Subhash Chandra Bose and the Hindutva Brigade: A Look Into

35 views
Skip to first unread message

Sukla Sen

unread,
Jan 23, 2022, 11:59:23 AM1/23/22
to foil-l

Here's the comment of Anand Patwardhan's comment on the subject issue, accompanying a photograph showing Bose being greeted by Hitler in Berlin (in 1941): 

Additionally, this is the text of his comment, for ready reference:

Do understand exactly why Modi and RSS love Subhash Bose ! Bose made a strategic alliance with Hitler while RSS and Hindu Mahasabha had an ideological alliance with him.

With the blessings of Hitler, Bose recruited the bulk of his Indian National Army from among Indian soldiers who had been captured by the Germans, Italians and Japanese. Yes very many of them died in the war fighting for the Nazis. But far, far more Indian soldiers died fighting against the Nazis !

Reproduced below is my response.

Bose is found useful to be (mischievously) projected as an alternative to Gandhi.
(It's Bose who had anointed Gandhi - by far the tallest leader from under the banner of "Indian nationalism", as the "Father of the Nation" - while being very much a part of the Axis forces. Regardless of the fact that he was the principal and, in fact, the only credible challenger to Gandhi from within the "Indian nationalist" camp.)
That's how.

That's how the RSS loves Bhagat Singh too. Similarly, Patel - as a counter to Nehru.

Also salient is the fact that the Hindutva Brigade has no one of its own who's identified with the epic freedom struggle; hence, the insatiable urge to misappropriate.

Anyway, Bose, having been pushed out of the Congress - via Gandhi's ruthless machinations, first tried to enlist the support of Stalin - still in alliance with Hitler then, in his flight to oust the British rulers; failing that, he went to Germany - via Russia, and joined hands with the Axis.
There're too many shades of grey.

In any case, Bose was a strong votary of Hindu-Muslim unity; the INA being virtually rechristened as the Azad Hind Fauj under him is just a token of that.
In Bengal politics, he had been dead against the Hindu Mahasabha and its communal politics.
He was also an ardent advocate of socialism; his policies, declarations and documents penned by him - the Kabul thesis in particular, attest to that.
Hardly anything common with the RSS.

Reproduced below is a short note - laying out some of the relevant facts, in order to demystify the issue.

Bose had twice been elected as the President of the All India Congress
- 1938 (Haripura) and 1939 (Tripuri).
The second time contesting against a candidate sponsored by Gandhi.
He had to, however, resign because the Congress Working Committee
members, prodded by Gandhi, refused to work under him.
He was the leader of the Congress Left - the 'Left Consolidation', a
committed socialist.

Even after being virtually pushed out of the Congress, on the very eve of his armed expedition against the British colonial rule:
<<Netaji sent the following message to the Mahatma on Azad Hind Radio,
Rangoon on 4th June, 1944, Nobody would be more happy than ourselves
if by any chance our countrymen at home should succeed in liberating
themselves through their own efforts or by any chance, the British
Government accepts your `Quit India' resolution and gives effect to
it. We are, however proceeding on the assumption that neither of the
above is possible and that a struggle is inevitable.
Father of our Nation, in this holy war for India's liberation, we ask
for your blessings and good wishes.
Thereafter on 28 April, 1947 Mahatma Gandhi was referred with the same
title by Sarojini Naidu at a conference.>>

So, it was Bose who would, despite all personal bitterness, anoint Gandhi as the Father of the Nation, while in (self-imposed) exile.
Apart from acknowledging the role of Gandhi as the foremost leader of the epic Indian freedom struggle, it also echoes and further reinforces the conceptualisation of India as "a nation in making", in starkest contrast with the one preached and propagated by the RSS or Hindu Mahasabha.

Also highly relevant is the concluding part of the 'Kabul Thesis' (1941) penned by Bose, on his way to Soviet Russia via Afghanistan - laying down his
understanding of the contemporary Indian politics and the goal set before the Forward Bloc - the political party created by him:

<<The Forward Bloc stands for:-

(1) Complete National independence and uncompromising anti-imperialist
struggle for attaining it.
(2) A thoroughly modern and socialists state.
(3) Scientific large-scale production for the economic regeneration of
the country.
(4) Social ownership and control of both production and distribution.
(5) Freedom for the individual in the matter of religious worship.
(6) Equal rights for every individual.
(7) Linguistic and cultural autonomy for all sections of the Indian Community.
(8) Application of the principles of equality and social justice in
building up the New Order in Free India.>>


(Failing to obtain a favourable response from the Soviet rulers, he'd, with their assistance, move to Germany and then Japan.)

