The Fearless Visionary of India

 

Patriot of patriots, Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, gave the loud voice of freedom during the colonial era when a mere mention of freedom was considered "Anti National". The British had instituted such laws that could suppress any mutiny, any slogan of revolution. However, Netaji didn't fear the consequences he had to face and his powerful voice has undoubtedly resulted in  India's freedom. 23rd January 2024, on the 127th birth anniversary of Netaji, let's all delve into his contributions to his freedom struggle.

I know that you all are well aware of how Netaji formed the Indian National Army and what were his contributions and many of you know what was his relationship with Hitler. But I believe that you can give tributes to a freedom fighter by following their ideals to build a better nation. So the question is what was the ideology of Netaji?

1. Meaning of freedom:  In the words of Bose to his friend and revolutionary B.K Ghosh,

"In these many years we have been told only about political freedom but now we need to  announce that we do not just want political freedom but we wish to liberate the people from all sorts of bondage."

By bondages, he meant the triple bondage of political, social oppression, and economic. His main motive was to make a free and classless society.

2. Women Empowerment: Netaji not only inspired women to raise their voices but also to fight with arms, and join the Indian Army to liberate India from the British. In 1943 in Singapore, he called for the Indian women to form a "death-defying regiment". He encouraged such regiments to come forward and fight for the British for their independence just like Rani Laxmi bai. In December 1930 Bose made it clear that,

"Women had not only duties to their family but had a greater duty to their nation".

3. Communism: Subhas Bose was a leftist, but his notion of leftism was quite different from what is commonly understood by the term today. In particular, he was a leftist in the sense that he was an anti-imperialist and believed in attaining undiluted independence, not merely substance thereof. Thus, neither economics nor communism was central to Bose’s notion of leftism. In his own words, “In the present political phase of Indian life, leftism means anti-imperialism.

Bose had predicted that Communism would not be adopted in India, based on its denunciation of religion, among other things:

 "There are several reasons why Communism will not be adopted in India. Firstly, Communism today has no sympathy with Nationalism in any form and the Indian movement is a Nationalist movement – a movement for the national liberation of the Indian people. (Lenin’s thesis on the relationship between Communism and Nationalism seems to have been given the go-by since the failure of the last Chinese Revolution.) Secondly, Russia is now on the defensive and has little interest in provoking a world revolution though the Communist International may still endeavour to keep up appearances. The recent pact between Russia and other capitalist countries and the written or unwritten conditions inherent in such pacts, as well as her membership in the League of Nations, have seriously compromised the position of Russia as a revolutionary power. Moreover, Russia is too preoccupied in her internal industrial reorganization and in her preparations for meeting the Japanese menace on her eastern flank and is too anxious to maintain friendly relations with the Great Powers, to show any active interest in countries like India. Thirdly, while many of the economic ideas of Communism would make a strong appeal to Indians, other ideas will have a contrary effect. Owing to the close association between the Church and the State in Russian history and to the existence of an Organised Church, Communism in Russia has grown to be anti-religious and atheistic. In India, on the contrary, there being no association between the Church and the State, there is no feeling against religion as such. Further, in India, a national awakening is in most cases heralded by a religious reformation and a cultural renaissance. Fourthly, the materialistic interpretation of history which seems to be a Cardinal point in Communist theory will not find unqualified acceptance in India, even among those who would be disposed to accept the economic contents of Communism. Fifthly, while Communist theory has made certain remarkable contributions in the domain of economics (for instance the idea of state-planning), it is weak in other aspects. For instance, so far as the monetary problem is concerned, Communism has made no new contribution but has merely followed traditional economics. Recent experiences, however, indicate that the monetary problem of the world is still far from being satisfactorily solved.’’ 

(pp. 352-353, The Indian Struggle (1920-1942))

Such a communist is difficult to get today.

4. The Great Escape:  

Netaji wanted Germany's help for independence from the British. But it was not possible to do this while in the jail of Calcutta. So Netaji found a way. He started a fast unto death in jail. His health started deteriorating and under compulsion, the British government had to release him. On 5 December 1940, the British placed Netaji under house arrest. At that time, the British used to constantly monitor the house of Netaji so that he did not run away from there.

Meanwhile, under house arrest, Netaji started growing a beard, and without being noticed by the British, he sent a telegram to the leader of his party Forward Block, Mian Akbar Shah. Mian Akbar Shah was in Peshawar at that time, which is presently in Pakistan. On Netaji's call, Mian Akbar Shah reached Calcutta from Peshawar.

To execute this plan, Netaji talked to his nephew Shishir. A plan was made to reach Dhanbad by car. The next day he reaches the nearby Gomo station (Bihar). He takes the train "Kalka Mail" to first Delhi and then to Peshawar by another train the "Frontier Mail".On reaching Peshawar, he disguised himself as a Muslim Insurance Agent and changed his name to Ziauddin. Netaji wanted to go from Peshawar to Kabul and then via Kabul to Moscow. To mingle with the citizens of Afghanistan, Netaji started wearing Pashtun-like clothes. But the problem was that he did not know the Pashto language. To avoid being caught, he acted dumb and deaf. After this, he reached the Embassy of Italy in Kabul, and on an Italian passport, he traveled to Moscow. Then, he reached Germany via Italy from Moscow and asked Hitler for help in the fight against the British.

