Hello friends, here we focus on Bose's daring exploits during World War II as he leveraged the global conflict to aid India's independence movement. His story includes a dramatic escape from British imprisonment, a strategic alliance with Germany, and the formation of the Azad Hind Fauj (Indian National Army). Bose's relentless quest took him to Japan, where he found significant support and established a provisional government. Despite facing challenges, his commitment to India's freedom and religious harmony left an indelible mark on the nation's history. Here we are going to unravel the legacy of one of India's most iconic freedom fighters, Subhas Chandra Bose.
On 9th February 1943, a German submarine departed from the city of kiel, Germany. Although it carried the Nazi soldiers in it, an Indian was also present among them. An Indian whose name was Matsuda. The submarine was tasked with the mission to travel Southward, to go around Africa and transfer Mr. Matsuda to a Japanese submarine. It sounds easy, but is was not without danger.The Sea route was full of British ships. And this was during the World war II when Germany and Japan were fighting against the British. On 26th April 1943, after a journey of about to and a half months, when this German submarine reached the coast of Madagascar, a Japanese submarine was spotted in front of it. But the sea was so stormy that it could have been dangerous for these two submarines to get closer. So for the next 2 days these submarines kept moving in parallel. Finally, when the weather cleared, Mr. Matsuda emerged from the submarine. On a small raft, paddling and drenched, he reached the Japanese submarine, where he was welcome by captain Masao Teraoka. You may be wondering why these German and Japanese submarines were helping an Indian during World war II. This is because, Mr. Matsuda is none other than our Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose. Unknowingly perhaps, during this historic journey, he became the first Indian to travel in a submarine. Subhas Chandra Bose is one of the greatest freedom fighters of India and his story is full of such amazing stories.How he escaped under the nose of the British government went to Germany, met Hitler, went to Russia and Japan, met, the Japanese prime minister, went to Singapore formed his own army. And even while staying outside India, he launched the biggest war on the British government occupying India.
⦿ Let's understand his story.
Let's start our story with 1939, the year when World War II started. Viceroy Lord Linlithgow declared war on behalf of India without consulting any Indian. This was an embarrassing situation for Congress. And under the Government of India Act, Congress had some control over the ministries and so they resigned from their positions. Meanwhile, Subhash Chandra Bose was organizing his own party, The Forward Bloc.
Although this party was formed from within the Congress, but by the year 1940, it was separated from the Congress's main organization. There were two reasons behind this. First, Subhash Chandra Bose was becoming too vocal about his leftist ideology, which wasn't appreciated by the other leaders of Congress. And the second reason was that Bose wanted to use World War II for India's benefit. He wanted to take action quickly and breaking off from Congress had become a necessity for him. In July 1940, Bose was leading a march in Calcutta because of which he was arrested by the British government. Being in jail, he challenged the government by launching a hunger strike. "Release me, or I shall refuse to live." He made a straightforward announcement. "In 1940, he was languishing in prison. So he gave an ultimatum to the British government and undertook a fast unto death."
Gradually, his health deteriorated. And in just one week, the government decided to release him from jail and put him under house arrest. The government did not want to be blamed if Subhash Chandra Bose were to die in jail. So they thought that as long as he was in poor health, he should be under house arrest. And as soon as his health improved, they wanted to throw him back in jail. But Netaji was devising his own plans. His plan was to go to Germany and ask the Germans for help to fight against the British. But how could he reach Germany? Bose contacted a communist organization in Punjab to find out if there was a way to cross the border and reach Germany secretly.
