NETAJI SUBHAS CHANDRA BOSE
NETAJI SUBHAS CHANDRA BOSE
SUBHAS CHANDRA BOSE WAS A MAIN HERO
OF INDIAN FREEDOM FIGHTER AND ONE OF THE MAIN CAUSES OF INDIAN FREEDOM . HE IS
CALLED ‘ NETAJI ‘ . HE WAS THE PRESIDENT OF INDIAN NATIONAL CONGRESS (INC) FROM
1938 TO 1939 .
v BORN ::: 23 JANUARY , 1897 ; IN CUTTACK , INDIA
.
v DIED ::: 18 AUGUST , 1945 ; IN TAIPEI , TAIWAN
, JAPAN . ( AGED 48 )
v PRANTS ::: JANKINATH BOSE ( FATHER ) & PRABHAVATI
DUTT ( MOTHER )
v EDUCATION :::
ü SCOTTISH CHURCH COLLEGE , KOLKATA
;
ü PRESIDENCY UNIVERSITY , KOLKATA ;
ü FITZWILLIAM COLLEGE , CAMBRIDGE ;
ü RAVENSHAW COLLEGIATE SCHOOL , CUTTACK ;
ü UNIVERSITY OF CALCUTTA , KOLKATA ;
ü STEWART SCHOOL , CUTTACK ;
ü UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE , ENGLAND .
v SPOUSE ::: EMILIE SCHENKL ( 1937-1945 )
vCHILDREN ::: ANITA BOSE PFAFF
v POLITICAL PARTY ::: INDIAN NATIONAL CONGRESS , FOWARD BLOC ( 1939–1940 )
v FAMOUS QUOTES ::: " GIVE ME BLOOD AND I SHALL GIVE
YOU FREEDOM "
v CHILDHOOD & EARLY LIFE (
1897-1921 ) :::
SUBHAS CHANDRA BOSE
was born on 23 JANUARY 1897 ( AT 12.10 PM ) in CUTTACK , ORISSA DIVISION , BENGAL
PROVINCE to PRABHAVATI DUTT BOSE and JANAKINATH BOSE an ADVOCATE belonging to a
KAYASTHA family . He was the ninth in a family of 14 children . His family was
well to do .
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| BOSE FAMILY |
He was admitted
to the PROTESTANT EUROPEAN SCHOOL ( Presently STEWART HIGH SCHOOL ) in CUTTACK
like his brothers and sisters in JANUARY 1902 . He continued his studies at
this school which was run by the Baptist Mission up to 1909 and then shifted to
the RAVENSHAW COLLEGIATE SCHOOL . Here he was ridiculed by his fellow students
because he knew very little BENGALI . The day SUBHAS was admitted to this SCHOOL
, BENI MADHAB DAS the headmaster understood how brilliant and scintillating his
genius was . After securing the second position in the matriculation examination
in 1913 he got admitted to the PRESIDENCY COLLEGE where he studied briefly . He
was influenced by the teachings of SWAMI VIVEKANANDA and RAMKRISHNA after
reading their works at the age of 16 . He felt that his religion was more
important than his studies .
In those days the
BRITISH in CALCUTTA often made offensive remarks to the INDIANS in public
places and insulted them openly . This behavior of the BRITISH as well as the
outbreak of WORLD War I began to influence his thinking .
His NATIONALISTIC
temperament came to light when he was expelled for assaulting Professor OATEN (
who had manhandled some INDIAN STUDENTS ) for the latter's ANTI-INDIA comments .
He was expelled although he appealed that he only witnessed the assault and did
not actually participate in it . He later joined the SCOTTISH CHURCH COLLEGE at
the UNIVERSITY of CALCUTTA and passed his B.A. in 1918 in PHILOSOPHY . BOSE
left INDIA in 1919 for ENGLAND with a promise to his father that he would
appear in the INDIAN CIVIL SERVICES (ICS) Examination . He went to study in FITZWILLIAM
COLLEGE , CAMBRIDGE and matriculated on 19 NOVEMBER 1919 . He came fourth in
the ICS Examination and was selected but he did not want to work under an alien
Government which would mean serving the BRITISH . As he stood on the verge of
taking the plunge by resigning from the INDIAN Civil Service in 1921 , he wrote
to his elder brother SARAT CHANDRA BOSE : " Only on the soil of sacrifice
and suffering can we raise our national edifice ."
