The Icon who revolutionized the Indian Independence Movement
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Ft.SUBHASH CHANDRA BOSE
“One individual may die for an idea,but that idea will,after his death, Incarnate itself in a thousand lives” remarked Bose.
Gone were the days when, India was seen as a demilitarized and a nation with lack of scientific development, there arose a fearless tiger from the erstwhile Presidency of Bengal, who reframed the notion and critics about his motherland in the most venturesome and heroic way. The daredevil hero who revolutionized military, courage and patriotism towards the motherland is none other than India’s very own Subhash Chandra Bose, fondly called as Netaji.
Netaji was the leader behind the formation of Azad Hind Fauj comprising of patriotic youngsters from all over the country. This was the first ever novel attempt made to build an army to fight the British with the use of violent methods. He joined the Indian National Congress the party which was heading the National Movement, to express his thoughts and ideals to a relatively wider audience.
Netaji was a Radical icon in the Indian Freedom Movement.He was one among the few, who believed that only violence could obtain freedom for India. Netaji took a completely different path than the Gandhian ideology of non violence and Satyagraha. For instance, Netaji believed that non-violence could be an ideology but he didn’t consider it as a creed. There were many instances in the Freedom Movement in which both Mahatma Gandhi and Netaji directly clashed due to their extreme contrasting principles.
One such instance was when Gandhiji publicly supported J.B.Kripalani for the post of President of the Congress over Netaji in the internal party election of 1939. Eventually, a dismayed Netaji left the party and what followed was something next to remarkable.
Netaji was a powerful orator, and thus it was a no-brainer that he was able to convince a large proportion of the masses into believing and spreading his radicalistic ideology. Hence, in 1943 the massive force of the Azad Hind Fauj was formed under the leadership of Netaji, Rash Bihari Bose and Captain Mohan Singh in Japan occupied Singapore. It takes such depths of oppressions by foreigners to create such heights of character. The oppressive and violent methods of the British had an unintended effect, which created an upheaval amongst the masses, thus leading to the formation of such great leaders like Netaji.
Netaji had a shrewd mind and indomitable leadership skills, which was evident in the way he handled the internal problems within the army. When soldiers in the Azad Hind Fauj, began distrusting the Japanese, there was a huge uproar and dismay amongst the soldier regiment. As a result, many people started quitting their regiments. Netaji arrived at Singapore and reignited the spirit of nationalistic sentiment amongst the people and single handedly revived the army.
Through Bose, India entered the Second World War as an aid to the Japanese to capture the Burmese headquarters of the British, in which they succeeded. Bose ordered his troops to march towards Delhi to directly confront the British. Bose remarked “Delhi challo” as a war cry to announce the arrival of his mighty army. But unfortunately, the march got stranded half way as the army ran out of essential supplies like medicines and artillery.
This incident had one of the greatest impacts on the masses, it appealed to their conscience the mantra of patriotism. When three prominent leaders of the army, namely Shahnawaz Khan, Prem Sahgal and Gurbaksh Dhillon were captured and prisoned, there were wide scale protests and demonstrations by the people to show their dissent and support for their army. The news spread like wildfire in cities and towns. Due to continuous pressure of the spreading upsurge, the British Government agreed to release the trio, to prevent further damage to public property and to avoid the disruption of railway and postal lines.
Though the army failed in realising its objective, they ultimately succeeded in instilling the minds of people with thoughts of freedom, patriotism and bravery. Netaji relished the fact that people from different walks of life leaving behind their differences united for a common cause to fight for the trio.
Netaji often publicly stated that his political guru was Deshbandhu Chittaranjan Das, another prominent revolutionary of the Indian Nationalist Movement. CR Das was a brilliant lawyer and speaker who had appeared in trial cases to speak in defense of the other revolutionaries who were jailed by the British Raj. Thus, it was no doubt that Netaji became a revolutionary himself as the legend says the student follows the path of the guru and Bose was not an exception to that.
Netaji was known for some of his bravest quotes on Freedom and the importance of it.During the formation of the Azad Hind Fauj, he is known to have remarked “Give me Blood and I’ll give you Freedom”. Netaji drew inspiration from the nationalist struggles that had taken place in Europe to overthrow foreign rule and monarchy, which motivated him to fight for Indian independence. He incorporated those revolutionary thoughts in his own ideology, which formed the basis of his quest for freedom.
Netaji also stressed the importance of women and had demanded them to wield swords to fight the oppressors.In the army too, there was an all women regiment named Rani of Jhansi regiment, which was led by Captain Lakshmi Sahgal.
Netaji’s never say die attitude was conspicuous in the aftermath of the Indian National Army’s failed attempt to overthrow the Britishers. He took a flight to the USSR to gain some momentum and support for Indian independence, but he never reached his destination. On 18 August 1945, Bose is suspected to have died due to an unfortunate plane crash enroute to the USSR. But even today, there are innumerable controversies and versions of the tragic incident which led to Bose’s untimely death.
Bose’s optimistic approach towards the future defense of independent India laid the foundation roots for the World’s Fourth Best Army. Back then, Bose knew the importance of a skilled and technically weaponized army to prevent it from further attacks from outsiders and to safeguard the peace, sovereignty and fraternity of the nation. Therefore, it is only fair to say that Bose was a visionary, who was very much ahead of his time. He equipped India not only for the present but also for the future.
Netaji is still being reminisced by the people as one of the most loved and instrumental personalities in the freedom struggle. Bose was the first one to use the impactful slogan Jai Hind, to rekindle the quest for freedom among the masses. Finally, Bose was one of the valiant and irreplaceable heroes that the nation has ever produced.
Netaji was one of a kind.