He was told that there was a way. To enter through Afghanistan, and go to the Soviet Union, from there he could go to Germany. On 16th January 1941, at around 1.30 AM, when the city was sleeping, Netaji sneaked out of his house with his nephew, Shishir Kumar Bose. He was in disguise. He was pretending to be an insurance agent, Muhammad Ziauddin. Together with Shishir, they drove through the dark all night and reached Dhanbad at around 8.30 AM. They spend a night at Shishir's brother Ashok's house and the next day, from the nearby Gomo station, Bose boarded the train Kalka Mail. This train reached Delhi first and there, he took another train to go to Peshawar, the Frontier Mail. In Peshawar, he was received by the provincial leader of the Forward Bloc, Mian Akbar Shah. The next step was to leave the territory occupied by the British. To do this, he changed his disguise. Instead of Mohammad Ziauddin, he became a deaf and mute Pathan man. It was necessary to be deaf and mute because Bose could not speak Pashto. So, if anyone came to check them at the border, the person accompanying him could tell them that he was a deaf and mute Pathan. He travelled with another leader of the Forward Bloc, Bhagat Ram Talwar, and both pretended that they were going to the shrine of Adda Sharif in Afghanistan. To pray that they could speak and hear.
On 26th January 1941, they left Peshawar and crossed the border of the British Empire by evening. By the morning of 29th January, they had reached Adda Sharif and completed the journey to Kabul in trucks and tanks. It took Netaji 15 days to reach Kabul from Calcutta. But the British government found out about his escape 12 days after the fact. This is because the people at his home, constantly delivered food to his room. And his other nephews would simply eat his food. People believed that Netaji was still in his room. Since the food was delivered and eaten regularly. His escape was so secret that even his mother didn't know about it. It was only on 27th January when a case was to be heard against Subhash Chandra Bose in the court. And when he did not appear at the court, his two nephews informed the police that he was not at home.
On 27th January, the news of his disappearance was published in the newspaper, in Anand Bazaar Patrika and Hindustan Herald. After which Reuters picked up on it and this news spread all over the world. Many reports were made to the British intelligence. One report said that he was on a ship going to Japan, another said something else but none of the reports were correct. A ship going to Japan from Calcutta was searched by the British. But there was no sign of Bose. Subhash had told his nephew Shishir that if the news of his escape could be a secret for 4-5 days, it would be impossible to catch him after that. And this was true because after that, the British government could not catch him again. After reaching Kabul, Netaji went to the Soviet embassy to ask for help. But he didn't get any help from there because the Russians mistook him to be a British agent who wanted to infiltrate the Soviet Union. Then he tried to contact the German embassy. Hans Pilger, a German minister who was present at the embassy at that time, sent a telegram to the German foreign minister on 5th February, saying that after meeting Subhash, he had advised him to stay hidden in the market with his Indian friends and on his behalf, the German minister would contact the Russian ambassador.
A few days later, Netaji received a message that if he wanted to leave Afghanistan, he should meet the Italian ambassador. This meeting took place on 22nd February, 1941, And on 10th March, Bose was asked to get a new Italian passport. Bose was given a new Italian passport with a new Italian identity. This was the photo on his Italian passport and his new name was Orlando Mazzotta. In the meantime, the British government had intercepted an Italian diplomatic communication and they had found out that Bose was in Kabul. They also found out that he was planning to go to Germany through the Middle East. Two special operations executives of British intelligence were tasked with finding Bose in Turkey and k!lling him before he reached Germany.
But Netaji was one step ahead. He never went to the Middle East. Instead, he went to Moscow using his new identity. From Moscow, he finally boarded a train to Berlin, and on 2nd April 1941, he reached the German capital, Berlin. Here, Netaji had 3 objectives. First, to set up an Indian government in exile. Second, to find a way for his voice to reach the people. And third, to establish an army made up of Indians, those Indians who were prisoners of war. Now let's see one-by-one how Netaji worked on these and how he met the German dictator, Hitler. The biggest struggle was that Germany had to give a diplomatic recognition to India. He wanted Germany and the other Axis Powers to officially declare India to be a free country. And to make India's independence on of their war aims.