He resigned from his
civil service job on 23 APRIL 1921 and returned to INDIA .
v INDIAN
NATIONAL CONGRESS (1921-1932 ):::
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| NETAJI SUBHAS CHANDRA BOSE IN READING TABLE |
He started the Newspaper SWARAJ and took
charge of publicity for the BENGAL PROVINCIAL CONGRESS COMMITTEE . His mentor
was CHITTARANJAN DAS who was a spokesman for aggressive NATIONALISM in BENGAL .
In the year 1923 , BOSE was elected the PRESIDENT of ALL INDIA YOUTH CONGRESS
and also the SECRETARY OF BENGAL STATE CONGRESS . He was also the editor of the
Newspaper " FORWARD ", founded by CHITTARANJAN DAS . BOSE worked as
the CEO of the CALCUTTA MUNICIPAL CORPORATION for DAS when the latter was
elected mayor of CALCUTTA in 1924 . In a roundup of NATIONALISTS in 1925 BOSE
was arrested and sent to prison in Mandalay where he contracted tuberculosis .
In 1927 , after being released from prison BOSE
became general secretary of the Congress party and worked with JAWAHARLAL NEHRU
for independence . In late DECEMBER 1928 , BOSE organized the Annual Meeting of
the INDIAN NATIONAL CONGRESS in CALCUTTA . His most memorable role was as GENERAL
OFFICER COMMANDING (GOC) CONGRESS VOLUNTEER CORPS . Author NIRAD CHAUDHURI
wrote about the meeting :
BOSE organized a Volunteer Corps in uniform
its officers were even provided with steel-cut epaulettes ..... his uniform was
made by a firm of BRITISH tailors in CALCUTTA Harman's . A telegram addressed
to him as GOC was delivered to the BRITISH General in FORT WILLIAM and was the
subject of a good deal of malicious gossip in the ( BRITISH INDIAN ) press . MAHATMA
GANDHI is a sincere pacifist vowed to non-violence , did not like the strutting
, clicking of boots and saluting and he afterward described the CALCUTTA
session of the CONGRESS as a BERTRAM MILLS CIRCUS which caused a great deal of
indignation among the BENGALIS .
A little later BOSE was again arrested and
jailed for civil disobedience , this
time he emerged to become MAYOR of CALCUTTA in 1930 .
v ILLNESS ,
AUSTRIA AND EMILIE SCHENKL & INDIAN NATIONAL CONGRESS ( 1933-1940 ) :::
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| NETAJI SUBHAS CHANDRA BOSE |
During the mid - 1930s BOSE travelled in EUROPE
visiting INDIAN students and EUROPEAN politicians including BENITO MUSSOLINI .
He observed party organization and saw communism and fascism in action . In
this period he also researched and wrote the first part of his book The INDIAN
Struggle which covered the COUNTRY’S independence movement in the years
1920–1934 . Although it was published in LONDON in 1935 , the BRITISH Government
banned the book in the colony out of fears that it would encourage unrest .
By 1938 BOSE had become a leader of national
stature and agreed to accept nomination as Congress President . He stood for
unqualified Swaraj ( Self-governance ) including the use of force against the BRITISH
. This meant a confrontation with MOHANDAS GANDHI who in fact opposed BOSE’S
presidency splitting the INDIAN NATIONAL CONGRESS party . BOSE attempted to
maintain unity but GANDHI advised BOSE to form his own cabinet . The rift also
divided BOSE and NEHRU . BOSE appeared at the 1939 CONGRESS meeting on a
stretcher . He was elected president again over GANDHI’S preferred candidate PATTABHI
SITARAMAYYA . U. MUTHURAMALINGAM THEVAR strongly supported BOSE in the
intra-Congress dispute . THEVAR mobilised all SOUTH INDIA votes for BOSE .
However , due to the manoeuvrings of the GANDHI-LED clique in the CONGRESS
Working Committee BOSE found himself forced to resign from the CONGRESS
presidency .
