who was a British and as a result of racial bigot complaint given against Subash Chandra Bose by the teacher he was thrown out of the college.

This incident short listed Subash Chandra Bose in the rebellious Indian category. Also in the year 1921 when the Prince of Wales visited India Bose organized a boycott against the coming of the Prince for which he was arrested and imprisoned. His parents wanted him to pass the Indian Civil Services and in order to achieve his parents wish Subash Chandra Bose went to England and he also succeeded in it. In the year 1920 he took the exams for Indian Civil Services and stood fourth in the merit order.

But however he was not able discharge his duties in the process of his apprenticeship in Civil Services for he was deeply affected by the Jallianwalla Bagh massacre in Punjab. Also his urge to participate in the freedom fight movement was quite serious and so he returned back to his mother country in April 1921. After coming back to India he was with his parents for a while and then left home only to become an active member of India's independence movement and also later he joined the Indian National Congress, and was also elected as the president of the party.

Subash with Congress

As already mentioned Subash Chandra Bose wanted to become an active member of India's independence movement and so allied with the Indian National Congress under the guidance of Mahatma Gandhi. Gandhiji suggested Subash Chandra Bose to work under the counseling of Deshbandhu Chittaranjan Das who was later recognized by Netaji as his political Guru. In a very short span of time Netaji reached to a very high place in the hierarchy of Congress by exhibiting his leadership fortitude.

However in 1922 Deshbandhu Chittaranjan Das left Congress along with Motilal Nehru and founded and established the Swaraj Party in 1922 and was busy spreading the National strategy. During this time Subash Chandra Bose was trying his best to illuminate the students and the youths of the country to get greater knowledge and understanding about the situation. Subash Chandra Bose was determined to see India as an independent, federal and republic nation.

The Domination status which was declared by the Motilal Nehru Committee appointed by the Congress in 1928 was highly opposed by Subash Chandra Bose along with Jawaharlal Nehru. Both Nehru and Netaji were quite strong in their decision that nothing can be considered other the real fact of total and complete Independence for India and he declared the formation of the Independence League. In 1930 at the time of the Civil Disobedience movement Subash Chandra Bose was arrested and was released from the jail only after Gandhi-Irwin pact was signed.

Netaji also expressed disagreement against the Gandhi-Irwin pact and conflicted the suspension of Civil Disobedience movement especially when Bhagat Singh and his associates were hanged. Once again at the time of the Bengal Regulation which was not really very famous, Subash Chandra Bose was arrested and put in jail and was released only after a year based on medical grounds.

After he was released he was sent as an expatriate from India to England as an official punishment. In England Subash Chandra Bose took various steps to set up centers in different European capitals in concern to promote to politico-cultural contacts between India and Europe. In spite of his entry to India was openly resisted Subash Chandra Bose again came back to India and was arrested and put behind bars for a year. In 1937 Subash Chandra Bose was released from Jail after Congress won in seven states in the General Elections and came to power. After he was released from jail in 1938 Netaji was elected as the President of the Haripura Congress Session. 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. When the weather for the World War II was prevailing Subash Chandra Bose came up with a firm decision stating that the British will be given six months and hand over India to the Indians and get out of the country failing which there would be a rebel.

Making use of the available Indian resources Subash Chandra Bose gathered men for the Great War and was trying to establish a mass movement. There was a great response to his call. But however he was out under house arrest in Calcutta. So on January 1941 he just from his home in Calcutta and reached Germany via Afghanistan.

Subash Chandra Bose started working on pithy statement expressing a general truth or rule of conduct that "an enemy's enemy is a friend", and he managed to quest the help of Germany and Japan against British Empire. He created the awareness to fight against the British even through radio broadcasting from Berlin.

Finally he along with his troops came to Singapore from Germany in July 1943, where he took 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. It was during this time he was more popularly referred by the Indian civilian population in East Asia and by the army as the proud Netaji.

Slowly the Azad Hind Fauj marched forward towards India to free it from the British for which they had to cross through the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and finally the Burma border and landed on the Indian soil on March 18, 1944. But unfortunately Japan and Germany were defeated in the Second World War made the Indian National Army to be retired and pulled back with a failure in the achievement of their objective.

After the Second World War the whereabouts of Subash Chandra Bose was not clear in the history of Independent India though through some sources it is believed that Subash Chandra Bose was killed in an air crash over Taipeh, Taiwan (Formosa) on August 18, 1945.

Awards & Achievements

Though Subash Chandra Bose was awarded with the highest rank civilian award, the Bharat Ratna, it was later withdrawn based on a Public Interest Litigation which was filed in the court against the 'posthumous' nature of the award. Some of the famous quotes of Subash Chandra Bose which was quoted by this Nationalist Leader at the time of freedom fight for India include "Give me blood, and I shall give you freedom!" 'Dilli Chalo', 'Ittefa', 'Etemad, Qurbani', 'Jai Hind' and 'Glory to India'