But Germany never gave such a declaration because Hitler was not comfortable with this idea. In his infamous book Mein Kampf, Hitler stated his opinion about India. He wrote that he admired the British government for the way they have dominated and administered India. And despite having German blood, in spite of everything, he wrote that he wanted to see India under British rule. Not only that, Hitler made fun of Indian freedom fighters by calling them Asiatic jugglers. India's fight for freedom was a joke to Hitler. But still, Hitler wanted to use Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose against the British in WWII. Netaji was fully aware that his relationship with the Nazi Germany was merely a transactional relationship. Both sides saw their benefit, that's why the relationship existed. Otherwise, it wouldn't. With this, he started working. He made plans on how India can collaborate with the Axis Powers. He established a Free India Center in Berlin. And then he submitted a memorandum to Hitler, asking Hitler to attack India with his army, so that the British could be removed from there. It would be akin to attacking the heart of the British Empire. He tried to manipulate the situation to incite Hitler into taking his army and fighting the British in India. But that had no positive result. The main reason was that Hitler was not concerned about India's freedom. But there was another German who was actually quite interested in helping Bose. Adam von Trot, head of the India section of the Foreign Office in Berlin.
With his help, this Foreign Office was turned into a Special India Division. A few months later, on 2nd November 1941, Bose established the Free India Centre there. In the first meeting at this centre, 6 decisions were made. First, the name of the struggle was to be Azad Hind or Free India. Second, in Europe, the name of this organisation would be Azad Hind Centre. Third, the national anthem of our country would be Jana Gana Mana. Fourth, the emblem of the movement would be in tricolour with a springing tiger. Fifth, Indians would greet each other with the slogan of Jai Hind. And the sixth, Subhash Chandra Bose would be given the title Netaji.
On 20th May 1941, Netaji submitted a detailed plan to the German government on how to work on propaganda against British imperialism all over the world. A part of this plan was Azad Hind Radio. On 19th February 1942, Netaji decided to give up the identity of Orlando Mazotta. He dropped it and revealed his real identity to the world. He broadcast his first message to the world through Azad Hind Radio. This is Subhash Chandra Bose speaking to you over Azad Hind Radio. And starting in February 1942, it began to be broadcast to the Indian population too. Subhash Chandra Bose's first address to his countrymen through this radio was that everyone would continue with the struggle. And that the Axis powers would soon help them in their mission and together, they would fight against British imperialism.
Apart from the radio, a monthly journal was started, called Azad Hind, with copies being rolled out starting in March 1942. Within a few days, 5,000 copies were circulated in Germany. But there were problems working on the third motive. The army that Bose wanted to create he wanted it to be called the Indian National Army. But the Nazi government refused to recognise a new independent army. That's why this military unit was named Indian Legion. Bose met more than 10,000 prisoners of war and talked to them. He couldn't convince everyone. But about half of the people were convinced to join his army. So, the strength of the Indian Legion was about 5,000 people. Even though this army was small in many ways, it was historic. Because Netaji had successfully brought people together despite their castes and religious beliefs. Captain Walter Harbich, the one in charge of the training camp at that time, noted that "His Excellency, Netaji's goal was to paralyse the century-old antagonisms rooted in the Indian nationalities, religions and castes, and to unite the members of both these units in one great common aim.”
26th August, 1942. Indian Legion took its oath and with that, Netaji was almost successful in fulfilling his goals in Germany. Except for one thing, The Axis powers were still not declaring India as independent yet. The reason was Hitler's negative attitude towards Indians. A few months ago, in May 1942, Subhash Chandra Bose managed to meet Adolf Hitler.
After this meeting, Netaji was convinced that Hitler was more interested in propaganda victories as compared to actually winning with military strength. That's why Netaji turned his attention towards Japan. Till then, news had already reached Japan that an army of Indians was being formed in Germany to oust the British from of India. Japanese Prime Minister Hideki Tojo had taken note of it. Since early 1942, he had been saying that it was time for Indians to stand up against British rule. In February 1942, Japan defeated the British in Singapore and occupied Singapore. Around 40,000 Indians who were fighting on behalf of the British side in Singapore, after Japan's takeover, became Japan's prisoners of war. Here, Netaji saw another opportunity. Why not include those people in his army too? In the midst of all this, in August 1942, Mahatma Gandhi announced the Quit India Movement. In India, hundreds of thousands of people were ready for the revolution against the British government. When this news reached Netaji, he was happy to hear it. Through Azad Hind Radio, he sent his message that all Indians should support Gandhi ji. He called the movement India's non-violent guerilla warfare. Even though a few years ago, there were disagreements in Gandhi ji and Netaji's views. Their opinions often clashed. But at this point in time, they supported each other.