On 22 JUNE 1939 BOSE organized the All INDIA FORWARD
BLOC a faction within the INDIAN NATIONAL CONGRESS aimed at consolidating the
political left but its main strength was in his home state BENGLA . U. MUTHURAMALINGAM
THEVAR who was a staunch supporter of BOSE from the beginning joined the FORWARD
BLOC . When BOSE visited MADURAI on 06 SEPTEMBER , THEVAR organized a massive
rally as his reception.
When SUBHAS CHANDRA BOSE was heading to MADURAI
on an invitation of MUTHURAMALINGA THEVAR to amass support for the FORWARD BLOC
he passed through MADRAS and spent three days at GANDHI PEAK . His
correspondence reveals that despite his clear dislike for BRITISH subjugation
he was deeply impressed by their methodical and systematic approach and their
steadfastly disciplinarian outlook towards life . In ENGLAND , he exchanged
ideas on the future of INDIA with BRITISH Labour Party leaders and political
thinkers like LORD HALIFAX , GEORGE LANSBURY , CLEMENT ATTLEE , ARTHUR GREENWOOD
, HAROLD LASKI , J.B.S. HALDANE , IVOR JENNINGS , G.D.H. COLE , GILBERT MURRAY and
SIR STAFFORD CRIPPS .
He came to believe that an independent India
needed socialist authoritarianism on the lines of TURKEY’S KEMAL ATATURK for at
least two decades . For political reasons BOSE was refused permission by the BRITISH
authorities to meet ATATURK at ANKARA . During his sojourn in ENGLAND BOSE
tried to schedule appointments with several politicians but only the Labour
Party and Liberal politicians agreed to meet with him . Conservative Party
officials refused to meet him or show him courtesy because he was a politician
coming from a colony . In the 1930s leading figures in the Conservative Party
had opposed even Dominion status for INDIA . It was during the Labour Party Government
of 1945–1951 with Attlee as the PRIME MINISTER
that INDIA gained independence .
On the outbreak of war BOSE advocated a
campaign of mass civil disobedience to protest against Viceroy Lord LINLITHGOW’S
decision to declare war on INDIA’S behalf without consulting the CONGRESS
leadership . Having failed to persuade GANDHI of the necessity of this BOSE
organized mass protests in CALCUTTA calling for the ' HOLWELL MONUMENT '
commemorating the Black Hole of CALCUTTA which then stood at the corner of DALHOUSIE
SQUARE to be removed . He was thrown in jail by the BRITISH but was released
following a seven-day hunger strike . BOSE’S house in CALCUTTA was kept under
surveillance by the CID .
v NAZI
GERMANY ( 1941-1943 ) :::
BOSE’S
arrest and subsequent release set the scene for his escape to GERMANY via
AFGANISTAN
and the SOVIET UNION . A few days before his escape he sought solitude and on
this pretext avoided meeting BRITISH guards and grew a beard . Late night 16 JANUARY
1941 , the night of his escape he dressed as a PATHAN ( Brown long coat , a
black fez-type coat and broad pyjamas ) to avoid being identified . BOSE
escaped from under BRITISH surveillance from his ELGIN Road house in CALCUTTA
about 01:25 AM on 17 JANUARY 1941 , accompanied by his nephew SISIR KUMAR BOSE
in a GERMAN-made Wanderer W24 SEDAN car which would take him to GOMOH Railway
Station in then
state of BIHAR , INDIA . The car ( Registration No. BLA 7169 )
was bought by SUBHAS CHANDRA BOSE’S elder brother SARAT CHANDRA BOSE in 1937 .
The car is now on display at his ELGIN Road home in CALCUTTA , INDIA .
 |
| NETAJI SUBHAS CHANDRA BOSE'S CAR |
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| NETAJI SUBHAS CHANDRA BOSE'S CAR |
He journeyed to Peshawar with the help of the
ABWEHR where he was met by AKBAR SHAH , MOHAMMED SHAH and BHAGAT RAM TALWAR . BOSE
was taken to the home of ABAD KHAN a trusted friend of AKBAR SHAH’S . On 26 JANUARY
1941 , BOSE began his journey to reach RUSSIA through BRITISH INDIA’S NORTH WEST
frontier with AFGHANISTAN . For this reason , he enlisted the help of MIAN AKBAR
SHAH then a FORWARD BLOC leader in the NORTH-WEST Frontier Province . SHAH had
been out of INDIA en route to the SOVIET UNION and suggested a novel disguise
for BOSE to assume . Since BOSE could not speak one word of PASHTO it would
make him an easy target of PASHTO speakers working for the BRITISH . For this
reason , SHAH suggested that BOSE act deaf and dumb and let his beard grow to
mimic those of the tribesmen . BOSE’S guide BHAGAT RAM TALWAR unknown to him
was a SOVIET agent .
