Maligning Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose - media and some vested interests

There are obviously some vested interests who are taking advantage of the publicity received by Netaji in the wake of the demand for classifying the files about him to resolve the mystery associated with his disappearance. Some have tried to portray him as a Japanese stooge, while others complain that he was "enamoured by Hitler" and therefore "sided with the Nazis". Some try to portray him as a fascist dictator who (contrary to popular perception) would have established a ruthless regime of dictatorship and Nehruvian socialism had saved India from such an eventuality. By censoring him therefore Gandhiji and the Congress did a favour to the nation is what these writers would want us to believe. Needless to say that their attempts are at best feeble and weak and at worst pathetic attempts to depict isolated events and speeches as the whole of Netaji and thereby justify all the injustice meted out to him by Congress. Not only Nehru, but even Patel was anti Subhas as is evident from the biographies, even though Subhas Chandra Bose in his characteristic way helped Patel to an appreciable extent when the latter's relative was ill and on the deathbed in Europe. That was Netaji, he was never vindictive and like his spiritual Guru Vivekananda he went all the way to help even his greatest detractors.

In order to understand Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose and do justice to him it is necessary to study his life as a whole and not take just a bit of it and then malign him. A careful study of Subhas Chandra Bose’s life would reveal that he was an ardent nationalist with a spiritual leaning. He himself had admitted that he was deeply inspired by Ramakrishna and Swami Vivekananda and it was Vivekananda’s fiery works that roused him to renounce everything for the country’s work. He was also influenced by Aurobindo though he could not accept Aurobindo’s retirement to seclusion. The person who was his political guru and mentor was none other than Chittaranjan Das, one of the greatest political leaders and visionary of India who has been consistently underrated by Nehruvian and colonial historians (except some eminent ones like R.C Mazumdar) in his contribution towards Indian independence movement. Chittaranjan himself was a person with intense spiritual leaning and derived his inspiration from Ramakrishna Vivekananda movement. Studying this phase of Netaji’s life is necessary in order to appreciate his later day activities. Subhas Chandra Bose always believed in the efficacy of armed struggle as non violent means according to him were slow in delivering fruits, and he was an ardent believer in socialism. But his socialism was akin to that of Vivekananda’s. He felt genuinely for the plight and miseries of the people and wanted to do something for them. Like many great leaders of his time he  probably also had sympathies for Soviet Russia and China and their socialistic model, or thought them to be better than British imperialism and American dollar worship. But it was very evident from his writings that he was never deluded to believe that those were the models applicable for India. His future India would borrow heavily from its glorious past and would be a beacon for the whole world in terms of governance.  He believed in the inclusive Hinduism of the Vedic sages and the  ethical and spiritual foundation provided by Ramayana and Mahabharata and the Upanishads. He was a sannyasin in spirit and even left his home and hearth at one time in search of spirituality.

In a similar way he appreciated some aspects of fascism, but he rejected most of it as unsuitable for future India. His only purpose in life was to drive the British out of India and make it an independent nation and evolve an independent model of Governance, very different from blindly aping the Western style of political democracy which actually stood for oligarchy. Therefore he sided with the Germans and Japanese who were sworn enemies of the British at that point of time, not on account of any reverence for Hitler or Tojo or for that matter Stalin whose help he sought first. Most of the Nazi officers with whom Netaji sought an alliance were later involved in the 1944 conspiracy to assassinate Hitler. Also it is reported that Netaji himself had formed a very poor opinion of Hitler after his meeting with him and that was one of the likely cause of his leaving Germany and seeking an alliance with Japan in the east. It is not clear how the writers formed an opinion that Netaji was fascist, dictatorial, Nazi collaborator or was enamoured by Hitler but none of his renowned biographers show such tendencies even in the faintest possible way. He could not publicly criticize the Nazis considering the fate of the imprisoned Indian soldiers whom the allied forces had abandoned to die and some of whom had joined him driven by the hope of reclaiming the independence of their country, not to fight somebody else’s war. Hitler as a person meant nothing to Netaji and same was the case with Stalin. He simply wanted to use them to achieve his purpose, to free his country,  that which he loved above everything else, being a true patriot of patriots. His core ideology was that of Swami Vivekananda’s, ensuring a glorious future for India in material as well as spiritual realm and the first step to realize that goal was to free India from foreign tyranny and oppression. For that he was ready to align with any power in the world but would have never embraced their ideals for narrow selfish or political gains. Like Karna of Mahabharata he knew that defeat was imminent, yet he went ahead because he knew that his sacrifice was necessary for country's wellbeing. One of the biggest events in Indian history was INA struggle. Europeans and Indian historians (of a certain school who are more prominent and enjoyed more voice in the past 60 years) pooh poohed the contribution of INA in achieving independence, but one thing they clearly forgot. The British rule in India and across the world was based on its military might and a large section of that might came from British Indian army, from the Jaths, Gurkhas, Afghans, Sikhs and Rajputs who were ready to lay down their lives for the empire. The sacrifice of the lives of the Indian soldiers in the two world wars were one of the prime reasons for British gaining some victories on the fields. However once the soldiers began to hear about the mistreatment of INA, the great exploits of Netaji and armed struggle, their dormant patriotism was roused and there was a visible danger of an armed mutiny, fiercer and more well organized than the 1857 one. British got the wind of it. The Naval revolt of 1946 was just the beginning, dissention was there in rank and files. That was one of the major reasons for British to leave India so soon, they were afraid of their army and could no longer trust the men who formed the engine of their imperialism. That was the greatest contribution of Netaji. In a sense, he realized his dream, of freeing India and perhaps he lived to enjoy the same because I personally believe that the air crash was a subterfuge and he enacted his yet another grand escape from where he hoped to emerge triumphant later. But the treachery of later day Indian governments and intellectuals and some of his own erstwhile trusted aids probably dashed his hope and he preferred to remain incognito so that bigger political powers did not harm his beloved country on his account - another instance of his supreme sacrifice. He was thus an epitome of renunciation in Indian politics, he renounced everything for his country, even his claim on his beloved country, his identity and the greatest temptation of name, fame and power.