One\nof the greatest sons of India, Subhas Chandra Bose has always created a sense\nof pride among people who believe in the greatness of their country. His plans\nfor independence of his motherland from the yoke of the British imperialism\nwith the help of its adversaries during the Second World War still evoke a\nsense of awe and reverence for this brave patriot. He set up a Provisional\nGovernment of Free India abroad and organised the Indian National Army (INA),\nknown as the Azad Hind Fauj. With the help of the Japanese forces, the INA\nattempted to enter the Indian soil as liberators. In the initial stages, they\nmade great headway and the flag of Azad Hindustan was hoisted by them at\nMowdok, about 50 miles to the east of Cox Bazar, amidst great rejoicing and\nsinging of national anthem. But when the fortunes of Japan nosedived, the\naspirations of the INA also received a setback. Subhas Chandra Bose was killed\nin an aircrash on his way to Tokyo. His endeavour to free his country by putting\nhis own life at risk at every step is indeed part of the saga of Indian\nhistory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Subhas\nChandra Bose resigned from the Indian\nCivil Service (ICS) in 1921 to join the Non-cooperation Movement. He was a born\nrebel and emotionally a dissenter. He wrote a book, The Indian Struggle,<\/em> which was published in London in 1935, but\nwas proscribed in India. He was elected twice the President of All-India\nCongress in the years 1938 and 1939 for the sessions at Haripura and Tripuri,\nbut had to part company with the Congress leaders because of his radical views.\nHe was arrested on July 2, 1940 under Section 129 of the Defence of India\nRules. The Government had no case against him and was trying to implicate him\nin two criminal cases. Languishing in jail, he lamented he could do nothing for\nthe liberation of his motherland. He, therefore, embarked upon a plan to take\nadvantage of the War and seek the help of the foreign powers for obtaining the\nindependence of his country. To execute this plan, it was necessary to come out\nof jail. He, therefore, went on a hunger strike on November 29, 1940. As his\nhealth soon deteriorated to an alarming condition, the Government released him\non bail on December 5, 1940. <\/p>\n\n\n\n After\nhis release, Subhas remained quietly at his house on Elgin Road in Calcutta\nunder the strict surveillance of the police. He left home stealthily on January\n17, 1941 at about 1.25 a.m. in a car driven by his nephew, Sisir, in the guise\nof a kabuliwalla and boarded the train for Peshawar. He remained in Peshawar for\na week, both in mental agony and utter physical discomfort trying to find ways\nand means to safely cross the borders of the British empire without being\ndetected. He undertook his journey to Kabul via Jamrud and Landikotal by\nvarious modes, partly by tonga, partly by truck and partly on foot also. He\nreached Kabul on January 31, 1941 at 11.00 a.m. from where he pro\u00adceed\u00aded to Russia on an Italian passport. He flew\nfrom Moscow to Berlin on March 28, 1941.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Bose\ndid not find his mission to Germany an easy task. There were bottlenecks and\nobstacles at every stage. He was able to meet the German Foreign Minister, Von\nRibbontrop. The German Government allowed him to set up a Free India Centre and\nmake regular broadcasts from the Azad Hind Radio Station at Berlin, but was not\nprepared to make a declaration of Indian independence. Subhas Chandra Bose also\nmet Hitler on May 29, 1942, but could not convince him of the immediate\nnecessity of securing the independence of India. Hitler persisted in his\nbelief, put forward in Mein Kampf, <\/em> that India would not be able to rule herself\nfor another 150 years. All this threw cold water on the hopes of Subhas, but he\nwas not a man to be disheartened by the reverses and repulsions during his\nmission. The rapid successes of Japan against the Allied powers in the Far East\nsoon provided him with a new ray of hope. He could fight the British\nimperialism more effectively with the assistance of Japan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The\nopportunity for embarking upon the new adventure came much sooner than it could\nhave been expected. Rash Behary Bose, the veteran revolutionary of the First\nWorld War period, had been living in Japan since 1915 with his Japanese wife.