Supporters of the AGA KHAN III helped him
across the border into AFGHANISTAN where he was met by an ABWEHR unit posing as
a party of road construction engineers from the Organization TODT who then
aided his passage across AFGHANISTAN via KABUL to the border with SOVIET RUSSIA
. After assuming the guise of a Pashtun insurance agent ( " ZIAUDDIN "
) to reach AFGHANISTAN BOSE changed his guise and travelled to MOSCOW on the
Italian passport of an ITALIN nobleman " COUNT ORLANDO MAZZOTTA ".
From MOSCOW he reached ROME and from there he travelled to GERMANY . Once in RUSSIA
the NKVD transported BOSE to MOSCOW where he hoped that RUSSIA’S traditional
enmity to BRITISH rule in INDIA would result in support for his plans for a
popular rising in INDIA . However , BOSE found the SOVIETS response
disappointing and was rapidly passed over to the GERMAN Ambassador in MOSCOW
Count von der Schulenburg . He had BOSE flown on to BERLIN in a special courier
aircraft at the beginning of APRIL where he was to receive a more faviourable
hearing from JOACHIM VON RIBBENTROP and the FOREIGN MINISTRY officials at the WILHELMSTRASSE
.
In GERMANY he was attached to the Special BUREAU
for INDIA under ADAM VON TROTT ZU SOLZ which was responsible for broadcasting
on the GERMAN-sponsored AZAD HIND RADIO . He founded the Free INDIA Center in BERLIN
and created the INDIAN Legion ( Consisting of some 4500 soldiers ) out of INDIAN
prisoners of war who had previously fought for the BRITISH in NORTH AFRICA
prior to their capture by AXIS forces . The INDIAN Legion was attached to the WEHRMACHT
and later transferred to the WAFFEN SS . Its members swore the following
allegiance to HITLER and BOSE : " I swear by GOD this Holy Oath that I
will obey the leader of the GERMAN race and state ADOLF HITLER as the commander
of the GERMAN armed forces in the fight for INDIA whose leader is SUBHAS CHANDRA
BOSE ". This oath clearly abrogates control of the INDIAN legion to the GERMAN
armed forces whilst stating BOSE’S overall leadership of INDIA . He was also
however prepared to envisage an invasion of INDIA via the USSR by NAZI troops
spearheaded by the AZAD HIND LEGION many have questioned his judgment here as
it seems unlikely that the GERMANS could have been easily persuaded to leave
after such an invasion which might also have resulted in an AXIS victory in the
War .
In all 3000 INDIAN prisoners of war signed up
for the Free INDIA Legion . But instead of being delighted BOSE was worried . A
left-wing admirer of RUSSIA he was devastated when HITLER’S tanks rolled across
the SOVIET border . Matters were worsened by the fact that the now-retreating GERMAN
army would be in no position to offer him help in driving the BRITISH from INDIA
. When he met HITLAR in MAY 1942 , his suspicions were confirmed and he came to
believe that the NAZI leader was more interested in using his men to win propaganda
victories than military ones . So , in FEBRUARY 1943 BOSE turned his back on
his legionnaires and slipped secretly away aboard a submarine bound for JAPAN .
This left the men he had recruited leaderless and demoralised in GERMANY .
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| NETAJI SUBHAS CHANDRA BOSE'S WIFE & DAUGHTER |
BOSE lived in BERLIN from 1941 until 1943 .
During his earlier visit to GERMANY in 1934 he had met EMILIE SCHENKL the
daughter of an AUSTRIAN veterinarian whom he married in 1937 . Their daughter
is ANITA BOSE PFAFF . BOSE’S party the FORWARD BLOC has contested this fact .
v JAPANESE-OCCUPIED
ASIA ( 1943-1945 ) :::
In 1943 after being disillusioned that GERMANY
could be of any help in gaining INDIA’S independence he left for JAPAN . He
travelled with the GERMAN submarine U-180 around the Cape of Good Hope to the SOUTHEAST
of MADAGASCAR where he was transferred to the I-29 for the rest of the journey
to IMPERIAL JAPAN . This was the only civilian transfer between two submarines
of two different navies in World War II .
