Abstract
While most children at an adolescent age are lost in their childish pranks and preoccupations, fifteen-year-old Subhas surprised his mother by asking, ‘How many selfless sons of the Mother are prepared, in this selfish age, to completely give up their personal interests and take the plunge for the Mother?’ In Subhas’ grave query can be seen the initial stirrings of a mind in revolt against the tyrannous rule of the British empire that had enslaved his beloved Motherland. Like an inspired visionary, he had asserted: ‘Only on the soil of sacrifice and suffering can we raise our national edifice’. For one so divinely inspired, it was perhaps natural to relinquish the ICS, which was then considered a ‘heaven-born service’. In a speech delivered to the Indian National Army (INA) on 5 July 1943, Netaji Subhas revealed his historical foresight, his strategic military acumen and his faith in himself and in the men and women he commanded:
Standing today on the graveyard of the British Empire, even a child is convinced that the almighty British Empire is already a thing of the past… Throughout my public career, I have always felt that though India is otherwise ripe for independence in every way, she has lacked one thing, namely an army of liberation.
It is amazing indeed that, without undergoing any formal military training, Netaji set out to infuse new life and rejuvenation into the INA.
The book Indian National Army brings together proceedings of the national seminar organised by ICHR as part of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav celebrations. The collection brings into the limelight the stellar role of the INA under the daredevil leadership of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose in hastening the departure of the British from Indian soil. This effort seems imperative because the image of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose and the INA he commanded remains literally confined to oblivion or at best to the footnotes to the official history of the Indian freedom struggle.
Purabi Roy, a veteran historian perpetually engaged in bringing to light the ‘truth’ about Netaji, offers in her comprehensive introduction to the book facts and factors that went into the creation of the INA with the patriotic zeal of Rash Behari Bose and supplemented by nationalists like Bhagwan Singh, Abani Mukherjee, Captain Mohan Singh, Pritam Singh and others. Purabi Roy hails the initiative of Netaji in the formation of the Provisional Government of Azad Hind in Singapore on 21 October 1943, where Netaji was unanimously elected ‘Head of the State and the Supreme Commander of the Indian National Army’ (xvii). Roy sees the Azad Hind Government’s ‘proclamation of Independence’ as a ‘defiance of the fear of brute force that seeks to throttle a nation’s will to be free’ (xix).
Chitra Ghosh, in her keynote address, highlights how the INA became an invincible army of liberation under the dynamic leadership of Netaji. Netaji created a model of exemplary unity by cutting across barriers of ‘castes, communities, religions and languages’ to weave them all into an organic whole with ‘the spirit of nationalism’ (xxxi). She avers that the decision of the British government to conduct the trial of three INA officers from three different religions—Shah Nawaz Khan, Prem Kumar Sahgal and Gurbaksh Singh—as mutineers at the Red Fort in Delhi proved counterproductive as it inflamed the passion for freedom that lay dormant in Indian people.
In his erudite presentation, Maj. Gen. G. D. Bakshi sheds light on the ‘structure, motivation and combat performance’ of the INA. He points out how Netaji combined the tools of ‘rhetoric, propaganda, rallies, military music and community singing’ to breathe vibrancy into the INA. Bakshi considers it significant that the choice of Major General Shah Nawaz Khan, M. Z. Kiani and other officers was made strictly on considerations of valour, integrity and performance.
In ‘Rash Behari Bose and Subhas Chandra Bose’, Sumit Mukherjee offers a comparative perspective on the ways and means adopted by the two leaders of the INA in taking forward their goal of bringing about the freedom of India. Both leaders, says Mukherjee, were inspired by the ideals of Jatin Mukherjee, aka Bagha Jatin, the famous revolutionary of Bengal. Mukherjee rightly concludes that ‘Subhas built the INA on the foundation provided by Rash Behari’ (20). Kaushik Roy opines that the origins of the INA were motivated by the prevalence of non-discriminatory approaches to region, ethnicity, caste and so on. In ‘Bose in Southeast Asia’, P. K. Chakravarty lauds the role of Bose in successfully negotiating with Japan for support in raising and sustaining the INA in a bid to end British rule in India. In their joint chapter, M. Joginder Singh and Y. Madhu Singh offer valuable insight into the events that enabled the INA–Japanese collaborative venture to launch a successful offensive against the British forces on Tiddim Line in the Battle of Imphal and the subsequent hoisting of the ‘Tri-colour with the Springing Tiger emblem’ at Moirang Kangla on 14 April 1944, an event that signalled the ‘liberation of Moirang and its neighbouring villages from British Imperialism’ (60). Er. Vekho Swuro shares how the INA, under the leadership of Netaji, liberated the Ruzhazo village in Nagaland from the British control in 1944.