This plan of Netaji to reach Kabul from Calcutta is called 'The Great Escape'. That house still exists in the Shor Bazar area of ​​Kabul where Netaji stayed for a few days. The funniest part here is that the British found out about his escape after 11 days after the fact. This is because his dear ones used to deliver food to his room every day and his nephews used to eat those food. People thought that he was still there in his room. Here is a beautiful map by Ian's Graphics to show his journey from Calcutta to Kabul.

5. Relationship with other freedom fighters:

Now you might hear some baseless arguments in media like:

"Gandhi never respected Netaji"

"Nehru asked Joseph Stalin to kill Netaji"

This creates a narrative that Bose was Gandhi and Nehru's enemy.

Well, this is where the concept of "difference of opinion " and malice(hate) towards them comes to the scene. Let's break it down one by one.

Bose was a frontline leader of the Indian National Congress. He plunged into the anti-colonial movement under Gandhi’s leadership in 1921 and rose to be the president of the Congress in 1938-39. There were differences of opinion with the Gandhian high command in 1939, but he remained true to the Congress ideal of freedom. Bose wanted to know how the different aspects of the movement would culminate in the non-payment of taxes, the last stage of the campaign. Secondly, he wanted to know how the non-payment of taxes would eventually force the British to leave, and thirdly how Gandhi could promise Swaraj in one year. On Gandhi’s advice, Bose moved to Calcutta, where he worked closely with the lawyer and Congress leader C R Das. As president of the Congress, his first disagreement with Gandhi happened in December 1938 when Bose was eager to form a coalition government in Bengal along with the Krishak Praja Party. The following year, Bose was hopeful for re-election as Congress president. A second term was rare, and Gandhi was against the idea of re-electing Bose. Bose found support from the younger and left-leaning members of the Congress and also from the literary giant Rabindranath Tagore. Tagore had personally written to Gandhi requesting a second term for Bose. Both leaders were of the same age, had similar political leanings, and often found themselves frustrated by Gandhi’s commitment to non-violence.

However, while Nehru was starry-eyed in his reverence for Gandhi, Bose though immensely respectful of Gandhi, found his political strategies to be ambiguous. Bose and Nehru had been in prison at that time and both expressed disappointment and anger over the unilateral withdrawal of the non-cooperation movement over the Chauri Chaura incident. Both were left-leaning radical men, unswerving in their commitment to ‘purna swaraj’ and to the forming of a socialist state in independent India. When Bose sought the support of the Nazi government in Germany, he found himself ideologically at the farthest end of Nehru’s views.

OK, no problem if you don't agree to this, see what the Iron Man of India had to say about Netaji.

In response to Bose’s re-election, several members of the Congress Working Committee resigned including Vallabhbhai Patel and Rajendra Prasad. This is because of the political ideology of Capitalism(Sardar Patel and Rajendra Prasad) and Communism(Netaji Bose). Patel had an old rivalry with Bose, which was both personal and political. Their relationship had deteriorated rapidly with the death of Patel’s elder brother Vithalbhai in 1933. Bose had been very close to Vithalbhai and had nursed him during his last days. In his will, Vithalbhai had left a substantial portion of his property to Bose. Vallabhbhai had cast aspersions on the authenticity of the will and a long legal battle had followed culminating in the victory of Patel. But this all changed in 1942 when Gandhiji started his  Quit India Movement and at the same moment  Netaji with the help of the Japanese Army fought the British at Kohima and Imphal.

In the addresses of Nehru after Bose's death, the previous alluded to Netaji most lovingly. In August 1947, in his most memorable speeches from the defenses of the Red Fort, Nehru warmly referred to just two individuals by name and were Gandhi and Bose. Till his last Independence Day speech (15th August 1963), Nehru never missed his name in his speech. While Patel additionally upheld the war pursued by the INA. Netaji believed Patel should head the Congress after Independence.

Netaji called Gandhi's Quit India Movement a "Non Violent Guerrilla Warfare" and asked the people to support Congress's cause. Netaji named his brigade armies Gandhi Nehru and Abul Kalam Azad. In 1943, Azad Hind Radio, called Gandhiji "The Father of the Nation".  So it was Netaji who called him by this name.

Well, this wasn't a one-sided lauding. Gandhi called him a "Prince among Patriots" and openly supported his war against the British in North Eastern India and also gave his blessing so that his army could reach Calcutta.

So this is a small tribute to Netaji on his birthday. But you may ask why a blog post like India's Policy Canvas would talk about a freedom fighter. It's because people like Netaji, Gandhiji, Nehru, Sardarji, Bhagat Singh, Lal Bahadur Shastri, Thiruppur Kumaran, and countless other people who gave their lives wanted to see their country grow prosperously. We have to make their dreams come true. That's the greatest tribute we can give to a freedom fighter. So the next time we come across an anniversary of a freedom fighter, let's not only pay our respects and post stories on Instagram but let's all introspect where we are lacking and move forward. Because the country is now in our hands. From the heavens, Netaji is seeing us and hoping that we do a great job in taking the country forward.

This was a blog post I wrote from the bottom of my heart and at the same time researched some historical facts.

The Indian Struggle - Netaji Bose

Brothers against the Raj- Leonard A Gordon

These books are worth reading. I strongly suggest you read these books.

Thank you and Jai Hind!🙏🙏