The INDIAN NATIONAL ARMY (INA) was the
brainchild of JAPANESE MAJOR ( and post-war Lieutenant-General ) IWAICHI FUJIWARA
head the JAPANESE intelligence unit FUJIWARA KIKAN and had its origins first in
the meetings between FUJJWARA and the president of the BANGKOK chapter of the INDIAN
Independence League PRITAM SINGH DHILLON and then through PRITAM SINGH’S
network in the recruitment by FUJIWARA of a captured BRITISH INDIAN army
captain MOHAN SINGH on the WESTERN MALAYAN peninsula in DECEMBER 1941 FUJIWARA’S
mission was " To raise an army which would fight alongside the JAPANESE
army ." After the initial proposal by FUJIWARA the INDIAN NATIONAL ARMY
was formed as a result of discussion between FUJIWARA and MOHAN SINGH in the
second half of DECEMBER 1941 and the name chosen jointly by them in the first
week of JANUARY 1942 .
This was along the concept of—and with support
of—what was then known as the INDIAN Independence League headed by expatriate
nationalist leader RASH BEHARI BOSE . The first INA was however disbanded in DECEMBER
1942 after disagreements between the HIKARI KIKAN and MOHAN SINGH who came to
believe that the JAPANESE High Command was using the INA as a mere pawn and
propaganda tool . MOHAN SINGH was taken into custody and the troops returned to
the prisoner-of-war camp . However the idea of an independence army was revived
with the arrival of SUBHAS CHANDRA BOSE in the Far EAST in 1943 . In JULY at a
meeting in SINGAPORE RASH BEHARI BOSE handed over control of the organization
to SUBHAS CHANDRA BOSE . BOSE was able to reorganize the fledgling army and
organize massive support among the expatriate Indian population in SOUTH-EAST ASIA
who lent their support by both enlisting in the INDIAN NATIONAL ARMY as well as
financially in response to BOSE’S calls for sacrifice for the independence
cause . INA had a separate women's unit the RANI of JHANSI REGIMENT ( named
after RANI LAKSHMI BAI ) headed by CAPT . LAKSHMI SWAMINATHAN which is seen as
a first of its kind in ASIA .
Even when faced with military reverses BOSE
was able to maintain support for the AZAD HIND movement . Spoken as a part of a
motivational speech for the INDIAN NATIONAL ARMY at a rally of INDIANS in BURMA
on 4 JULY 1944 BOSE’S most famous quote was " Give me blood and I shall
give you freedom " In this he urged the people of INDIA to join him in his
fight against the BRITISH RAJ . Spoken in HINDI BOSE’S words are highly
evocative . The troops of the INA were under the aegis of a provisional
Government the AZAD HIND Government which came to produce its own currency ,
postage stamps , court and civil code and was recognized by nine AXIS states —
GERMANY , JAPAN , ITALIAN Social Republic , the Independent State of CROATIA ,
WANG JINGWEI regime in NANJING , CHAINA , a provisional Government of BURMA , MANCHUKUO
and JAPANESE-controlled PHILIPPINES . Recent researches have shown that the
USSR too had diplomatic contact with the " Provisional Government of Free
INDIA ". Of those countries five were authorities established under AXIS
occupation . This Government participated in the so-called Greater EAST ASIA
Conference as an observer in NOVEMBER 1943 .
The INA'S first commitment was in the JAPANESE
thrust towards EASTERN INDIAN frontiers of MANIPUR . INA'S special forces the BAHADUR
Group were extensively involved in operations behind enemy lines both during
the diversionary attacks in ARAKAN as well as the JAPANESE thrust towards IMPHAL
and KOHIMA along with the BURMESE NATIONAL ARMY led by BA MAW and AUNG SAN .