On 31st August 1942, when Netaji found out that people like Savarkar and Jinnah were against the Quit India Movement, this is what he had to say on Azad Hind Radio. "I would request Mr Jinnah and Mr Savarkar and all those leaders who still think of a compromise with the Britishers, To realize for once and all that in the world of tomorrow there would be no British Empire.” He addressed leaders like Jinnah and Savarkar and told them that there was no future for the British Empire. The last time Gandhi ji and Netaji met in person was in 1940. In that meeting, Gandhi ji told Netaji, that if Netaji's could successfully free India, the first telegram congratulating him would be from Gandhi ji.
This incident was written by Netaji in his book, The Indian Struggle. Though, their ideologies and ways were different, they greatly admired each other. Gandhi ji was fighting in India and Netaji was fighting from outside India. 8th February 1943, Netaji appointed his friend ACN Nambiar in charge of the Indian Legion and Azad Hind Centre. And he left Germany to head towards Japan. This time, he didn't take a land route. Instead, he dove into the water, in a German submarine. U-180 German Submarine. Once again, he changed his disguise and become Mr. Matsuda. I had talked about this story at the beginning of this article . By the way, he was not the only Indian to sit in the submarine. He was accompanied by another leader of the Indian Legion, Abid Hasan Safrani. Two and a half months later, on the coast of Madagascar, both of them changed the submarine and were welcomed in the Japanese submarine. On May 8th, 1943, this submarine reached Sabang, which is part of present-day Indonesia. From there, they took a flight to Tokyo and on May 16th, they reached Japan. Netaji met with the Japanese Prime Minister, Tojo twice. The first time was on 10th June and the second on 14th June. In their second meeting, Netaji openly asked him, if Japan would help the Indian independence movement unconditionally? He wanted to confirm that Japan would help India with no strings attached. In Germany, Hitler did not agree to this even after months of effort, but this one question was enough in Japan. Tojo immediately agreed to help Netaji. Japan's support was public for the entire world to see. Two days later, on 16th June, Bose attended the 82nd Extraordinary Session of the Japanese Diet. And there, Prime Minister Tojo gave a historic address. "India has been for centuries under England's rule." He joined India's aspiration for complete independence. He claimed that Japan would do everything possible to help Indian independence. "I am convinced the day of Indian freedom and prosperity is not far off."
After this, Subhash Chandra Bose gave a statement which was recorded on video. There was another freedom fighter in Japan who invited Subhash Chandra Bose Rash Behari Bose. Here, I would like to tell you an interesting fact that he was actually the leader of the Indian National Army at this point in time. You might be thinking, how could this be possible? The INA was made by Netaji, but no. The INA actually existed even before Netaji went to Japan. The first Indian National Army was actually formed by General Mohan Singh in February 1942, when Singapore fell into the hands of Japan. This INA operated till December 1942, after which Mohan Singh disbanded this army because of disputes with the Japanese. The reason was that the Japanese wanted the Indian National Army to fight on their behalf in Southeast Asia. Just like the British made them their pawns. Many Indians refused to do this and so those units were shut down and Mohan Singh was taken into custody by the Japanese. This is where Rash Behari Bose entered the narrative. He acted as a leader and stoped the INA from completely disbanding. With Rash Behari Bose, Subhash Chandra Bose reached Singapore on 2nd July and were warmly welcomed with garlands. Ram Singh Thakuri played a song when they came out of the plae. And here, the command of the remaining INA was given to Netaji.This was a historic moment because many Indians had gathered in Singapore's Padang to listen to Netaji. Here, he gave an inspiring speech.A speech where he used the slogan ‘Chalo Dilli’. There were around 13000 soldiers in the Indian National army in Singapore. Netaji's plan was to first expand the army. He wanted to gather 50000 soldiers first. And later to form a strong army of 3 million people. The Japanese government was shocked to hear this plan. They said that they could not provide weapons to so many people. They could provide weapons to about 30000 people only.