In the next chapter, V. K. Vashishtha describes the passionate connect of the INA with people in ‘Rajputana States’ and how soldiers in the Indian Army as well as citizens of the state were impacted by the spirit of patriotism inherent in the INA. Saradindu Mukherjee discusses at length the ‘foreign policy’ adopted by Netaji Subhas as the head of the Provisional Government of Free India. He highlights how Bose put to extensive use the stratagems he had acquired in handling the ‘diplomatic chessboard’ to navigate his relationship with the top authorities of Japan, Germany and other countries. The author emphasises that ‘India cannot afford to put into oblivion, any more, its greatest hero since Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj’ (165).
In his chapter, Abhijit Chaudhury refers to two narratives. One cites evidence to reveal that it was not Netaji who died in the plane crash on 18 August 1945 but someone else; the second offers glimpses into Netaji the man and the great humanitarian. Tapan Chattopadhyay examines the nature and extent of INA’s offensive as assessed by British Intelligence indicating Britain’s ‘desperation to besmear the activities of the INA and hide them from public view for fear of losing her empire’ (128). Describing the success story of Japanese invasions in Asia during 1894–1942, Gautam Das attributes Japan’s ultimate loss to ‘serious miscalculations’ in undermining American and British Airpower to retaliate on the Eastern Front (140–141). Nirmala Joshi discusses Netaji’s perception of the Soviet Union, its ideology and international policy in her chapter and emphasises that it would be incorrect to label Bose a Marxist because his philosophy of social transformation included economic motives and material needs of people from all walks of life, including the peasantry.
Monmayee Basu and Roshan Khanijo, in their respective chapters, focus attention on the contribution of the Rani Jhansi Regiment to Netaji’s effort to free India. At a time when the question of women empowerment seemed an anachronism, it was nothing short of a stroke of genius of Subhas Bose to have conceived the idea of engaging women not as an adjunct to the regular army but as an independent but equal unit in the forefront of the freedom struggle. Kingshuk Nag reiterates the popular belief that the INA under Bose had an exemplary role to play in ousting the Britishers from India. Sandhya Jain deliberates on the death or disappearance of Bose, the icon of freedom who seemed to have ‘walked out of history into a shroud of mystery’(221). She rightly suggests that no stone should be left unturned to finally unravel what has remained hidden for decades now because ‘both Netaji and his country deserve peace’(236). Pitting Bose against Gandhi and Nehru, Raj Kumar Sharma endorses Bose’s strategy in mobilising the Indian diaspora in Southeast Asian countries to fortify the INA. Showing his reverence for Subhas Chandra Bose as a ‘frontline leader, a great patriot and a valiant fighter’ (247), Md. Naushad Ali hails Netaji’s idea of setting up Azad Hind Radio as a decisive step in his agenda to free India. He shows how Netaji made great use of the radio to captivate the listeners and arouse their patriotic sentiments to do whatever they could for the country. Abhijit Bhattacharya shows his esteem for Subhas Bose by referring to him as ‘an inspiration, an icon, to every freedom-aspiring, English-hating Indians of 1930s and beyond’(255), Bhattacharya asserts how ‘Bose overshadows all those who outlasted him’(268).
Though the installation of Netaji’s statue at India Gate and the release of the ₹125 coin to mark his 125th birth anniversary are no small government initiatives to highlight the heroic deeds of Netaji, much more needs to be done to resurrect the glory of Netaji and the INA from the mist of obscurity they are shrouded in. Consequently, there arises the need to motivate the youth of the country to emulate the INA ideals of ‘faithfulness, duty and sacrifice’ and engage themselves, irrespective of the profession they choose in life, in remaking India in the image that Netaji had envisaged for his and our Motherland.
One may hope that this valuable collection will motivate the readers to explore further the writings and speeches of the revolutionary legend Subhas Chandra Bose and the heroic tales of the officers and soldiers of the INA not only for their own upliftment but in creating a better India. The cover of the book displays the memorable line from INA’s marching song ‘Qadam-Qadam-Barahae Ja’. The patriotic fervour that truly guided Netaji and his dedicated soldiers makes its presence felt in the words: ‘Zindagi hai Qaum ki, Tu Qaum pe lutaye ja’, words that resonate with the thoughts that troubled Subhas even in his adolescence.
Jai Hind!