The JAPANESE also took possession of ANDAMAN
and NICOBAR ISLANDS in 1942 and a year later the Provisional Government and the
INA were established in the ANDAMAN and NICOBAR ISLANDS with Lt Col. A.D. LOGANATHAN
appointed its Governor General . The ISLANDS were renamed Shaheed ( Martyr )
and Swaraj ( Independence ) . However the JAPANESE Navy remained in essential
control of the ISLAND’S administration . During BOSE’S only visit to the ISLANDS
in early 1944 , apparently in the interest of shielding BOSE from attaining a
full knowledge of ultimate JAPANESE intentions BOSE’S JAPANESE hosts carefully
isolated him from the local population . At that time the ISLAND’S JAPANESE
administration had been torturing the leader of the ISLAND’S INDIAN
Independence League DR. DIWAN SINGH who later died of his injuries in the CELLULAR
Jail . During BOSE’S visit to the ISLANDS several locals attempted to alert BOSE
to DR. SINGH’S plight but apparently without success . During this time LT. COL
LOGANATHAN became aware of his lack of any genuine administrative control and
resigned in protest as Governor General later returning to the Government's
headquarters in RANGOON .
On the INDIAN mainland an INDIAN Tricolour
modelled after that of the INDIAN NATIONAL CONGRESS was raised for the first
time in the town of MOIRANG in MANIPUR in NORTH-EASTERN INDIA . The adjacent
towns of KOHIMA and IMPHAL were then encircled and placed under siege by
divisions of the JAPANESE ARMY working in conjunction with the BURMESE NATIONAL
ARMY and with BRIGADES of the INA known as the GANDHI and NEHRU BRIGADES . This
attempt at conquering the INDIAN mainland had the AXIS codename of Operation
U-GO .
During this operation On 6 JULY 1944 in a
speech broadcast by the AZAD HIND RADIO from SINGAPORE BOSE addressed MAHATMA GANDHI
as the " Father of the Nation " and asked for his blessings and good
wishes for the war he was fighting . This was the first time that GANDHI was
referred to by this appellation . The protracted JAPANESE attempts to take
these two towns depleted JAPANESE resources with Operation U-GO ultimately
proving unsuccessful . Through several months of JAPANESE onslaught on these
two towns COMMONWEALTH forces remained entrenched in the towns . COMMONWEALTH
forces then counter-attacked inflicting
serious losses on the Axis led forces who were then forced into a retreat back
into BURMESE territory . After the JAPANESE defeat at the battles of KOHIMA and
IMPHAL BOSE’S Provisional Government's aim of establishing a base in mainland INDIA
was lost forever .
Still the INA fought in key battles against
the BRITISH INDIAN ARMY in BURMESE territory notable in MEIKTILLA , MANDALAY ,
PEGU , NYANGYU and MOUNT POPA . However with the fall of RANGOON BOSE’S Government
ceased to be an effective political entity . A large proportion of the INA
troops surrendered under LT. COL LOGNATHAN . The remaining troops retreated
with BOSE towards MALAYA or made for THAILAND . JAPAN’S surrender at the end of
the war also led to the surrender of the remaining elements of the INDIAN NATIONAL
ARMY . The INA prisoners were then repatriated to INDIA and some tried for
treason .
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| NETAJI SUBHAS CHANDRA BOSE WITH ARMY |
v DEATH OF
SUBHAS CHANDRA BOSE ( 18 AUGUST 1945 )
:::
In the consensus of scholarly opinion SUBHAS CHANDRA
BOSE’S death occurred from third-degree burns on 18 AUGUST 1945 after his
overloaded JAPANESE plane crashed in JAPANESE-ruled FORMOSA ( Now TAIWAN ) .
However many among his supporters especially in BENGAL refused at the time and
have refused since to believe either the fact or the circumstances of his death
. Conspiracy theories appeared within hours of his death and have thereafter
had a long shelf life keeping alive various martial myths about BOSE .
In TAIHOKU at around 2:30 PM as the bomber with
BOSE on board was leaving the standard path taken by aircraft during take-off
the passengers inside heard a loud sound similar to an engine backfiring . The
mechanics on the tarmac saw something fall out of the plane . It was the
portside engine or a part of it and the propeller . The plane swung wildly to
the right and plummeted crashing and breaking into two and exploding into
flames . Inside the chief pilot copilot and Lieutenant-General TSUNAMASA SHIDEI
the Vice Chief of Staff of the JAPANESE KWANTUNG ARMY who was to have made the
negotiations for BOSE with the SOVIET army in MANCHURIA were instantly killed .
