Born: January 23, 1897
Died: August 18, 1945
Achievements: Passed
Indian Civil Services Exam; elected Congress President in
1938 and 1939; formed a new party All India Forward block;
organized Azad Hind Fauj to overthrow British Empire from
India.
Subhas Chandra Bose, affectionately called as Netaji, was
one of the most prominent leaders of Indian freedom struggle.
Though Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru have garnered
much of the credit for successful culmination of Indian
freedom struggle, the contribution of Subash Chandra Bose
is no less. He has been denied his rightful place in the
annals of Indian history. He founded Indian National Army
(Azad Hind Fauj) to overthrow British Empire from India
and came to acquire legendary status among Indian masses.
Subhas Chandra Bose was born on January 23, 1897 in Cuttack,
Orissa. His father Janaki Nath Bose was a famous lawyer
and his mother Prabhavati Devi was a pious and religious
lady. Subhas Chandra Bose was the ninth child among fourteen
siblings. Subhas Chandra Bose was a brilliant student right
from the childhood. He topped the matriculation examination
of Calcutta province and graduated with a First Class in
Philosophy from the Scottish Churches College in Calcutta.
He was strongly influenced by Swami Vivekananda's teachings
and was known for his patriotic zeal as a student. To fulfill
his parents wishes he went to England in 1919 to compete
for Indian Civil Services. In England he appeared for the
Indian Civil Service competitive examination in 1920, and
came out fourth in order of merit. However, Subhas Chandra
Bose was deeply disturbed by the Jallianwalla Bagh massacre,
and left his Civil Services apprenticeship midway to return
to India in 1921
After returning to India Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose came
under the influence of Mahatma Gandhi and joined the Indian
National Congress. On Gandhiji's instructions, he started
working under Deshbandhu Chittaranjan Das, whom he later
acknowledged his political guru. Soon he showed his leadership
mettle and gained his way up in the Congress' hierarchy.
In 1928 the Motilal Nehru Committee appointed by the Congress
declared in favour of Domination Status, but Subhas Chandra
Bose along with Jawaharlal Nehru opposed it, and both asserted
that they would be satisfied with nothing short of complete
independence for India. Subhas also announced the formation
of the Independence League. Subhas Chandra Bose was jailed
during Civil Disobedience movement in 1930. He was released
in 1931 after Gandhi-Irwin pact was signed. He protested
against the Gandhi-Irwin pact and opposed the suspension
of Civil Disobedience movement specially when Bhagat Singh
and his associates were hanged.
Subash Chandra Bose was soon arrested again under the infamous
Bengal Regulation. After an year he was released on medical
grounds and was banished from India to Europe. He took steps
to establish centres in different European capitals with
a view to promoting politico-cultural contacts between India
and Europe. Defying the ban on his entry to India, Subash
Chandra Bose returned to India and was again arrested and
jailed for a year. After the General Elections of 1937,
Congress came to power in seven states and Subash Chandra
Bose was released. Shortly afterwards he was elected President
of the Haripura Congress Session in 1938. 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. Clouds of World War
II were on the horizon and he brought a resolution to give
the British six months to hand India over to the Indians,
failing which there would be a revolt. There was much opposition
to his rigid stand, and he resigned from the post of president
and formed a progressive group known as the Forward Block.
Subhas Chandra Bose now started a mass movement against
utilizing Indian resources and men for the great war. There
was a tremendous response to his call and he was put under
house arrest in Calcutta. In January 1941, Subhas Chandra
Bose disappeared from his home in Calcutta and reached Germany
via Afghanistan. Working on the maxim that "an enemy's enemy
is a friend", he sought cooperation of Germany and Japan
against British Empire. In January 1942, he began his regular
broadcasts from Radio Berlin, which aroused tremendous enthusiasm
in India. In July 1943, he arrived in Singapore from Germany.
In Singapore he took over 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. He was hailed as Netaji by the
Army as well as by the Indian civilian population in East
Asia. Azad Hind Fauj proceeded towards India to liberate
it from British rule. Enroute it lliberated Andeman and
Nicobar Islands. The I.N.A. Head quarters was shifted to
Rangoon in January 1944. Azad Hind Fauj crossed the Burma
Border, and stood on Indian soil on March 18 , 1944.
However, defeat of Japan and Germany in the Second World
War forced INA to retreat and it could not achieve its objective.
Subhas Chandra Bose was reportedly killed in an air crash
over Taipeh, Taiwan (Formosa) on August 18, 1945. Though
it is widely believed that he was still alive after the
air crash not much information could be found about him.
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