Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose (born: 23-Jan-1897, died: Not confirmed).

Since most of us would have studied about Bose’s efforts towards Indian Independence in our school textbooks, I would like to provoke your thoughts by presenting some facts (historical & current) which might make you introspect on the prevailing conditions of today’s society and its attitude towards leaders of the past.
Bose’s life has been full of sacrifices & toil for the sake of the nation. He was one of the gems who was practical in his thinking and chose patriotism over philosophies.

In order to fulfil his father’s dream, Bose appeared for the Indian Civil Services Exam and was selected in the first attempt (which was next to impossible especially if one was an Indian) but he sacrificed the job and instead chose to put all his efforts towards Indian Independence. Deeply disturbed by the Jallianwala Bagh massacre, he undertook a silent oath of working towards achieving complete independence till his last breath. (The Jallianwala incident had motivated many revolutionaries including Bhagat Singh).

Being 28 years younger to Gandhi, Bose had immense respect towards Gandhi and considered himself a devout follower and son of Mahatma. That was during the 1920s. Not surprisingly, during the 1930s, ideological differences between him and Gandhi began to crop up. While Bose insisted on complete independence, the other Congress leaders had opted for a gradual freedom starting from the dominion status for India. Interestingly, although the Mahatma was considered as father and teacher by many leaders, most of them were totally against his philosophies and his vision for India. Even Nehru was at loggerheads with Gandhi who had openly requested Nehru to avoid attacking him in public:

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=2783590638172&set=a.2636805128626.261949.1510418566&type=3

Gandhi & Bose shared an even more contemptuous relationship that when Bose became the Congress President in 1939 by defeating Gandhi’s nominated candidate (Pattabhi Sitaramayya), Gandhi showed his displeasure by commenting “Subhash’ victory is my defeat”. Unable to work in such such hostile situation which could have split Congress, Bose decided to resign from the post in the interest of the nation and worked towards organizing the Indian Nation Army. His relation with Nehru also went to an all time low when Nehru commented on Bose’s Army “If Subhash would bring soldiers from outside and enter India, then I would be the first person to take sword in hand and oppose him”.

Inspite of such hostile conditions, Bose continued to respect Gandhi for his dedication towards the country and in one of the radio broadcasts in 1944, he was the first person to refer to Gandhi as Father of the nation and sought his blessings.

The clash between Netaji & Bapuji was mainly due to ideological differences. While Netaji was ready to do anything to liberate India, Nehru/Gandhi held on to their philosophies which had caused delay in the independence. One might say that the delay was worth it because we achieved freedom by the means of non-violence but a careful analysis of Indian history shows that we paid a very heavy price for the delay. In the mid 1940s, the rift between Muslim League headed by Jinnah (demanding a separate nation) and the Indian Nation Congress represented by Gandhi/Nehru had begun to increase exponentially. Jinnah’s innovative ways of creating enemity between Hindus & Muslims were “improving” each day and the masterplan Direct Action Day on 16-Aug-1946 was possible only due to the delay in achieving Independence which gave sufficient time to Jinnah to plan for partition. As a result, we had to part ways and millions had to die a gruesome death. Instead of 100,000 jawans giving up their lives for the country under Netaji’s leadership to liberate India, we ended up with a million deaths (mainly women, children & old) after the freedom due to partition.

Why has post-indepence India ignored this leader? Is it because he was against Gandhi who is today used as a mascot by the Congress Govt? Fortunately, people are becoming aware of Netaji’s sacrifice for the nation and his visions. Last year, Narayana Murthy had also bashed the Govt for not giving due respect to Netaji:

http://www.thehindu.com/news/states/other-states/article1118765.ece

This year, upon the request to the Govt to declare Netaji’s birth anniversary as Desh Prem Divas, the Govt has released the following statement:

“Many eminent personalities took part in India’s freedom struggle and contributions made by them cannot be judged relatively. It does not appear to be appropriate to declare Jan 23, birthday of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose as Desh Prem Divas” – Govt of India.

Reference link:

http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/netaji-subhash-chandra-bose-106th-birth-anniversary-today/1/170153.html

The above statement is not surprising considering the fact that the same Govt has labelled Bhagat Singh as terrorist in its school text books. I urge everyone to spread the message & awareness among family and friends that today is Desh Prem Divas and pay tribute to Netaji.

Happy Netaji Subhash Jayanti and Happy Desh Prem Divas!!

(PS: This post might not be taken in positive spirit by the Gandhi-Nehru loyalists but I cannot suppress myself from expressing thoughts just to appease certain loyalists because everything is backed up by facts. I have immense respect towards Gandhi, the philosopher and Nehru, the maker of modern India. But there are some facts which everyone must be aware of. One can deny it but the history will not change.)

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