But for Netaji this was not a fight to be fought with weapons only. He wanted that eventually, the average citizens of the nation should be a part of his army. And then, together, the Indians would overthrow the British. There were similarities between this faction and the Indian legion in Germany. The soldiers in INA were from various religious backgrounds, but there was no discrimination among them. The Motto of the Indian National army was made up of three Urdu words: Ittefaq, Itmaad, and Qurbani which means unity, faith and sacrifice. In total, the INA was divided into five regiments and these five regiments were named after five freedom fighters. Gandhi, Nehru, Maulana Azad , Subash and Rani of Jhansi. Even the campaign poster of the INA which had the phrase, Chalo Dilli, had a photo of Mahatma Gandhi and jawaharlal Nehru. On another poster, there were quotes from both Subash Chandra Bose and Mahatma Gandhi. On 7th August 1943, Netaji clearly said in a radio address, even though Gandhi supported non-violence, he was ready to give his full support to the Indian National army.
And more significant than this was the fact that Gandhi's followers would also support them.On 2nd October 1943, Netaji gave another massage to Gandhi ji through the radio. He said that Mahatma Gandhi's services to India were unique and unparalleled, that his name should be written in gold in our national history, forever. No single person could achieve as much in their life under those circumstances as much as Gandhi achieved. Gandhiji reciprocated Netaji's admiration by giving him the title of prince of the patriots. On 21st August 1943, Netaji set up the provisionary Government of Azad Hind in Singapore. He became the head of this provincial government. He said that it was not a normal government, that their mission is unique. They were a fighting organization and they planned to declare war against the British government. By then , Netaji did not have any territory, but the Indian diaspora living in South East Asia, was officially under his jurisdiction. The government established in Singapore had the right to collect taxes, enforce laws and even recruit soldiers for their army. Two months later, in December 1943, the Japanese army successfully expelled the British from Andaman and Nicobar islands. The Japanese government handed over total control of this territory to Subash Chandra Bose. This became the first Indian territory to be freed from the British Empire. On 30th December 1943, the national Tricoloured flag was hoisted in Port Blair by Subash Chandra Bose. In 1944, his provisional government signed an Indo-Japanese loan agreement with Japan. In the negotiations, he insisted that India was not Japan's client, but a temporarily weak, co-equal government and army. According to this, Japan gave a loan of 100 million yen to India, but Netaji used only 10 million yen. On 7th January 1944, Netaji relocated the headquarters of the provincial government from Singapore to Rangoon, Burma. He was very close to India. The next target was to capture Imphal and Kohima. In March 1944, an offensive began there. It was one of the toughest land battles of World War II. This battle lasted for 4.5 months, from 3rd March 1944 to 18th July 1944. Around 100000 INA and Japanese soldiers were fighting on one side, and on the other side, the ones fighting on behalf of the British were Indian as well, those in the British Indian Army. Initially, INA was quite successful. Indian Flag was hoisted in Manipur's Moirang. This was the first tricolour hoisting on the Indian mainland. But soon, things started falling apart. Netaji's entire plan was rained upon. In May that year, the rainy season had arrived early. Because of this, it was difficult to fight in the rain and mud. On the other hand, the Japanese Army was losing against America in the Pacific Ocean. So, INA forces did not have substantial air cover. The British had a crucial advantage. The British ships attacked the supply lines. Food rations were running low. The INA soldiers and the Japanese soldiers there had to eat grass and wild flowers to survive. 6th July 1944, it had been two years since Gandhi was released from jail. Netaji broadcast an address on the radio, “Father of our nation, in this holy war for India's liberation, we ask for your blessings and good wishes.” This was the first time Gandhi ji was addressed as the Father of the Nation. This is where this title comes from. This title was not given by no other than Subash Chandra Bose himself. 10th July 1944, the Japanese informed Netaji that his military position can not be defended. There is no other option other than retreating. After the failure of the Imphal attack, the INA troops marched back to Burma. On 21st August 1944, Netaji publicly acknowledged the failure of the Imphal campaign. He said that due to the quick arrival of the rainy season and the defects in the supply system, they had to face setbacks. After this, Netaji returned to Singapore and tried to rebuild the INA.
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