NETAJI SUBHASH CHANDRA BOSE: Essay

NETAJI SUBHASH CHANDRA BOSE

Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose was one of the illustrious sons of India and is known as a great Indian leader and patriot. He sacrificed his life for the freedom of the country. He was a man of steel-temper. Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose loved his countrymen more than his life.

Netaji was born on 23nd January, 1897 in Cuttack. Sri Janki Das Bose, his father was an advocate and a well-to-do person. He was the seventh son of his father. He got his early education up to matriculation in Cuttack, then joined Calcutta Presidency College. He completed graduation from there in 1st division. He carried out his further education in Cambridge University at England. He got tripos from that University. He passed I.C.S. examination meritoriously by topping the list.

He joined the British Government Service as Presidency Magistrate, a coveted post which no Indian occupied earlier. He came under the spell of Swami Vivekananda even as a student at school. Raja Ram Mohan Roy, Ram Krishan Paramhansa, Sri Aurobindo and Tagore also influenced the shaping of the mystic idealism in Subhash Chandra Bose. He developed faith in God which stood unwavered till the last. The freedom movement had already taken its roots in India under the leadership of great leaders like Tilak, Gokhale and Gandhiji. Subhash Chandra Bose was a born rebel and never tolerated injustice. It was natural for this born rebel to get attracted by the freedom movement. He resigned from the post of Presidency Magistrate and joined the freedom struggle.

He joined Indian National Congress in 1923. In 1939 the elected the President of the same in the face of stiff opposition of Gandhiji and Nehruji. Subhash Chandra Bose had more aggressive and uncompromising revolutionary feelings and hence different from Mahatma Gandhi. He established a Forward Block Party very soon.

In September 1939, the Second World War broke out. Subhash Chandra Bose was arrested by the British Government along with many other Congress leaders in July 1940, under the Defence of India Rules. Subhesh Chandra Bose took a fast unto death in the prison against continued detention. He was released but interned in his residence with round the clock vigil. Bose, nevertheless, escaped in 1941 and reached Berlin, the capital of Germany in April 1941 travelling through Peshawar, Kabul and Moscow.

He believed in the political moral ‘that our enemy’s enemy is a friend to us’. Hence India should establish friendship with Germany and its dictator Ruler-Hitler. So he reached Germany and impressed the bullying giant with his dynamic personality. Hitler promised to give help in his struggle for freedom from British yoke. He formed Indian National Army of high principles and morals. In this Azad Hind Fauj, Indian prisoners of war, and courageous and brave youth joined in great numbers. He made a whirlwind tour of Malaya and Singapore. People donated gold and money freely and happily. Azad Hind Fauz currency was sold to make it a legal tender in free India. He said to the people “If you give me blood I will give freedom to you”. He inspired the Indian National Army saying, “Delhi is not far, march on to Delhi.” Men and women in great numbers joined Indian National Army.

Under the supreme command of Netaji, I.N.A. forces attacked the British forces in Assam and conquered some parts of Indian Territory under British rule. The attack unnerved the British. They realized that they could not thereafter rely on Indian Army to defend British Rule in India. This change of mind helped India to achieve Independence much earlier. He got help from Japan also but after some time Japan had to surrender to U.S.A. and allied forces due to the deadly Atom bomb thrown at Hiroshima and Nagasaki. But Netaji was not the one to accept defeat easily. He planned to go to Russia to fight for freedom from there but cruel destiny willed otherwise. He was last seen on August 17, 1945. It is said that this immortal patriot had boarded a Japanese plane on August 18, 1945 but the plane crashed near Formosa. His death has remained a mystery till today.