\nThe entry of Japan in the Second World War against the Allied powers provided\nhim an opportunity for uniting all the Indians living in Tokyo and forming an\nIndian Independence League in March 1942. A bigger gathering of the Indians\nsettled throughout the Japanese Asia from China, Philippines, Thailand, Borneo,\nJava, Sumatra, Hong Kong, etc., met in a conference at Bangkok from June 15 to\n23, 1942. The conference re-elected Rash Behary Bose as the Chairman of the\nIndian Independence League. It laid down the attainment of complete and\nimmediate independence of India as its main objective and passed thirty-five\nresolutions. It decided to form an Indian National Army with Captain Mohan\nSingh as its Commander-in-Chief and constitute a Council of Action for the\nattainment of the objectives of the League. It invited Subhas Chandra Bose to\ntake up the leadership of the struggle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Bose\naccepted the invitation of the Bangkok conference and embarked upon another\nhazardous journey\u2014along with Abid Hussain\u2014in a German submarine. Leaving Kiel\non February 8, 1943, the submarine made a long journey through the\nAtlantic Ocean to avoid the British ships. Another Japanese submarine was\nwaiting for him to which he and his colleague were transferred by a rubber\ndinghy on April 28, 1943. It took them across the Indian Ocean to Sumatra and\nafter a long sea journey, Bose reached Tokyo on June 13, 1943. The days of his\nwanderings were now over and an era of hope, purpose and accomplishment began\nin his life, fully dedicated to the independence of his motherland. The\nJapanese Premier, Tojo, assured him that his country wanted India to be free\nand independent. He invited Bose to attend the proceedings of the Japanese\nParliament (Diet) in which he declared on June 16, 1943, \u201cWe are determined to\nextend every possible assistance to the cause of India\u2019s independence.\u201d The\nPremier also en\u00ad\u00adcouraged Subhas to establish a Provisional Government of Free\nIndia and allowed him to broadcast his views to the Indian people through Tokyo\nRadio.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Having\nachieved complete success at Tokyo, Subhas Chandra Bose went to Singapore on\nJuly 2, 1943. He received a tumultuous welcome there by a big gathering of\nIndians. They instinctively felt, that at last, the Man of Destiny had come to\nlead them on the road towards freedom of their country. The soldiers of the INA\npresented him a guard of honour and he took the salute in his civilian dress\nwith Gandhi cap on his head. Two days later, Rash Behary Bose handed over to\nhim both the Presidentship of Indian Independence League (IIL) and the Supreme\nCommand of the Indian National Army. He was hailed as Netaji\u2014the supreme\nleader, the title by which he has always been and is still remembered by the\npeople.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Assuming\nthe leadership of IIL and command of INA, Bose gave a call \u2018Dilli Chalo\u2019 (March to Delhi) and the salutation \u2018Jai\nHind\u2019. He reorganised the recruitment and training departments of the Indian\nNational Army. Apart from physical training, the soldiers were also to be\nimparted mental training to arouse their national pride and love for the\nmotherland. They were to imbibe in their lives the three principles of the Indian\nIndependence League, namely, unity, faith and sacrifice. The soldiers were\nplaced under three commands named after Gandhi, Azad and Nehru. Subhas also\nmade extensive changes in the style and functioning of the Indian Independence\nLeague.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The\nscene was now set for the formal inauguration of the Provisional Government of\nFree India. A grand function was held at Cathy Hall in Singapore on October 21,\n1943 where Bose read his historic proclamation declaring the establishment of\nthe Provisional Govern\u00adment of Free India. On this solemn occasion, he took an\noath of allegiance: \u201cIn the name of God, I take the sacred oath that to\nliberate India and the thirty-eight crore of my countrymen, I, Subhas Chandra\nBose, will continue this sacred war of freedom till the last breath of my life.\nI shall always remain a servant of India. Even after winning freedom, I will\nalways be prepared to shed my blood for the preservation of India\u2019s freedom.\u201d\nThe Provisional Government immediately declared war on Great Britain and the\nUnited States of America. It also won quick recognition from nine\nnations\u2014Japan, Germany, Italy, Thailand, Burma, Nationalist China, Manchuria,\nCroatia and Philippines. On October 28, 1943, Subhas Chandra Bose, now called\nNetaji, flew to Tokyo as the Head of\nProvisional Government of Free India and was received by the Japanese Emperor\nwith full honours due to the head of a state. He also attended the Greater East\nAsia Conference on November 6, 1943 at which the Japanese Premier, Tojo,\nannounced that his Govern\u00adment had decided to hand over the Andaman and Nicobar\nIslands to the Provisional Government of\nFree India. These islands were renamed as Shahid and Swaraj by the Provisional\nGovernment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The\ntask before the Provisional Government now was to participate in the Japanese\noffensive against British India. \u201cAny liberation of India secured through\nJapanese sacrifices,\u201d declared Netaji, \u201cis worse than slavery.