S C Bose
“Indian nationalists are working day and night to build up Bose as the
‘George Washington’ of India,” the New York Times reported on February
8, 1946. “This is particularly true of the revolutionary element in the Congress party, which spares no efforts to eulogize Bose, create a
‘Bose legend’ and wrap his sayings and beliefs in sanctity.”1
The admiration for Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, who had crossed swords with the forces of British imperialism during the Second World
War, was rampant in India. Reverence for Bose was not limited to the radical elements of the Indian National Congress, who were clamoring for in�de�pen�dence from British rule. Mahatma Gandhi best captured the sig�nifi�cance of the armed struggle for freedom that unfolded from
1943 to 1945. The court-martial of some leading ofÂ�fiÂ�cers at Delhi’s Red
Fort had just transmitted the story of the Indian National Army and its
Netaji (“revered leader,” as Bose had come to be called) to evÂ�ery Indian home. “The whole country has been roused,” Gandhi observed, “and even the regular forces have been stirred into a new poÂ�litÂ�iÂ�cal consciousness and have begun to think in terms of inÂ�deÂ�penÂ�dence.”2 The man whom Bose had been the first to hail as the “Father of Our Nation” now regarded his rebellious “son” as a prince among paÂ�triÂ�ots. “Netaji’s
2 HIS MAJESTY’S OPPONENT name,” Gandhi said, “is one to conjure with. His paÂ�triÂ�otÂ�ism is second to none.” “The lesson that Netaji and his army brings to us,” the Mahatma wrote in Harijan on February 12, 1946, “is one of self-Â�sacÂ�riÂ�fice, unity— irrespective of class and community—and discipline.”3
With World War II raging across Europe and Asia, an American journalist named Louis Fi�scher had come to see Mahatma Gandhi in early June 1942. The young American was puzzled by the Indian reluctance to line up unambiguously on the side of the Allies against the
Axis powers. Hosted for a week in Gandhi’s guest house—“a
‘George Washington’ of India,” the New York Times reported on February
8, 1946. “This is particularly true of the revolutionary element in the Congress party, which spares no efforts to eulogize Bose, create a
‘Bose legend’ and wrap his sayings and beliefs in sanctity.”1
The admiration for Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, who had crossed swords with the forces of British imperialism during the Second World
War, was rampant in India. Reverence for Bose was not limited to the radical elements of the Indian National Congress, who were clamoring for in�de�pen�dence from British rule. Mahatma Gandhi best captured the sig�nifi�cance of the armed struggle for freedom that unfolded from
1943 to 1945. The court-martial of some leading ofÂ�fiÂ�cers at Delhi’s Red
Fort had just transmitted the story of the Indian National Army and its
Netaji (“revered leader,” as Bose had come to be called) to evÂ�ery Indian home. “The whole country has been roused,” Gandhi observed, “and even the regular forces have been stirred into a new poÂ�litÂ�iÂ�cal consciousness and have begun to think in terms of inÂ�deÂ�penÂ�dence.”2 The man whom Bose had been the first to hail as the “Father of Our Nation” now regarded his rebellious “son” as a prince among paÂ�triÂ�ots. “Netaji’s
2 HIS MAJESTY’S OPPONENT name,” Gandhi said, “is one to conjure with. His paÂ�triÂ�otÂ�ism is second to none.” “The lesson that Netaji and his army brings to us,” the Mahatma wrote in Harijan on February 12, 1946, “is one of self-Â�sacÂ�riÂ�fice, unity— irrespective of class and community—and discipline.”3
With World War II raging across Europe and Asia, an American journalist named Louis Fi�scher had come to see Mahatma Gandhi in early June 1942. The young American was puzzled by the Indian reluctance to line up unambiguously on the side of the Allies against the
Axis powers. Hosted for a week in Gandhi’s guest house—“a