BOSE’S assistant HABIBUR RAHMAN was stunned passing out briefly and BOSE
although conscious and not fatally hurt was soaked in gasoline . When RAHMAN
came he and BOSE attempted to leave by
the rear door but found it blocked by the luggage . They then decided to run
through the flames and exit from the front . The ground staff now approaching
the plane saw two people staggering towards them one of whom had become a human
torch . The human torch turned out to be BOSE whose gasoline-soaked clothes had
instantly ignited . RAHMAN and a few others managed to smother the flames but
also noticed that BOSE’S face and head appeared badly burned . According to JOYCE
CHAPMAN LEBRA , " A truck which served as ambulance rushed BOSE and the
other passengers to the NANMON MILITARY Hospital south of TAIHOKU ." The
airport personnel called DR. TANEYOSHI YOSHIMI the surgeon-in-charge at the
hospital at around 3 PM . BOSE was conscious and mostly coherent when they
reached the hospital and for some time thereafter . BOSE was naked except for a
blanket wrapped around him and DR. YOSHIMI immediately saw evidence of
third-degree burns on many parts of the body especially on his chest doubting
very much that he would live . DR. YOSHIMI promptly began to treat BOSE and was
assisted by DR. TSURUTA . According to historian LEONARD A. GORDON who
interviewed all the hospital personnel later :
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| NETAJI |
- A disinfectant Rivamol was put over most of his body and then a white ointment was applied and he was bandaged over most of his body . DR. YOSHIMI gave BOSE four injections of Vita Camphor and two of DIGITAMINE for his weakened heart . These were given about every 30 minutes . Since his body had lost fluids quickly upon being burnt he was also given Ringer solution intravenously . A third doctor DR. ISHII gave him a blood transfusion . An orderly KAZUO MITSUI an army private was in the room and several nurses were also assisting . BOSE still had a clear head which DR. YOSHIMI found remarkable for someone with such severe injuries .
Soon in spite of the treatment BOSE went into
a coma . A few hours later between 9 and 10 PM ( Local time ) on SATURDAY 18 AUGUST
1945 BOSE died aged 48 .
BOSE’S body was cremated in the main TAIHOKU
crematorium two days later 20 AUGUST 1945 . On 23 AUGUST 1945 the JAPANESE news
agency DO TRZEI announced the death of BOSE and SHIDEA . On 7 SEPTEMBER a JAPANESE
officer LIEUTENANT TATSUO HAYASHIDA carried BOSE’S ashes to TOKYO and the
following morning they were handed to the president of the TOKYO INDIAN INDEPENDENCE
LEAGUE RAMA MURTI . On 14 SEPTEMBER a memorial service was held for BOSE in TOKYO
and a few days later the ashes were turned over to the priest of the RENKOJI TEMPLE
of NICHIREN BUDDHISM in TOKYO . There they have remained ever since .
Among the INA personnel there was widespread
disbelief , shock and trauma . Most affected were the young TAMIL INDIANS from
MALAYA and SINGAPORE both men and women who comprised the bulk of the civilians
who had enlisted in the INA . The professional soldiers in the INA most of whom
were PUNJABIS faced an uncertain future with many fatalistically expecting
reprisals from the BRITISH . In INDIA the INDIAN NATIONAL CONGRESS’S official
line was succinctly expressed in a letter MOHANDAS KARAMCHAND GANDHI wrote to RAJKUMARI
AMRIT KAUR . SAID GANDHI , " SUBHAS BOSE has died well . He was
undoubtedly a patriot though misguided ." Many CONGRESSMAN had not
forgiven BOSE for quarrelling with GANDHI and for collaborating with what they
considered was JAPANESE fascism . The INDIAN soldiers in the BRITISH INDIAN
army some two and a half million of whom had fought during the Second World War
were conflicted about the INA . Some saw the INA as traitors and wanted them
punished others felt more sympathetic . The BRITISH RAJ though never seriously
threatened by the INA tried 300 INA officers for treason in the INA trials but
eventually backtracked .
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| NETAJI SUBHAS CHANDRA BOSE'S SIGNATURE |
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