Also relevant is his documented position on the issue of "religion":
<<All those who have accepted India as their motherland or all those
who have made India their permanent home are my brothers. The temple
of Lord Jagannath in Puri and the Taj Mahal are equally objects of my
pride. The internecine disputes and quarrels that have taken place
between different nationalities and religions in India have been like
quarrels within a family – quarrels that come to an end with maturity.
Toleration is not a characteristic of childhood; children frequently
quarrel. The new nation of India is now in the phase of its childhood
– we do not therefore practise toleration. The day will come when
conflicts between the Hindus and Muslims will end much in the same way
as conflicts between the Roman Catholics and Protestants have ended.>>

(As quoted by Madhuri Bose,Netaji’s grand-niece and author of 'The
Bose Brothers and Indian Independence: An Insider’s Account', SAGE
India, 2016, in 'Netaji's Birth Anniversary: Time to Rededicate
Ourselves to Achieving Social and Economic Freedom' at

It's far more than symbolic that the three (topmost) captured INA
(Azad Hind Fauj) leaders who'd be put on trial by the British colonial
ruler, at the end of the WWII, one was a Hindu, one a Muslim and the
other one a Sikh.

<<The Provisional Government of Free India (founded by Bose) consisted
of a Cabinet headed by Subhas Chandra Bose as the Head of the State,
The Prime Minister and the Minister for War and Foreign Affairs.

Captain Doctor Lakshmi Swaminadhan (later married as Lakshmi Sahgal)
was the Minister in Charge of Women's Organization. She held this
position over and above her command of the Rani Jhansi Regiment, a
brigade of women soldiers fighting for the Indian National Army. For a
regular Asian army, this women's regiment was quite visionary; it was
the first of its kind established on the continent. Dr. Lakshmi was
one of the most popular and prosperous gynaecologists in Singapore
before she gave up her practice to lead the troops of the Rani of
Jhansi Regiment.

Other public administration ministers of the Provisional Government of
Free India included:

Mr. S. A. Ayer – the Minister of Broadcasting and Publicity
Lt. Col. A. C. Chatterji – the Minister of Finance
The Indian National Army was represented by Armed Forces ministers, including:

Lt. Col. Aziz Ahmed [16][17]
Lt. Col. N. S. Bhagat
Lt. Col. J. K. Bhonsle
Lt. Colonel Guizara Singh
Lt. Col. M.Z. Kiani
Lt. Col. A. D. Loganathan
Lt. Col. Ehsan Qadir
Lt. Col. Shahnawaz Khan
The Provisional Government was also constituted and administered by a
number of Secretaries and Advisors to Subhas Chandra Bose, including:

A.N. Sahay – Secretary
Karim Ghani
Debnath Das
D.M. Khan
A. Yellapa
J. Thivy
Sardar Ishar Singh Narula
A. N. Sarkar – the government's official Legal Advisor>>


The composition of the ministry speaks for itself.
And, the provisional government was called: 'Ārzī Hukūmat-e-Āzād Hind'.
That also tells its own tale.
RSS/BJP/Modi stands at the polar opposite end.

Also relevant:
<<The Azad Hind government inculcated this spirit of [national] unity
with a subtle sense of purpose. A simple Hindustani translation of
Rabindranath Tagore’s song Jana Gana Mana Adhinayaka Jaya Hai became
the national anthem. A springing tiger, evoking Tipu Sultan of
Mysore’s gallant resistance against the British, featured as the
emblem on the Tricolour shoulder-pieces on uniforms. Gandhi’s charkha
continued to adorn the centre of the Tricolour flags that INA soldiers
were to carry on their march towards Delhi.>>


Here's an INA calendar:
The topmost of the three lines figure Nehru, Bose and Azad.

As regards the famous INA trial,:
<<The Indian National Congress made the release of the three
defendants an important political issue during the agitation for
independence of 1945-6. The INA Defence Committee was a committee
established by the Indian National Congress in 1945 to defend those
officers of the Indian National Army who were to be charged during the
INA trials. Additional responsibilities of the committee also came to
be the co-ordination of information on INA troops held captive, as
well as arranging for relief for troops after the war. The committee
declared the formation of the Congress' defence team for the INA and
included famous lawyers of the time, including Bhulabhai Desai, Asaf
Ali, Jawaharlal Nehru, Tej Bahadur Sapru, Kailash Nath Katju.>>
The Hindu Mahasabha or the RSS is not reported to utter a single word
in support of the defendants.

Here's a bit on the personal relations between Bose and Nehru: 'The
Netaji Files Reveal a Tale of Nehru's Warmth – Not Sinister

When Bose was fighting the British army and the Congress leading the
Quit India movement, Savarkar was collaborating with the colonial
rulers and appealed to the Hindus to join the British armed forces.

Here's a cartoon: Savarkar slaying the demon Gandhi with ten heads
including those of Bose and Patel:
A picture is worth a thousand words.

This cartoon, as per the accompanying testimony in Hindi had been
carried by the journal 'Agranee' (Vanguard), published by Narayan Apte
and edited by Nathuram Godse, in 1945.
While Gandhi, not the colonial British rulers, has been depicted as
the Ravana, to be slayed, his ten heads included those of Bose and
Patel.
Bose, btw, had already broken with Gandhi and the Congress led by him.
Yet ...

Godse and Apte both would be executed for assassinating unarmed and
unprotected Gandhi at the site of a public prayer meeting, to be
conducted by him, in Delh, in independent India, on Jan. 30 1948.

END

Also relevant:
Reply all
Reply to author
Forward
0 new messages