The recent revelation of the snooping controversy on Subhash
Bose’s family from 1948-1968 & accusations by the Bhagat Singh’s family too of
a similar indiscretion by Indian intelligence has reignited the debate if the
Nehru – Gandhi family was indeed paranoid of its political opponents. The accusation
that the first family of India made an attempt through nominated liberal
historians to rewrite history glorifying the family at the expense of other stalwarts
resurfaces yet again. The BJP which has been making systematic attempts to
revive the legacies of people such as Sardar Patel & Madam Mohan Malviya appears keen to appropriate Netaji’s legacy now, to achieve the Modi stratagem:
“Congress Mukt Bharat”.
Historian Mridula Mukherjee has argued that snooping on
political opponents is a common practice across governments & hence this
controversy is preposterous. Others have argued that the snooping on Netaji’s
elder brother Sarat Bose’s sons, Sisir Bose & Amiya Nath Bose – who was a part of the
Left front in Bengal - might have been a call taken by the then Bengal Chief Minister, Dr BC
Roy. Yet, others allege that it is inconceivable that this would have happened without the knowledge of the then Prime Minister,
Nehru or his Home Ministers’ Sardar Patel or Rajaji. Conspiracy theorists have questioned the relationship between Nehru & B N Mullick - who went on to become the Chief of the Intelligence Bureau & stayed on in the same role till 1964 for a 15 year long period, rarely bestowed. Did Mullick like J Edgar Hoover - the legendary FBI chief - know too much?
Stepping aside from the controversy, let us review Subhash
Bose’s contribution to the freedom struggle.
The Bose Story
Bose was born in 1897 at Cuttack, Orissa, then under the
Bengal province. He was 9th amongst 14 children & was a
precocious talent. He trumped the ICS examination- standing 4th- in
1921 but decided against serving an alien government. A protégé of CR Das, he
quickly rose to become the President of the Youth Congress in 1924, General
Secretary of the (Indian National Congress (INC) in 1927 & the Mayor of
Calcutta in 1930. Gandhi’s plea for a dominion status before the Simon
commission in 1927 – against his own wish for “Purna Swaraj” – created a rift
between the two stalwarts. The rift widened when Bose arranged for a parade by volunteers in military uniforms during the INC session in Calcutta in 1928 forcing Gandhi to call it as Bertram Mills Circus". The failure of the 2nd round table
conference in 1931 – which saw the ignominy of Ambedkar & Gandhi fighting
on minority rights instead of Indian freedom – depressed Bose who wrote in 'The
Indian Struggle' - published in November 1934 - thus 'If the Mahatma had spoken
in the language of dictator Stalin, Duce Mussolini or Fuhrer Hitler, John Bull
would have understood and bowed his head in respect'. This statement sheds some
light on his fascination with fascism & strong leadership. Was he moulding
himself into one? Incidentally between 1931-38 Bose was on an European sojourn where he visited Italy &
Germany too.
He returned to India in 1938 to became the President
of the INC for two terms in 1938 & 1939. He defeated Gandhi’s nominee
Pattabhi Sitaramayya in 1939 mainly with the support of Muthuramalinga Thevar-
who controlled the southern votes - forcing Bapu to comment that "Subhash's victory is my defeat"; Bose, the
stormy petrel with revolutionary leanings & trenchant ideological differences with Gandhi was, therefore, forced to resign in April 1939.
Bose formed the All India Forward Block, in 1940, along with Thevar
– a tribute to his leftist leanings. He too was imprisoned, in 1941, as part of the British suppression of
the “quit India” movement. However, he escaped via Afghanistan to Russia
to seek the latter's political & military support for India’s independence, betting
on the Russian opposition to the British. However, chastened by their ambivalence
he travelled to Berlin & succeeded in eliciting the support of Nazi Germany. There he formed the “Free Indian Legion” (FIL)
– a force consisting of Indian soldiers who had surrendered to General Rommel in North Africa – & wanted to use this force to liberate
India. He also launched patriotic broadcasts on “Free India radio” to enhance support for the movement.