\u201d Our\nindependence must be won by the blood of Indians. The brave soldiers of the INA\nwere ready to sacrifice their lives for the honour of their motherland. The INA\ndecided to launch an attack simultaneously in three sectors. The Arakan sector\nwas placed under the command of Col. Misra. The Bishenpur sector was put under\nCol. Malik and Kohima sector under Major Maghar Singh and Ajmer Singh. The INA\nachieved great success in the Arakan and Bishenpur sectors and was also to\noccupy Mowdok in May 1944. The Kohima sector was much wider and strategically\nmore important. After quite a hard fighting, the Japanese-INA forces were able\nto capture Kohima, only a few miles from Dimapur, on April 6, 1944. It now\nlooked that Imphal would also fall into the hands of the Japanese-INA forces by\nthe middle of May 1944. Unfortunately, this did not materialise and the advent\nof monsoon created many difficulties in supply of rations and ammunition to the\nforce besieging Imphal. This together with the mounting pressure of British\nreinforcements compelled the Japanese-INA forces to withdraw to the east bank\nof the river Chindwin. Ultimately, the Imphal campaign had to be called off and\nthe INA also had to retreat. Thus ended the great hope of liberating India by\nNetaji and his Indian National Army with the help of the Japanese.<\/p>\n\n\n\n By\nthe middle of 1944, it was clear that both Germany and Japan would lose the\nWar. The Britishers started their counter-offensive in the winter of 1944-45\nand were able to regain Rangoon in May 1945. The INA men occupying Rangoon were\ndisarmed and declared prisoners of war. They had sacrificed 4,000 lives for the\nliberation of their country. The heart of Netaji, the architect of the Indian\nNational Army, must have been broken by the total collapse of his plans but he\nstill hoped to renew his fight against the British imperialism. Unfortunately,\nthe cruel hands of destiny snatched him from us. He died in an aircrash on\nAugust 18, 1945, immediately after his plane took off from Taipei (Formosa) at\n2 p.m. after lunch. Thus ended the life story of a brave son of India who\nconstantly dreamed of her independence and dedicated all his life to its\nattainment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The trials of the INA officers\u2014Shah Nawaz, Sehgal and Dhillon\u2014for\ntreason to their oath evoked patriotic feelings among all sections of our\npeople. There were protests and demonstrations throughout the country demanding\nrelease of these patriots. The Congress appointed INA Defence Committee. It\ncomprised eminent lawyers like Bhulabhai Desai, Tej Bahadur Sapru and Kailash\nNath Katju. Jawaharlal Nehru also donned the lawyer\u2019s gown after 22 years. The\nprosecution proceedings commenced at the Red Fort on November 5, 1945 and\ncontinued till December 31, 1945. It brought into focus the sacrifices made by\nthe soldiers of INA for their country. The court martial found the accused\nguilty and sentenced them to transportation for life, subject to confirmation\nby the Commander-in-Chief. The latter announced the remission of the sentence\non January 3, 1946.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The three INA heroes received a tumultuous welcome from the public\nwherever they went. This was bound to evoke the feeling of patriotism among all\nthe armed forces of the country. A section of Royal Indian Navy at Bombay\nrevolted against the authorities in February 1946. The Air Force and the Army\nwere also affected by the nationalistic upsurge in the Navy. Finding that they\nwere now seated on top of a volcano which could erupt at any moment, the\nBritishers decided to leave India and grant freedom to her. This vindicated\nfully the sacrifices made by Subhas Chandra Bose and his INA. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" One of the greatest sons of India, Subhas Chandra Bose has always created a sense of pride among people who believe in the greatness of their country. His plans for independence of his motherland from the yoke of the British imperialism with the help of its adversaries during the Second World War still evoke a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.competitionreview.in\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/602"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.competitionreview.in\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.competitionreview.in\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.competitionreview.in\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.competitionreview.in\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=602"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.competitionreview.in\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/602\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":603,"href":"https:\/\/www.competitionreview.in\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/602\/revisions\/603"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.competitionreview.in\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=602"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.competitionreview.in\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=602"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.competitionreview.in\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=602"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}