Sadly, Netaji Subhas Bose remains sidelined
Marginalised by establishment historians, Subhas Chandra Bose was undoubtedly one of modern India's tallest leaders. His contribution to the country's independence struggle was unparalleled, his role in firming the foundations of a young nation-state unmatched. Yet, few meaningfully remember him, even on his birth anniversary — which fell on Thursday. Fewer still have any understanding of his life's work that was defined by the principles of spiritual nationalism as enunciated by Swami Vivekananda and Sri Aurobindo. Netaji, as he was known to his followers, once inspired an entire people to rise against oppression and foreign rule, and yet today he hardly commands space more than a few paragraphs in our history text books. Occasionally, conspiracy theories relating to his death in mysterious circumstances make it to the inside pages of our newspapers but for the most part, his memory has been relegated to yellowing framed pictures in Bengali households and to the ramshackle offices of the Forward Bloc — the party he founded in 1939 after quitting the Indian National Congress, following ideological differences with Mahatma Gandhi. At that time, Bose was serving his second term as Congress president and wanted to push for purna swaraj or complete independence. However, the Mahatma and some other senior leaders of the party preferred the idea of staggered independence, starting with the conferment of Dominion Status that would allow Indians some say in governance matters even as the country remained a British subject. Additionally, Netaji was also not convinced if the Congress's means of struggle was enough to overthrow the British Government. His historic call to the nation, “Give me blood and I will give you freedom” was understandably at odds with the Mahatma's philosophy of non-violence. Netaji's split from the Congress automatically earned him the tag of a renegade leader and he would be punished for decades afterwards by Centrist and even a leftist historians for his supposed insubordination to the Mahatma. There have also been attempts to portray the two leaders as inimical to one another, when in fact they shared enormous respect and admiration. like almost every other leader of his time, Netaji too held the Mahatma in high esteem and indeed was inspired to take the fight further as he saw the kind of enchanting impact that the latter had on the masses. The Mahatma, on his part, was also fond of Bose and saw in him all the qualities of a man fit to lead a nation. Yet, these facts have been conveniently ignored.
Netaji has also been derided by many for seeking the help of Axis powers, including Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan. But his critics gloss over the fact that Netaji did not reach out to Hitler because he agreed with the latter's world view but because he believed that the dictator could be of help to fight for India's freedom and that his ‘enemy's enemy was a friend'.