FIL Members swore the
following allegiance to Hitler and Bose: "I swear by God this holy oath
that I will obey the leader of the German race and state, Adolf Hitler, as the commander of the German
armed forces in the fight for India, whose leader is Subhash Chandra Bose".
This oath gives an ominous impression that India would have become a dominion
of Germany, had the Axis powers won in WW2. However, that was not to be for in 1942, Germans reverses & Japanese
advances in the eastern flank convinced Bose to shift base to East Asia to continue
his struggle. He secretly traveled to Japan, leaving the “Free India Legion” in the lurch. Was the act of desertion of the legionnaires, a case of moral turpitude or a small sacrifice necessary in the larger quest for
Indian freedom?; or was it purely pragmatic?
While in East Asia, Bose took over the reins of the Indian National
Army (INA), from Rash Bihari Bose, in 1943, & led it with distinction. With
slogans like “Jai Hind’, “Dilli Chalo” etc., Bose succeeded in raising finances
as well as morale. His “Give me Blood”, I will give you freedom” had lyrical
similarities with Garibaldi’s clarion calls. He formed the provincial govt. in
Singapore & in the Andaman & Nicobar Islands – renamed “Swaraj” & “Shaheed”
- with Lt Col. A D Loganathan appointed as its Governor General. There are reports that the Japanese did not give freedom to Loganathan to
govern which forced him to resign. This
begs the question: Would the Japanese have become the new rulers of India had
the Axis powers won?
In 1944, the INA attacked Imphal & Kohima in the NE India
along with the Japanese forces. The story of the valour of the INA reached the hinterland
where people were waiting for a new ray of hope against the frustration of the
entire Congress leadership being imprisoned. By 1944 the quit India movement
had died a natural death & post the end of WW2 - In 1945 - it is
inconceivable that the victor, Britain, would have left India. After all those
who betted that a weakened Britain would leave India after WW1 were proved
wrong. This inference was proved right when Clement Atlee - PM of Britain
during the period 1945-51 – during his visit to India in 1956, when probed by
Justice P. V. Chakraborty – then
acting governor of Bengal - on the real reason behind the British decision to
leave India, confessed that it was Bose’s military attack & the consequent
naval mutiny in Bombay that convinced the British that the Indian armed forces
could no longer be trusted to prop up the British & that forced them
to leave India. Therefore, critics argue that Bose was the “true liberator of
India”.
The Bose - Nehru
Friendship
Bose, Nehru & Abul Kalam Azad formed the left wing of the
congress & occupied between them the Presidentship of the Congress party between
1936 & 40. Bose & Nehru were personal friends since 1927 & jointly
started the foreign cell within the Congress party to win international support
for the movement; they fell apart on the latter’s support of fascism. Nehru’s
nuanced diplomacy of supporting Bose’s “Purna Swaraj” resolution in 1927 forced
Gandhi to support Nehru for Congress Presidentship in 1929 – perhaps, to break
the Nehru – Bose stranglehold - & later on nominate Nehru as his successor. Of
the leading lights of that time, Rajaji was widely speculated as Gandhi’s “chosen
successor” till the early 40’s while Bose had the potential to mount a serious challenge
to Gandhi or his “chosen one”; Sardar Patel, the other contender, was too much
of a Gandhi’s loyalist to challenge his wishes. Surprisingly, Nehru – the dark horse -
ultimately secured the crown.
The Bose Legacy
Bose was a man much ahead of his times. He formed the Rani of
Jhansi regiment headed by Capt. Lakshmi Sehgal, many years before the Indian army
had an exclusive women regiment – a tribute to his progressive ideas. He was a
strong votary of industrialization too. Despite his differences with Gandhi, it
was he who addressed the latter as the “Father of our nation” in a national
broadcast from Rangoon in 1944. Naming 2 regiments of the INA after Gandhi
& Nehru show him as a large hearted man. However, some questions about Bose’s
ideology persist
·
Was
Bose’s support of fascism a genuine admiration or a strategic ploy to win support
of the anti-British forces for liberating India?
