Subhas Chandra Bose and India's Struggle for Independence
Subhas Chandra Bose and India 's Struggle for Independence
By Andrew Montgomery
When one thinks of the Indian independence movement in the 1930s and early 1940s, two figures most readily come to mind: Mahatma Gandhi, the immensely popular and "saintly" frail pacifist, and his highly respected, Fabian Socialist acolyte, Jawaharlal Nehru.
Less familiar to Westerners is Subhas Chandra Bose, a man of com parable stature who admired Gandhi but despaired at his aims and methods, and who became a bitter rival of Nehru. Bose played a very active and prominent role in India 's political life during most of the 1930s. For example, he was twice (1938 and 1939) elected Pres ident of the Indian National Congress, the country 's most important political force for freedom from the Raj, or British rule.
While his memory is still held in high esteem in India, in the West Bose is much less revered, largely because of his wartime collaboration with the Axis powers. Both before and during the Second World War, Bose worked tirelessly to secure German and Japanese support in freeing his beloved homeland of foreign rule. During the final two years of the war, Bose -- with considerable Japanese backing -- led the forces of the Indian National Army into battle against the British.
Ideology of Fusion
As early as 1930 -- in his inaugural speech as mayor of Calcutta -- the fervent young Bose first expressed his support for a fusion of socialism and fascism: / 1
“... I would say we have here in this policy and program a synthesis of what modern Europe calls Socialism and Fascism. We have here the justice, the equality, the love, which is the basis of Socialism, and combined with that we have the efficiency and the discipline of Fascism as it stands in Europe today.”
In years that followed, the brilliant, eclectic Bengali would occasionally modify this radical doctrine, but would never abandon it entirely. For example, in late 1944 -- almost a decade-and-a-half later --
By Andrew Montgomery
When one thinks of the Indian independence movement in the 1930s and early 1940s, two figures most readily come to mind: Mahatma Gandhi, the immensely popular and "saintly" frail pacifist, and his highly respected, Fabian Socialist acolyte, Jawaharlal Nehru.
Less familiar to Westerners is Subhas Chandra Bose, a man of com parable stature who admired Gandhi but despaired at his aims and methods, and who became a bitter rival of Nehru. Bose played a very active and prominent role in India 's political life during most of the 1930s. For example, he was twice (1938 and 1939) elected Pres ident of the Indian National Congress, the country 's most important political force for freedom from the Raj, or British rule.
While his memory is still held in high esteem in India, in the West Bose is much less revered, largely because of his wartime collaboration with the Axis powers. Both before and during the Second World War, Bose worked tirelessly to secure German and Japanese support in freeing his beloved homeland of foreign rule. During the final two years of the war, Bose -- with considerable Japanese backing -- led the forces of the Indian National Army into battle against the British.
Ideology of Fusion
As early as 1930 -- in his inaugural speech as mayor of Calcutta -- the fervent young Bose first expressed his support for a fusion of socialism and fascism: / 1
“... I would say we have here in this policy and program a synthesis of what modern Europe calls Socialism and Fascism. We have here the justice, the equality, the love, which is the basis of Socialism, and combined with that we have the efficiency and the discipline of Fascism as it stands in Europe today.”
In years that followed, the brilliant, eclectic Bengali would occasionally modify this radical doctrine, but would never abandon it entirely. For example, in late 1944 -- almost a decade-and-a-half later --
Cited: 70. Speech to the women 's section of the Indian Independence League, Singapore, July 12, 1943, Selected Speeches of Subhas Chandra Bose, pp. 189-192. 71. See: S. K. Bose, ed., A Beacon Across Asia (1973), pp. 182, 219; H. Toye, The Springing Tiger, pp. 86, 146.; L. Gordon, Brothers Against the Raj, pp. 497, 523, 535-36. Bose, Mihir, The Lost Hero: A Biography of Subhas Chandra Bose. London : Quartet Books, 1982. Bose, Sisir K., and A. Werth and S.A. Ayer, eds., A Beacon Across Asia : A Biography of Subhas Chandra Bose. New Delhi : Orient Longman, 1973. Bose, Subhas Chandra, Fundamental Questions of Indian Revolution. Calcutta : Netaji Research Bureau, 1970. Bose, S. C., The Indian Struggle, 1920-1942 (Compiled by the Netaji Research Bureau), Bombay and other centers: Asia Publishing House, 1964. Bose, S. C., Netaji: Collected Works (3 Volumes) Calcutta : Netaji Research Bureau, 1980/81. Bose, S. C., Selected Speeches of Subhas Chandra Bose. Delhi : Publication Division, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, 1962. Chakrabarty, B., Subhas Chandra Bose and Middle Class Radicalism: A Study in Indian Nationalism, 1928-1940. London / New York : I. B. Taurus, in association with The London School of Economics & Political Science, 1990. Chaudhuri, Kali P., Netaji and India . Shillong: Kali Prasanna Chaudhuri, 1956. Chaudhuri, Nirad C., "Subhas Chandra Bose: His Legacy and Legend," Pacific Affairs, Dec. 1953 (Vol. XXVI, No. 4), pp. 349-357. Chaudhuri, N.C., Thy Hand, Great Anarch!: India 1921-1952. London : Chatto & Windus, 1987. Das, Hari Hara, Subhas Chandra Bose and the Indian National Movement. New Delhi : Sterling Publishers, 1983. Gordon, Leonard A., Brothers Against the Raj: A Biography of Indian Nationalists Sarat and Subhas Chandra Bose. New York : Columbia University Press, 1990. Gordon, L. A., Bengal : The Nationalist Movement 1876-1940. New York/London: Columbia University Press, 1974. Hayashida, T., Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose: His Great Struggle and Martyrdom. Bombay : Allied Publishers, 1970. Nair, A. M., An Indian Freedom Fighter in Japan. Bombay : Orient Longman, 1983. Roy, Dilip Kumar, The Subhash I Knew. Bombay : Nalanda Publications, 1946. Toye, Hugh, The Springing Tiger: A Study of a Revolutionary, London : Cassell, 1959.