Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose - Left Wing vs. Right Wing Battle

Even though Subhas called himself as Leftist and Socialist and was enamored by Soviet Russia like so many youngsters of his day, by the revolutionary spirit, he was not a communist. He wanted to find the synthesis of a best political idea that would be rooted in India, in its traditions. He was deeply spiritual and was as much socialist as Swami Vivekananda was, viz. humanist who could sincerely feel for the oppressed, for the poor and deprived, for the labour and the masses who toiled hard to earn their living and lived on pittance. His concern for the people was not political as was the case with the communists. His concern stem from genuine love for them, just like his guru Vivekananda’s. So to dub him as a Leftist or Communist would be a dangerous aberration bordering on folly. Similarly he was averse to the communal politics. He did not partner with the Muslim League or denounced the politics of Hindu Mahasabha or changed Jana Gana Mana to Subh Sukh Chain or inducted a large number of Muslim officers in Azad Hind to appease the Muslims as some of the RW would want to believe. He inherited his love for people cutting across communities from his Guru Deshbandhu and from the legacy of Ramakrishna Vivekananda. His partnership with Muslim League was a tactical move, to counter the British politics of Divide and Rule and Congress’s foolishness to give in to it. He also admired the Nationalist Muslims who were no less patriotic, in his opinion, than Nationalist Hindus. His agitation against Hollwel monument, Siraj ud daulla puja and other activities should be seen in the light of these tactical maneuvers whereby he made a last ditch attempt for the Muslim youth to give up the idea of two nation theory and join the mainstream politics. He knew that Congress and British would not hesitate for a divide of Bengal as that would suit the agenda for both – a weak and communally divided Bengal would have meant less supporters for carrying out anti British activities and a smaller support base for Subhas. He had to keep Bengal united because he foresaw the horrors that partition would have unfolded – it would have brought ruins for the people and economy of Bengal. It is to be noted that Shyama Prasad Mukherjee in the initial stages had sought to govern a unified through a tactical alliance with the Krishak Praja Party of Fazlul Haq. His plan was largely sabotaged by the British in the wake of the Quit India Movement. Subhas met both Savarkar and Jinnah separately in 1940 in a last ditch attempt to forge an understanding. Had he been truly partisan, he would have met Jinnah but not Savarkar. He was critical of Hindu Mahasabha because of the latter’s refusal to join the mainstream national movement against the British. To him the British was always the first enemy, not the Muslims. Hindu Muslim question could be settled later once British were out as they were the mischief mongers who fueled vision and antagonism. He was a bitter critic of the League and its communal politics in his speeches and addresses. The same is revealed by Ehsan Qadri, an initial supporter of the IIL who later turned out to be a traitor against INA. Qadri despised Subhas because he was critical of Muslim League. The Muslim officers who were under him were mostly as loyal to him as the Hindus – his close confidantes Abid Hasan who accompanied him or Habibur Rahman, who was the only person holding the key to the secret behind his alleged death or disappearance. RW is quick to point out that some of those officers like Shaukat Malik, Kiani or Habibur himself, joined Pakistan later. But a great man, years later revealed in Oi Mahamanab Ase – The adjutant (Habibur Rahman) was a perfect man, he stood his ground till the end. Probably because he was so near perfect that he did not have a place in the independent India. Also historical records reveal that how shabbily the INA men and officers who were believed to be close to Subhas was treated under Nehru. He bought some of them by offering lucrative posts and others were left in the lurch. While Pakistan’s treatment of INA men was completely different. They were given due respect and position in the army. Had Hindu Mahasabha played a bigger and better role in the Nationalistic Movement post 1942 and had it come out openly in support for INA as Muslim League did for its Muslim officers under trial, it would not have to undergo the ignominy of a decisive defeat in the 1946 elections and Congress could not have gained an upper hand so easily. Subhas was a unifier, not a divider, nor an appeaser. As to the minor points like changing Jana Gana Mana to Subh Sukh Chain, Jana Gana Mana was adopted for the first time for the Indian Legion. For Azad Hind he just wanted to keep the spirit and make the song acceptable to all the communities in line with his vision of Hindustani being the preferred mode of communication. It is to be noted that RW had a problem with Jana Gana Mana also, a section of them had questioned the intention of Rabindranath in penning it, that it was a eulogy written to commemorate the visit of the king George V, while in reality Motilal Nehru adopted the first five stanzas of the poem originally written by Rabindranath as a tribute to the Nation’s spirit and its undaunted journey since Time immemorial being governed by a divine power and witness to its innumerable rise and falls. T is to be noted that the same section of the RW had not even spared Swami Vivekananda. Sankari Prasad Basu writes in Bibekanando O Somokalin Bharatbarsho, volume 3 as to how the conservative orthodox Hindus and their mouthpieces like Bangobasi, had attacked Vivekananda relentless, questioned the right of a Shudra to become a sannyasi and even raised objections to his food habits like eating meat and his association with the so called Mlecchas. One of their representatives had even remarked after Vivekananda’s death that had there been a Hindu rule in the country he (Vivekananda) would be sent to the gallows for supposedly bringing disgrace upon his own people (Shankar – Aschorjo Bibekananda). So RW or LW or Centrists, have no right to usurp either Subhas or Vivekananda. These great souls had a class of their own. They stood for the entire humanity, not for any particular dogma, nor for any vested interest group.

And Left Wing has no right either. we all remember the despicable role that Communist party played in the Subhas saga by sabotaging his activities, by dubbing him as Tojo's dog or Indian Quisling. In fact Hindu Mahasabha was much more sober in its appraisal of Subhas, unlike some of the virulent Right Wingers of today. Its leader Santosh Mukherjee sharply rebuked a leftist when he referred to Subhas as Quisling, telling him that Quisling sold his own country to enemies, Subhas had sold his everything for his own country. Even though Communists in their later avatars tried to become lovers of Subhas, their credibility is anyway at an all time low to seriously believe them.