·
Had
the Axis powers won in WW2, did Bose have the capacity to make India
Independent or would India have become a colony of the Japan or Germany? Considering the atrocities committed by the
Japanese in Manchuria, China or the extermination of Jews attempted by Nazi,
Germany, the mere evaluation of the alternative leaves a chilling aftereffect.
·
Since
Bose admired Kemal Ataturk of Turkey & as per certain critics believed in “authoritarian
socialism for at least 2 decades after independence” would Bose have become the
new dictator denying us the democratic values that we currently enjoy?
·
While
Ataturk fought against the Allies powers & still formed an independent
govt. could Bose have done the same?
·
Gandhi’s
success in South Africa & India was courtesy fighting within a more humane
British law; a fight for independence from the Japanese or the Germans would
have invited a death sentence. Were we therefore better off fighting the
British through non-violent means?
·
If Bose was captured would he have been
treated as a war criminal which forced him to fake his death?
The Bose Death Controversy
The purported death of Bose in an aircrash in Formosa (Taiwan)
in 1945 has remained clouded in a mystery. Three commissions of enquiry – Shah Nawaz
Khan commission in 1956, Justice Khosla Commission in 1970 & Justice
Mukherjee Commission in 1999 have been set up but the central govt – either of
the Congress or the BJP regimes – have refused to declassify its contents
citing a diplomatic fallout - likely deterioration in relations with friendly
countries; if Bose did die in the crash then such a possibility is preposterous.
Suresh Bose – Subhash’s brother & part of the Shah Nawaz Khan commission –
gave a dissent note to the findings since no plane crashes occurred in Formosa
at the time indicated. This alludes to a conspiracy; Subramanyam Swamy has indicated that the countries in question are the UK &
Russia.
Researchers speculate that aircrash in Formasa was a
smokescreen provided by the Japanese to allow Bose to escape to Russia where he
believed that his own leftist leanings & the animosities between the
Britain & Russia would help him negotiate better terms for the defeated
Japanese as well as push for Indian independence. Bose was, however, arrested
in Russia by Stalin & was incarcerated in cell no 45 of Yakutsk Prison in Siberia & was killed in 1956 on British
request at the subtle insistence of Indian authorities. Saugata Bose – a current TMC MP – the grandson
of Bose has argued that merely because Churchill ordered Bose’s assassination in 1941,
blaming the current Cameroon govt. for such an executive order would be
fallacious; likewise blaming the acts of Soviet Union – which has already
broken up in 1991 – would be equally naïve.
The Hindustan Times Journalist Anuj Dar - the founder of "Mission Netaji" - has done extensive research & written a book where he claims that Netaji died as "Gumnami Baba" or "Bhagwanji" in Sept 1985. Justice Mukherjee in an unofficial candid confession agrees with Anuj's assertion; that clip is freely available on the internet. If that is indeed true we are intrigued by the question: Why did Netaji live incognito? Was he wary of being branded as a war criminal?
Conclusion
To put an end to all the swirling controversy theories it is
prudent that the Indian Govt. declassifies all the 100 files at the centre and
the 64 files lying with the Bengal govt. This shall be in line with the RTI (Right to
Information) Act guidelines of declassification after 20 years & the Indian
archive laws that mandate declassification after 30 years. This treasure trove
of information would be handy material for students of history. It is pertinent
that govt. stops arrogating to itself the right of censorship. Let the people
of India take a dispassionate call based on evidence & information released.
Urge the govt. to release all the files immediately. India
deserves to know what is in the last page of the life of the Indian “patriot of patriots”
– Subhash Chandra Bose.
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