Erased Chapters From Indian History Textbooks
Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose
Subhas Chandra Bose
Early Life
In 1897, India was completely at the mercy of colonial rulers. India was sinking in poverty and lakhs of Indians were starving to death due to famines. During this time, very few families could actually afford a decent standard of living and fortunately Netaji's family was among them. He was born on 23rd January 1897 in Cuttack, Orissa, and was the ninth child of his parents. But as Netaji started growing he started noticing the atrocities caused by the Britishers in India. He noticed that these Britishers had the audacity to put out boards outside hotels which said “NO DOGS or INDIANS”. He took them so so personally that when he saw his college professor harass an Indian student, he slapped him for which he got rusticated from the Presidency college. After which Netaji's father sent him to London to study for Indian Civil Service (ICS) which was by far one of the toughest exam in the world. Netaji cleared ICS with 6 months of study. But as soon as he was offered the job he rejected it and returned back to India and joined Gandhiji. This marked the beginning of Netaji's freedom struggle and within just a few months because of his charismatic personality and brilliant political acumen he began climbing the ladders of congress more quickly than anyone else.
आजादी मांगी नहीं, छीनी जाती है।
As time passed Bose realized that his ideologies were not as same as that of Gandhiji. Gandhiji was all about seeking Independence through Non-Violence whereas Netaji believed “आजादी मांगी नहीं, छीनी जाती है” i.e., Independence is not something that you request for, it's something that you fight and snatch from the rulers. So inspite of being the president, he resigned from Congress and left as alone wolf to find another way to free India and this is where the historic journey of Netaji began.
Indian National Army
During World War II, Germans and Japanese forces (Axis Powers) were against Britishers. Bose saw an opportunity and asked for help. Germans refused. Japanese forces anyway wanted to attack the British forces so they were ready to help Netaji out. They played smartly and instead of sending their own men, they put forward the Indian soldiers who were fighting for Britishers and were caught during Battle of Singapore. This army unit completely lost their motivation and believed that they were mere scapegoats and were being used for the greed of power. But as soon as Bose took control of this force every thing changed. He called this army unit आज़ाद हिन्द फौज - The Indian National Army (INA). He motivated them, established a purpose for them that is to free India from Britishraj through his speeches. One of his famous slogan includes “तुम मुझे खून दो, मैं तुम्हे आज़ादी दूंगा।”. Bose also formed an All Women Regiment - रानी झाँसी रेजिमेंट (Rani-Jhansi Regiment) and handed over the command of INA to three incredible commanders Shah Nawaz, Dhillon, Sahgal. These 3 took INA from Singapore to Impal were they encountered British Army which was full of Indian Soldiers. But unfortunately British army ruthlessly defeated INA and in May, 1945 INA surrendered.
Red Fort Trial & Naval Mutiny Of 1946
Bose died in a plane crash in Taiwan on 18 August, 1945. When whole India was mourning the death of Netaji, Britishers tried to launch a psychological attack on the Indians. So they decided to conduct a public trial on the three commanders of Netaji. This was held on 5 November, 1945. They marketed this trail through press and called it Red Fort Trials. But the ensuing media attention of the case, resulted in many Indians getting acquainted with a force that had fought for independence. It led to sympathy for the INA across the country parts in solidarity with the captured troops. Moment the Indian soldiers in the British army came to know about the INA all these soldiers including the Navy started revolting and as the news spread it started snowballing into a rebellion that the Britishers had neverseen before. This event is famously known as The Naval Mutiny of 1946. It had such a ripple effect that within no time in 1946 a cabinet mission is set up which stated the transfer of power. Interim government was formed on 20 February, 1947 and India got it's independence on 15 August, 1947.
An Inspiration ForGenerations To Come
In 1956, the former British Prime Minister Clement Attlee in a conversation with Governor of Bengal said that the role played by Netaji's army was paramount in India being granted Independence, while the role played by the Non-Violent movement was minimal. And this one statement itself is enough to question the version of history taught in our school textbooks. Upcoming generations must be taught about INA and their significant contribution to India's Independence. Bose's legacy must continue to inspire the younger generation to strive for a better India.